Produced from 1953 to 1958, the MG Magnette ZA and ZB made its debut at the 1953 London Motor Show at Earls Court. Designed by Jerry Palmer – who had earlier designed the Jowett Jupiter – the MG saloon marked the first appearance of the near legendary B-Series four-cylinder engine and was the first monocoque…
The Austin Gipsy was announced in 1958 as a replacement for the Champ which had been produced for the Royal Army. The small utility vehicle was intended as a commercial rival to the increasingly popular Land Rover and was hoped to sell to both civilian and military customers. The first vehicle produced with an independent…
The GSM Dart and Flamingo are nearly forgotten today, but they were pioneering cars in the late 50s when the Anglo-South African hybrids became only the second car manufacturer to build a car in the former British colony. After a trip to England in 1956, South African Willie Meissner became enthralled with fiberglass manufacturing –…
More so than any other individual, Sir John Black had the greatest influence on Triumph in the postwar era. Born in 1895 in Surrey, his nascent legal career was derailed by World War I during which he first served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve before transferring to the Royal Tank Regiment serving as a…
When BMC discontinued A90 engine in favor of a larger Morris designed engine for its larger Austin, Morris and Wolseley sedans, Donald Healey was forced to abandon plans to adopt the 100S competition engine for production use and find a way to install the corporate C-series six-cylinder engine into its small roadster. Despite seeming to…
Allan and Richard Jensen started business manufacturing auto bodies under contract for Austin. The firm also made bodies for the Volvo P1800, Sunbeam Tiger and Austin-Healey in addition to the first Interceptor built from 1950 to 1957 with various engines under an attractive glass fiber body. The second iteration of the Jensen Interceptor was hand-built…
Morgans do not just evoke the past, they are the past – come to life to remind us of what once was – and for a price and patience – what can be again. Against all odds, Morgan has outlasted its larger rivals throughout the years from BMC, Standard-Triumph, Rootes and eventually British Leyland; and…
The first captive import to be sold in the United States, the Nash Metropolitan was also one of the first subcompact cars to enter production in the American marketplace. Designed in the United States by William Flajole, the small car was intended to serve as cheap transportation for the increasing number of multi-car families and…
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…
There was – and is – no connection between the Moss Motor Company and Moss Motors except for a common appreciation for sports cars. John Cowperthwaite built his first special on an Austin 7 chassis when he was 18 and then decided to build a series of kits for commercial production. During the height of…
