In the early Volkswagen desperately needed to replace the venerable Beetle. A lot of people especially in the motoring press though that the company might fail to meet the challenge. It didn’t replace the old stalwart with a car that was destined for amazing success. The MK 1 golf was an utterly conventional interpretation of [...]
Although it appeared to be a replacement for the MK 1 Golf based Scirocco coupe, VW was aiming the MK 2 based Carrado at higher targets. They were gunning for the wave of sophisticated Japanese coupes that arrived during the late 1980s, and the entry level Porsches that were proving so popular. The styling was [...]
The 1948 Wolseley 6/80 became the classic British police car of the 1950s. When it was phased out of service, many of the cars were snapped up by members of the pubic keen to get their hands on one of the cars that the forces of law and macho appeal, it was simply the recognition [...]
Volvo was founded in 1927 and since the end of WW2 has been at forefront of safety, logging a huge number of innovations that have become industry norms. Volvo also became synonymous with family transport through its distinct estate cars. But as large 4×4 vehicles started to become the family vehicle of choice in the [...]
Probably the most famous Volvo of all the 120 Series, like the PV, had American inspired styling, with the same taught bull-nosed look as the Chrylers did in their mid 1950s period. It also gained a reputation for durability, with an amazing resistance to corrosion because of the high quality steel used in its construction. [...]
Italian coach builder Zagato has a long history of turning out the dramatic, the bizarre and the plain ugly. After the madcap Alfa SZ coupe, many commentators wondered when the tiny Italian design house would go to next. Typically, Zagato managed the unexpected Dutchman Paul Koot, who owned a restoration business, commissioned 75 Lancia Delta [...]
Unloved, and now almost forgotten, the Porsche 914 was a hybrid, conceived to give Porsche a foot hold in the mass market sports car sector, which later achieved with the Boxster. For collaborators Volkswagen worried by poor sales of its mainstay Beetle, it meant some much needed showroom glamour to draw in the customers. Launched [...]
Pontiac’s decision to build a small, inexpensive, mid engined sports car was not revolutionary, Fiat and Lancia had already marketed similar cars. But two things about the Fiero were unusual, it was commissioned as much as an economical commuting car as a sportster, and the vehicle was constructed in a radically new way. Under the [...]
The original Fire Bird had appeared in 1967, based on Chevrolet Camaro’s ‘F’ body, but interest in the car didn’t really begin to pick up the restyled 1970 versions were introduced. There were muscular looking cars, with fat arches curvy hips and huge implied machismo in their stance. Only one variant had the power to [...]
The muscle car was a very basic idea. Put your biggest, most powerful engine in one of your lightest bodies. Like most strokes of genius, it was breathtaking in its simplicity. The Pontiac GTO of 1964 created the genre and when sales took off rival American marques could only fall into line behind it. Initially [...]