The Toyota FJ was Japan’s answer to the British Land Rover and American Jeep beginning in the early 1950s. With its small chassis and virtually indestructible engine, transmission, and suspension, the FJ quickly established itself as a go-to vehicle to tackle daunting terrain. With the model having origins as a mobility vehicle for Japan’s Natio..
Andrey Lipgart was a Russian automotive engineer who received formal training from the Ford Motor Company in the US. During his tenure at Ford, Mr. Lipgart carefully studied contemporary American automotive designs and assembly-line production. Following his return to the Soviet Union, he was named chief constructor at the Gorky Automobile Plant..
Introduced at the 1968 Geneva Motor Show, the Lamborghini Espada was a striking 2+2 grand tourer designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone. Gandini drew inspiration from two of his prior designs – the Lamborghini Marzal and Bertone Pirana – to pen the sleek lines of the Espada. Mechanically, the Espada utilized the Giotto Bizzarrini-designed 3,922..
Debuted in Paris in 1968, the 365 GTB/4 succeeded the 275 GTB/4 as Ferrari’s new top-of-the-line, two-seat gran turismo. Almost immediately, it was unofficially known as the “Daytona” in honor of Ferrari’s podium sweep at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona, and it stands as the last front-engine, V-12 GT model designed before Fiat’s takeover of Ferrar..
During its first 10–15 years of existence, Ferrari transitioned from a boutique builder of road cars to a genuine small-scale manufacturer. This growth meant more revenue to spend on racing, and it necessitated the evolution of Ferrari road cars from barely disguised race cars to something that would appeal to discerning buyers beyond the advent..
In December 1953, Ferrari unveiled its first four-cylinder production sports car – the 500 Mondial, named in honor of Alberto Ascari’s back-to-back World Championships.
Like Ascari’s 500 F2 Monoposto, the Mondial featured a two-liter, twin-cam, four-cylinder engine designed by Aurelio Lampredi. Known internally as the tipo 110, this eng..
Deceptively comfortable, sophisticated, and usable, Maserati’s mid-engine Bora surpassed Lamborghini’s groundbreaking Miura in several key respects and predated Ferrari’s 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer by several years.
Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and masterfully engineered by Giulio Alfieri, the Bora was Maserati’s first monocoque-based r..
One of the most glamorous automobiles of any era, the Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet is an extraordinary true four-passenger convertible, and just 1,232 were produced from August 1969 through July 1971. Built with no cost spared using extensive hand labor, these high-style, V-8-powered machines were aimed squarely at elite buyers in the US an..
A fascinating combination of ingenious oleo-pneumatic, self-leveling suspension, elegant avant-garde styling by Robert Opron, and an exotic, quad-cam Maserati V-6, the Citroën SM remains among the most distinct and desirable GT cars of the past half century.
The SM offered here is one of 134 examples originally built for the US market t..
The front-engine V-12, reintroduced to the Ferrari lineup with the 550 Maranello, was strengthened with the 575, which was launched for the 2002 model year. Although its striking Pininfarina silhouette only featured minor revisions, the true advancements came in the form of a larger 5.75-liter V-12 engine, as well as improved weight distribution..