Articles

Our video this week features the history of a car that most Americans don’t think about and most probably have never even heard of. The Vauxhall brand though has consistently been one of the best-selling automotive brands in Britain. Let’s turn to Wikipedia for a bit of info … Vauxhall Motors is the trading name used by General Motors UK Limited) is a British automotive manufacturing and distribution company headquartered in Luton (Bedfordshire) and an affiliated company of the German Adam Opel AG, both being wholly owned subsidiaries of General Motors (GM) in the United States. The company sells passenger cars and light commercial vehicles under the Vauxhall marque; in the past it has also sold buses and trucks under the Bedford brand. Vauxhall has been the second-largest-selling car brand in the UK for more than two decades. Vauxhall was […]

So, our video escapist short this week is from 1955 and follows a British bicycle club on an excursion from London through Rugby and on to Warwick. “Wait a second!” you say. Is that “cyclist” in the title? Like “bicycle”?  Well yes. Yes, it is.  For our video of the week this go ’round I wanted something different. Different and fun. Not only does the video feature bicycles, of course, but over the course of the fifteen-minutes you see lots of cars and steam trains. Steam locomotives were used in Britain far later than they were in the states. If you can skip over some of the trolls in the comments, and a few bits of foul language, there are some interesting observations on the bikes and on the excursion itself.

We decided to go a little more toward the sporting side this week – guess that is still a carry over from Daytona this past weekend. So, our Video of the Week this time is titled “Brits Who Made The Modern World: The Lotus 25”. In this 22 minute film, Peter Snow finds out how Britain’s successful Formula One industry has its origins in a remarkable amateur racing club and a visionary group of motor enthusiasts. He meets the surviving members of the Lotus Engineering team whose revolutionary car, the Lotus 25, changed the sport forever. To quote our old friend Wikipedia: The Lotus 25 was a racing car designed by Colin Chapman for the 1962 Formula One season. It was a revolutionary design, the first fully stressed monocoque chassis to appear in F1. In the hands of Jim Clark it took […]

Due to my recent purchase of a Land Rover Discovery with V8 engine, and honestly due as much to my life-long lust for the Rover V8, I picked up a copy of the book The Rover V8 Engine by David Hardcastle. My desire for this engine and anything that might be powered by it go all the way back to my teenage years when I drug home a decrepit Rover 3500S just in hopes of securing the engine for my MG. Long story short – nothing about that entire adventure worked out. But, my hopes for the magnificent V8 continued. This work, on dust jacket and Amazon listing, is billed as, “A thorough technical assessment of the Rover V8 engine and all methods of tuning for increased power output. Filled with the V8s transatlantic origins and production, its competition career in rallies and in saloon […]

Some may not realize that the MG brand and logo are now in the hands of a Chinese firm, SAIC Motor Corporation Limited, a state-owned firm based in Shanghai. They are the largest Chinese automaker by sales with over 5 million units sold in 2014.

Our Video of the Week for the last week of January (wow, 2017 is roaring by!) is a sponsored documentary showing the manufacture of MG cars at Abingdon. This video comes by way of folks at British Pathé. One of the interesting thing to me about this video is that it is from 1931 – long before the MGB or even the MGA, entered the picture. The cars being made here are the ones that really laid the groundwork of the legend that would be MG.

Now that 2016 and December are behind us, I supposed it is time to reveal the winner of the last contest.  If you will remember, that contest was a simple one – all that was required was to our new Discussion Forums, register and then leave a comment. That was it! The prize for this contest was the engrossing DVD set of The Standard Triumph Story. Without further adieu … the winner is … Martin Keller of Ventura, CA.  We are contacting him as we speak so we can send the DVD set on out. Congratulations to Martin! Thank you to all those who entered! Make sure to check out the discussion forums!  

For our video we are returning again this week to the great folks at Petrolicious for a look at the classic 1972 Lotus Elan +2. These are great little cars, though a bit tight for some of us, so I can see having no regrets for purchasing one.  Note – you will need to turn on the closed-captioning to listen to the video unless you understand French. To quote Petrolicious about this video… Typically 2+2 body styles are less desirable to two-seaters—that’s true of the Datsun 240Z and the Lotus Elan. But with the Lotus the Plus 2 wears the larger size with elegance, and at a still-attainable price point. While not enjoying the valuation of the lighter drophead coupe, the 10 inches of additional width and two feet of length give the classic a character of its own. Brieuc […]

Something a bit different this week for our video. This time round we are featuring “HBTV: Depth of Speed – British Mania”. The series “Depth of Speed” … ‘was born from a desire of story, travel and a love of anything automotive related. Next year my wife and I will be taking to the streets to uncover and document the greatest stories from the automotive world. From coast-to-coast and from top to bottom, finding the best stories will take the highest priority. Every time I meet someone new or attend an event I’m amazed at the depth, passion and love that the automotive world brings. Depth of Speed is just that – an in-depth look at these stories. There is something about motors and machines, that to an outsider looking in, would make us seem plain crazy.‘ This episode, British […]

