This next car is an interesting value proposition. You’re basically buying a pile of Triumph parts that happens to still resemble a car. If the chassis is decent and the hardtop is usable, the economics start making sense, but you need to know what you are getting into because old British cars can be a […]
This is an early Giugiaro Esprit, from the wonderfully uncompromising wedge era when Lotus apparently owned nothing but rulers and protractors. Originally, this would have carried the Lotus 907 2.0-liter DOHC four-cylinder, mounted longitudinally behind the seats. Instead, somebody in the 1980s stuffed in a Rover 3.5-liter aluminum V8, making this a period hot-rod rather […]
I love a good oddball car like a Lotus Elite, but there’s a problem with getting into strange old cars. It’s the same thing that happens to people who buy odd dog breeds like Whippets or Pugs — they start well intentioned with a single dog, but after a few months you end up owning […]
Under that enormous hood is a gnarly aluminum intake manifold that feeds a 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12, making roughly 550 hp and 480 lb-ft, driving all four wheels through a 6-speed automatic. Performance was absurd for a 5,400-pound luxury sedan: about 0–60 mph in ~5 seconds and a top speed around 190+ mph. When new this […]
Our next feature is a Spitfire Mk IV, which means it gets the cleaner squared-off tail, improved rear suspension geometry versus the earlier swing-axle widowmaker years, and styling that looks like a shrunken GT6 with fewer cylinders. It is quite a good-looking car and will get smiles everywhere you go. I just wish this next […]
I’d recognize a W108 front grille anywhere in the world…but I am equally impressed and gobsmacked to find a W108 grille on the front of a custom MG thing. Moving toward the rear of the car and I don’t see many MG related things, it’s got a small-block Chevy V8, triple wipers, and Lotus Seven […]
If you’ve never driven a Lotus Super 7 (original or kit) you should go out of your way to find time to drive one or at least get a ride in one. I’ve got a friend whom I shall call Dwood for the sake of anonymity, and he has a late-model Caterham Super 7 Kit […]
This is the kind of kit car that makes normal kit cars look cowardly: Porsche 550 styled body, Lotus Esprit bones, aircraft cockpit, fold-down doors, electric badges, mid-engine layout, and absolutely no engine. The fold-down doors are a ridiculous and key featurel. Normal doors open out, Lambo doors go up, but these fold downward like […]
The Sunbeam Alpine was Rootes Group’s small British roadster, built to compete with cars like the MGA, MGB, Triumph TRs, and Austin-Healey Sprite/Midget. Power would originally come from a 1.6-liter Rootes four-cylinder, paired with a 4-speed manual. It is not a big-power car, but it is light, simple, and properly old-school British sports car in […]
This next custom build is absurdly compelling: Miata chassis, MGB GT coupe shell, K24A2 swap, manual gearbox, wide wheels, flares, and enough unfinished fabrication to scare away normal people instantly. The body-swap concept makes sense in a deranged way. You get the classic MGB GT roofline and hatchback proportions, but underneath is a Miata platform […]