history

Loving this one. Our video this week is from our friend John Clancy who brings you TriumphDVDs. But, this week’s video is not about Triumphs. No, this week we are looking at the history of Rover. Rover is one of those brands that was never very popular here in the US but was a standard in England. Additionally, the Rover brand was had heavy influences on almost all other British car brands and contributed one of the most famous engines of the classic period – the Rover 3500 V8. This video is a preview of the documentary DVD charting the full story of Rover from the introduction of the safety bicycle in 1895 to the last cars in 2005.

Our video of the week this time is a preview of an amazing new DVD set, The Standard Triumph Story, that I was given the honor of reviewing. This is two DVD set with over 230 minutes of footage on the history of Standard Triumph from the early days to the very end. Yup, it’s almost four hours in total so it’s a rather extensive look at one of Britain’s most beloved producers of cars. It is crammed full of great interviews with the men who were responsible for the cars in the factory, on the racetrack, and just about everywhere else in between.

Our Video of the Week (VotW) is a history of Rolls-Royce. In many ways, the Rolls-Royce is one of the more hidden British cars. It isn’t that they are that rare or invisible, but they have such a personality all their own that sometimes we forget about them in the midst of the MGs, Triumphs, Austin Healeys, and even Jaguars. However, if you were to ask the random man-on-the-street who is not an English car buff to name a British car, chances are that Rolls-Royce would be the first name off the lips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udc0cQy_cPg The history of the marque, its names, and its branding with Bentley, can be more than a bit confusing. But Rolls-Royce as most of us know it, formally named Rolls-Royce Limited in 1973, began in 1906 with the business partnership of Charles Stewart Rolls and Sir Frederick […]

A new and updated edition of the great reference work Jaguar – All the Cars by Nigel Thorley has been published by Veloce Press and should be hitting the streets as you read this. This 4th edition covers the complete SS and Jaguar model story from 1931 to 2015 Jaguar – All the Cars meets the needs of not only the Jaguar aficionado, but also enthusiasts who don’t have a detailed knowledge of the wide range of Jaguar models produced over the years. Illustrated in colour throughout, this significantly updated and expanded Fourth Edition comprehensively covers every single Jaguar production vehicle up to the present day, including the XE. The development of Jaguar production cars is charted, with a brief history of each model range, along with a detailed guide to exterior and interior differences, with accompanying pictures, production numbers, and […]

The one millionth Morris Minor car ever built has been sold at an auction for 25,760 pounds. The classic British-built car was sold earlier at the Surrey auction house, Historics at Brooklands. It was one of 349 “millionth” Morris Minors built in 1960, however, this car was the actual one millionth built. Stewart Banks, from Historics, said there had been an “awful lot of interest” in the car, which had an estimate of between 22,000 to 26,000 pounds. “There were 349 made but this is the only one with the million mark on its chassis. The Morris Minor has a very loyal fan base – people have them for years. This particular car has been owned by the vendor for 19 years,” Banks was quoted as saying by the BBC. “It is just the quintessential British motor car.” The “millionth” […]

Set to celebrate its 90th birthday annivarsary, The MG Car Company was founded in 1924 and got its name from Morris Garages, a dealer of Morris cars in Oxford which began producing its own customised versions to the designs of Cecil Kimber. The first cars, re-bodied Morris models, used coachwork from Carbodies of Coventry and were built in premises in Alfred Lane, Oxford. On May 1, 1924, the Octagon was registered as an MG trademark. The marque has come a long way since those early days, with the famous octagonal emblem recognised and celebrated around the globe. After several moves in Oxford, due to a growing demand for more cars to be produced, the MG moved to Abingdon and ever since the town has been the home of the MG. Arguably Britain’s favourite classic sports car reaches its 90th anniversary […]

The Golden Age of the British Sports Car, exploring the story of mass-produced two-seaters from 1945 to 1961, is showing on BBC Four on October 8 at 9pm. A one-hour documentary film, The Golden Age of the British Sports Car, investigates how British manufacturers hit upon a formula for distinctively small, stylish and quick two-seater sports cars that could be mass produced – and which would go on to take the world by storm. For the complete story,  check out The Telegraph.