The Austin-Healey sports car range is synonymous with a particular era of British sports car production, and is similar to Jaguar in many ways. Both companies built strong, reliable and affordable cars for the North American market, their strongest and safest market, and the cars evolved model by model over […]
Profiles
1971 OTAS Grand Prix
Abarth and Company, a name that was to become synonymous with highly tuned specialist cars based on Fiat mechanical components, opened for business in 1949, manufacturing high-performance mufflers. A year later, Carlo Abarth’s genius for obtaining amazing horsepower from tiny engines became evident with his modifications on the then-new Fiat […]
Alfa Romeo GTV-6
The Alfa Romeo GTV-6 was produced at a time when Alfa Romeo was hemorrhaging money. Yet, the engineers at Alfa managed to create one of the most sophisticated sports cars of its era. An all-alloy SOHC V6 engine driving a rear five-speed transaxle with deDion suspension is world-class engineering. This […]
1967 Porsche 911S SWB 2.0L Coupe
It was evident to Porsche management in the late ’50s that the 356 series was rapidly becoming dated and reaching the end of its development potential, so in 1959 Ferdinand Porsche began designing a new car. A number of criteria were laid down: the car would have no more than […]
1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Hemi Coupe
1970 was the first year for the Dodge Challenger, Dodge’s response (along with the redesigned Plymouth Barracuda which was on a 2″ shorter wheelbase) to Ford’s Mustang and Cougar and GM’s Camaro and Firebird. Challenger’s body echoed the corporate family “Coke-bottle” shape, a lithe and purposeful look, distinctive from the […]
1964 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2
ntroduced at the 1964 Brussels Motor Show as a successor to the 330 America, the 4-liter, 300-hp, Mark 1 330 GT 2+2 with 4-speed synchromesh gearbox had well-spaced ratios and a single dry-plate clutch in unit with the engine, with a Laycock electrically operated overdrive fitted behind the gearbox. The […]
1938 Jaguar SS 100 3.5 Liter
In 1936, only five years after beginning production, SS Cars startled the motoring public with the Jaguar 2.5-liter saloon, the company’s first car to feature overhead valves. The engine was the robust seven-bearing, six-cylinder unit built by Standard, but with a new cylinder head designed by Harry Weslake and Bill […]
1958 Maserati 3500 GT
Maserati’s survival strategy for the 1960s centered on establishing the company as a producer of road cars. The Modena marque’s new era began in 1957 with the launch of the Touring-bodied 3500 GT. A luxurious and spacious 2+2, the 3500 GT drew on Maserati’s competition experience. Suspension was independent at […]
1991 Lotus Elan
Should the Harvard Business School need yet another case study in how a great idea can go counter-clockwise down a toilet if not executed properly, please have them refer to the launch/introduction/sale of the 1991 Lotus Elan Turbo SE in the US. Introduced during the same twelve-month period as the […]
1969 Plymouth Road Runner Convertible
Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, 1968—The Pontiac GTO and the Ford Mustang were about to receive a wake-up call. Adorned with the familiar cartoon decal, Plymouth’s new release took to the streets, ready to explain its creative moniker and unseen capabilities. Plymouth took the outright awesome power of the very expensive […]