By Peter Brock In the late 1960s, RW “Kas” Kastner was British Leyland’s visionary Director of Motorsports for the entire United States in the final days of the SCCA’s rather blurred concept of “amateur” road racing in America. From their small office in Westport, Connecticut, the elitist officers of the SCCA were trying to maintain…
The weather was properly British. Prior to the event we fielded the inevitable phone calls: “I’m driving down and it’s supposed to rain. Just checking to make sure Motorfest is still on…” We celebrate Motorfest primarily as a way to say thanks to you. It’s important for us to be able to meet customers face-to-face, so…
By David Clark The Glory Days of the 1930s were long in the past. It had been 20 years since MG was a dominant force, owning records for absolute speed in the classes between 500 and 2,000cc. The engine in their 750cc overhead cam record breaker, EX127, ultimately made 145bhp, supercharged with 39 lbs of…
The Indianapolis 500 might be considered America’s greatest race, but Britain has left an indelible mark on the legendary contest with multiple victories for both cars and drivers, and countless compelling story lines to enliven the story of the greatest spectacle in motorsport. The first British citizen to win the race was Dario Resta…
Almost ten years before the Mazda Miata would rekindle the world’s affection for small roadsters, Tony Stevens wanted to produce an affordable alternative to the designs offered by larger manufacturers. Stevens, who had been an engineer at the Rootes Group, working on various Sunbeam, Humber and Hillman designs had already dabbled in the small manufacturer waters…
I have insider information about the first days of some of these cars and it isn’t all pretty. Don’t get me wrong, I love British cars. I go to all the car shows I can within a 100-mile radius of Columbus, Ohio. To pay for college in the early 1970s, I worked as a lot…
Let’s talk about period British sports car advertisements. Going through some images recently I came across these period advertisements for some of our favorite British sports cars. Taking a moment to look at them and admire the images, I was struck by something unusual. Namely, I was taken aback at how small the individuals depicted…
The 1950s were halcyon days for Jaguar. With postwar demand for sports cars reaching record levels, Jaguar’s iconic XK120 two-seater quickly became a must-have amongst the American and European “sporty” car set. Alongside success in the showrooms, the decade also marked a period of near total domination by Jaguar in endurance racing, including 24 Hours…
I have long admired Joseph Lucas and when you get done with this article maybe you will too. A hard working family man, Lucas was never an English born Diogenes who wandered the streets of Birmingham trying to plot a scheme to keep you in the dark. The fact of the matter is that old…
Most automotive enthusiasts appreciate the innate differences between sports cars from America, France, Italy, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom even if they are unable to articulate what makes them unique. Even the casual car guy can tell you that American muscle cars have large displacement engines; Italian engines make their power with lots of…