For our last Video of the Week of 2016 I thought we would take a look at one of the still affordable and often overlooked classics out there. A car that could very easily be in the Sunbeam Tiger category of collectibles. Our Video of the Week this time around is a Buyer’s Guide to the Triumph TR8. This video was produced in 2015 by Hagerty, the classic car insurance folk. In many ways, the comparison to the Sunbeam Tiger is a good one. Both cars are the V8 derivative of their more common 4-cylinder counterpart. Both were produced in limited numbers, and both were ignored as collectible for a long time. In the case of the Triumph, it still is for the most part. Although that may be beginning to change, a quick search online will find nice examples till […]

This article first appeared on my new Land Rover Log, but I thought I would run it here just for your consideration. I didn’t just dream up this current Land Rover desire out of nowhere. Nope, back in the mid-80s when I was in college, I bought my first car – an MGB. I loved that car and drove it everywhere … until I drove it into the back of a stopped car as I was coming around a curve on Lockwood Boulevard here in Charleston. I won’t say the folks in the stopped car were doing anything wrong or wanting to get hit, but I will say that at least one of them got out of the car already wearing a neck brace.

Welcome to tthe Just British December contest. (Please insert trumpet fanfare as desired.) The way to enter the contest is simple and free – go to our new Discussion Forums, register, and then leave a comment. Yup, that’s it. You can post to an existing thread, such as the one about the contest, or start a new one of your own. It would be great fun if you would post an introduction to yourself and your car(s), but that is not necessary.  Just register and leave a comment of some sort. But please, no spam. If you spam the forums your comment will be deleted and you will be banned. (Hate to have to say that, but it has already happened.) Commenting here doesn’t count! Has to be on the forums. The prize for this contest will be the great DVD set […]

Our video this week is one I thought I had shown you all before, but I guess not. This video is drone footage of the 2014 British by the Sea car show, held annually in Connecticut. The 2014 show was the 27th annual gathering and saw over 400 amazing British cars, from classic to modern, small roadsters to large off-roads, daily drivers to treasured show cars. This gathering was organized by Connecticut MG Club. The video was captured with gimbal-stabilized GoPro Hero3 on DJI F550 Hexacopter.

Back in the 1952-1953 period, the importer of MGs for the Midwest who was based in Chicago, Stanley H. Arnolt who ran S H Arnolt Inc, decided that the MGTD which was one of his big sellers  needed a new updated body.  Not seeing such a product likely to come from the Nuffield organization in England, he set about finding a coach building firm to create a new body for the car.   He met with Giovani Bertone in Italy at the Turin auto show  in 1952 and the foundation for a cooperative agreement was made.

It’s back! Yup, time again for our holiday gift giving guide. Honestly, I am not sure whether this is a list of items for you to give, items you might want to receive, or just my own personal wish list. (Hint, hint)  No matter what it is, it is simply a fun exercise in cool stuff for the British car fan.  This year we have broken the list of ten items down into five gift-giving categories: Toys, Tools, Trip, Library, and Clothing. I tried to make them all start with “t” but gave up on that. So, five categories with two items each. As always, let’s start with …. toys! Toys LEGO Caterham – a LEGO version of the Caterham seven 620R, a custom-built sports car with an unashamed old-school vibe. Power steering? no chance. Electric windows? forget it. The Caterham seven […]

The new Just British discussion forums are now open and are your place for classified ads, advice seeking, mechanical tips and other British car discussions. Many, many years ago, in a past incarnation of the Just British site, we used to have discussion forums. Ever since we moved over to the new site and new format, folks have been asking us where the forums are and when and if we would bring them back. Well, that time is now. At the moment there are just two main discussion forums – General and Classified. Obviously, the Classified forum is for posting of ads for items for-sale, wanted, or for trade. The General forum is for everything related to British cars that isn’t a classified ad. Pretty simple really.

Our video this week is one that I know almost nothing about – the Exeter Trials in 2007 at Wooston Steep. Although I really don’t know much about this event, and I am hoping that one of our readers can fill me in, watching the cars make their way through the muddy course is just too much fun. There are a wide range of cars represented, from an old classic Singer 9 Sports up through an Escort, Anglia, and TR7. According to the video’s publisher, Classical Gas Stuff, the cars featured are … Phil Watmough (Singer 9 Sports) Greg Warren (Anglia Estate) XXXX XXXX (Red Class 1 Car) David Child (Ford Pop) XXXX XXXX (Red Marlin) Alan Cundy (VW Golf) Giles Greenslade (VW Beetle) XXXX XXXX (Reliant SS1) Keith Roach (HRG) XXXX XXXX (Red Marlin) Ray Goodright (Arkley) Stuart Roach […]

For students of the history of Jaguar Cars, a book written by Chris Cowin, first 2012 and republished 2014 may be of interest. The book, British Leyland: Chronicle of a Car Crash 1968-1978 is simply packed with interesting history. This is the comprehensive story of a collection of once great and diverse British industries, primarily automotive, and their slow but relentless move toward destruction with only a few surviving pieces, Jaguar and Land Rover. For Jaguar only followers much of this book may be irrelevant as it deals in great detail about the downward spiral of the largest indigenous British car companies beginning about 1968 but this date is approximate.