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…
With the moniker of Mr. Big Healey, John Chatham has earned his status as one of the storied marque’s most legendary men. Across four decades, Chatham piloted DD300 – an Austin-Healey 3000 – on tracks around the world and became famous as one of the fastest drivers of the era. Chatham’s father purchased a garage…
Having walked through the doors of countless shops that work on British sports cars, it seems as if an overwhelming majority are small, cramped and packed to the rafters with parts accumulated over the decades. In this respect, Porter Customs is no different than hundreds of other specialty shops around the country. What sets this…
We’ve been running a contest on Facebook asking people to send photos with their British sports cars from back in the day. Some are cute, some are funny (particularly those from the late 60s and early 70s) and others provide an interesting glimpse into the past. One such photograph was sent in by customer Mark Shipley and…
The original Austin-Healey 100 was successful from the start through the winning combination of the inimitable styling penned by Gerry Coker and the surfeit of torque provided by the Austin A90 engine. Not content to rest on his laurels – and aware that challengers like the Triumph TR2 were real threats in the marketplace –…
It is not uncommon for car enthusiasts to collect books and most of them that I know are avid readers on a variety of subjects. Perhaps there is something about an appreciation for archaic automotive technology that also lends itself to a deep and abiding affection for the printed word. For as long as I…
The question is asked of us quite often, “what’s my British sports car worth?” The easy answer, like most things in life, is it depends. British sports car values depend on many factors. What does it depend on? Largely, it hinges on condition, and then is followed by lesser contributing factors like color, timing, trim…
“Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.” – John Greenleaf Whittier The Swinging Sixties represented the high-water mark for the British automotive industry. The Jaguar E-Type – introduced in 1961 – was widely considered one of the best sports cars in the world and more affordable…
Long before the Austin-Healey Sprite “Mk I” entered into legend for its amicable appearance, many considered its styling to be odd – even stylist Gerry Coker was nonplussed with the fixed headlights – and plans were made to combine the many virtues of the car with more attractive styling. In 1959, Innocenti – famous for…
Last year we asked you to determine the greatest British sports car of all time and after spirited voting the Jaguar E-Type – not unexpectedly – emerged victorious ahead of the Austin-Healey 3000 and Triumph TR6. This time we changed the call of the question: name your favorite British sports car manufactured since the end…
