When the 205 was launched in 1983, it caught everyone’s attention as the very model of a modern supermini. It was compact, but decently roomy inside, and had a good sized boot. Sensible in practical areas, the 205 was also exceptionally pretty. Over the car’s lengthy production run, more than 14 years, as the new [...]

Nissan had built a considerable reputation with GT-R version of its Skyline coupe. The model became a world wide icon with the launch of the R32 version in 1989. It came to represent a Japanese car industry at its most intelligent and innovative. The 1993 Skyline and 1999 R34 Skylines built on this, but used [...]

Like its contemporaries, the Ford Escort Cosworth and Lancia Delta Integrale, the Sunny GTi-R was a road going version of a serious rally machine. Despite this it is important to remember it was essentially based on a humble family car. Given the Japanese love of high technology, It was also a very reasonable commercial bet [...]

The MGA is probably the best looking MG of them all. Its pretty, pinched waist body was derived from a special TD raced at Le Mans, and was based on an enormously strong box section chassis. The A was the first truly modern post war MG, and, as, the first new MG produced after the [...]

The high performance family car frenzy of the early 1990s was so pronounced that Britain’s CAR magazine followed report on its first drive of the 377 bhp Lotus Carlton with two pages on the Mercedes equivalent, the 326 bhp V8 engined E class saloon. Like the Lotus Carlton, the 500 E required some serious surgery [...]

Mercedes had long been synonymous with beautiful two seater roadster, starting with the classic, 1950s, gullwingned SL 300. The company’s SL range developed over the years into one of the most desirable up market models produced. However, the SL’s high end engineering also meant high end prices. As part of Mercedes’ 1990 dash for diversification, [...]

The 280 SE Cabriolet was the last big Mercedes Convertible for many years. It was also the last of a long line of W111/ W112 series drop head models. This was a line that date all the way back to back to the early 1960s. The 280 SE is a much rarer than most people [...]

Mazda had been lonely, but worthy, champion of the rotary internal combustion engine for some time, with the up market Cosmo coupe and the RX 7 sports car of the 1978. By taming the reliability problems, if not the thirst, of the rotary engine, Mazda retrieved its image and made the RX into a big [...]

The 3 liter Lagonda was a direct development of the 2.6 liter model, which was one of the first all new British luxury cars to appear after the hostilities of the Second World War. Lagonda had enjoyed an excellent reputation before, the war, and this was further enhanced when it employed the services of W.O. [...]

By the late 1960s, Jensen needed a new, cheaper car to see it through the decade to come, and Donald Healey, whose contract with the British Motor Corporation (BMC) had run its course, was looking for a new partner. A marriage was arranged, and its first and only fruit was the Jensen Healey, one of [...]