Le Riche Automobile Restorers (CI) Ltd.

In 1955, Jaguar introduced their new 2. 4 Litre saloon, soon followed by the 3. 4 Litre in early 1957. These cars were the first Jaguars with unitary body and chassis construction, employing the already famous XK twin-cam six-cylinder engine. As such, they introduced a more modern style and new level of performance to the company's products. In 1959, Jaguar introduced a modified and improved ...

The Daimler Fifteen was introduced in 1932, utilising a new 1805 cc, straight-six engine (with a British tax rating of 15 hp, giving the car its name). This engine used a conventional overhead valve train, rather than Daimler’s usual (to that point) sleeve-valve system, driving through a pre-selector gearbox. Lively performance was not the goal, rather smooth and silent progress. Whilst Daimler ...

The BMW 700 is a small rear-engined car which was produced by BMW in various models from August 1959 to November 1965. The coupe and saloon versions of the 700 were shown at the 1959 Frankfurt Motor Show. After the show, BMW received 25, 000 orders for 700s. Production of the BMW 700 Coupe began in August 1959, with the saloon version following in December. The first variant of the 700 to appear after ...

British Leyland introduced the Range Rover to the public in June 1970. Prototypes had first appeared in 1967, as a result of Rover recognising that there was a new vehicle style starting to emerge in the US market – 4-wheel drive utility vehicles which offered greater on-road comfort and speed. The new Range Rover aimed to provide a vehicle at home both on and off road and was launched with the ...

Husqvarna is one of the oldest motorcycle manufacturers in the world. As a subsidiary of the Husqvarna armaments firm, the company began producing motorcycles in 1903 at Huskvarna, Sweden. Although they also produced road bikes, they were involved with racing from the early days and achieved much success and respect in the 1960s and 70s, when they became a major force in motocross and enduro competitions, ...

Following the purchase of Daimler by Jaguar in 1960, there was some pressure to produce a smaller saloon car to complement the larger Daimler Majestic model. The simple and cost-effective solution arrived at was to transplant the Daimler 2. 5 litre V8 engine (as fitted to the SP250 sports car) into the existing Jaguar Mk2 bodyshell. Thus the 2. 5 V8 saloon was born and launched to the public on October ...

The Jaguar 420G was an update on the Jaguar Mk 10, the company's top-of-the-range saloon model, which had been introduced in mid-October 1961 (the same year as the famous E-Type). In replacing the earlier Mark VII, VIII and VIX models, the Mark 10 was a cutting-edge design and introduced new features for a big Jaguar saloon – most notably a unitary bodyshell (used earlier for the 1955 Mk 1 ...

The MGA arrived in 1955 and represented a complete departure in styling for an MG sports car, with a wholly new, up to date, streamlined body. Additionally, it was powered by a new engine – the 1489cc four-cylinder B-Series engine and transmission from the recently announced Magnette saloon. This engine was fitted with twin SU carburettors and produced around 70bhp, giving the car a top speed of ...

The Mercedes G-Wagen – or more accurately, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class - was initially developed as a military vehicle, supposedly as a result of a suggestion by the Shah of Iran. Work started in 1972 under a joint agreement between Daimler-Benz and Steyr-Daimler-Puch of Graz, Austria, with production of a civilian version beginning in 1979. The vehicle was manufactured by Magna Steyr (formerly Steyr-Daimler-Puch) ...

The Lotus Elite, or Type 14, was first shown at the 1957 Earls Court London Motor Show and, when customer deliveries commenced in 1958, it ranked as the world’s first fibreglass monocoque production car. The revolutionary body used fibreglass-reinforced plastic to form a complete monocoque tub, with structural metal only used in the steel subframe which supported the engine and front suspension, ...

Possibly the first ‘classic electric car’, the Tesla Roadster has a few appropriate claims in the world of all-electric vehicles - the first road-legal, production vehicle to use lithium-ion batteries; the longest range per charge (at that time) of over 240 miles and the first electric vehicle to win the Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally.

Entering production in 2008, the car went ...

The Golf Rallye was an homologation special from the late 1980’s, marrying the all-wheel drive system from the Golf Synchro to a Golf GTi 1. 8-litre engine, to which Volkswagen’s engineers had added a G-Lader supercharger. The engine capacity was reduced from the stock 1781 cc to 1764 cc, so that it would comply with the FIA’s 3. 0-litre class limit (a 1. 7x multiplication factor was applied ...

First exhibited as a sports coupé concept car by design house Ghia at the Turin Motor show in 1960, the design was picked up by Fiat for production, making use of the then new Fiat 2300 saloon as a source platform, becoming available to the public – as the Fiat 2300 Coupé - in 1962.

The new Coupé used the floorpan of the 2300 saloon – keeping the same wheelbase, but with a slightly ...

Possibly one of the most iconic of all Italian cars and universally recognised, the Fiat 500 was launched in 1957. Needing to be affordable, economical and practical for its home market, the car was minimalist in all respects – size (under 10 feet long, yet seating 4); performance (a tiny 2-cylinder, 500 cc engine mounted in the rear and providing just 13 bhp) and fittings (fabric roof; metal dashboard). ...

Volkswagen introduced their 'Type 2' (the manufacturer's second model) in 1950 and production ran in Germany until 1979, when the Type 3 model was introduced. Instantly recognizable to this day, they have achieved something of a cult status, given their widespread use during the '60s and later, often associated with the surf culture from that decade.

The earliest ...