The Lotus M100 Elan, launched in 1989, was a two-seater, convertible sports car designed by Lotus and built with the development and testing resources of General Motors. Around £35 million was invested in its development, more than any other car in Lotus history. Its design, featuring a fibreglass composite body over a rigid steel monocoque chassis..
Produced by Renault-owned French carmaker Alpine during the first half of the smashing 1990s (1991 to 1995), the A610 had all the attributes of a sports car... or at least the ones that were common during the day; for example, the pop-up headlights, the rear-engine and rear wheel drive layout, complete with a cool turbocharged 3.0litre V6 engine. T..
In the early 1970's, Porsche had designs on racing a turbocharged version of the 911 and the Porsche 911 Turbo or 930 was born. It was the fastest production car available on the market. Adding this level of power to the already powerful car created a vehicle that was not for the faint hearted. In skilled hands, however, a 930 will show a clean pai..
Introduced early in 1971, this impressive two-seater sports car replaced the 280SL. The body and chassis of the 3rd generation SL was considerably heavier and longer than its predecessor but still showed a resemblance to them. The front and rear axles were like those of the 200-250 models with independent wheel suspension using double wishbones and..
Unveiled at the March 1989 Geneva Motor Show, the new Mercedes-Benz R129 Series SL range was beautifully engineered. Based around a two-door monocoque bodyshell, its sophisticated, all-round independent suspension (double-wishbone front/five-link rear) was augmented by a host of active and passive safety features including electronic stability cont..
In 1976, at the instigation of new chairman Bob Price, Vauxhall decided to increase their profile in international rallying. They developed a rally version of the Chevette in conjunction with Blydenstein Racing, which ran Dealer Team Vauxhall, the nearest equivalent to a 'works' (manufacturer run) competition team that GM policy would allow. In ord..
1980
Vauxhall
Chevette LWB HSR Ex- Factory Works car. Group 4 specification
The early days of this exquisite example are slightly academic. It went from Germany to Japan (import documents enclosed) and then back to the UK. The real story begins in 2011 when it arrived with the vendor. The Porsche marque was the designer’s personal passion and with an award-winning restoration team around him they wanted to prove a point wi..
In 1983, Mercedes-Benz introduced the Cosworth 2.3 16V into their range and the new cars were substantially different from the other 190 models. The body kit reduced the drag coefficient and the steering wheel was smaller than that on other 190s, whilst the fuel tank was enlarged to 70 litres. The Getrag five-speed, manual gearbox was unique to the..
Prior to its merger with Daimler AG, AMG was an independent tuner that was established in 1967 by Daimler-Benz engineers Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher (the G is for Grossaspach, Aufrecht’s birthplace). AMG would modify engines and sell performance accessories that customers could use to upgrade their Mercedes-Benz automobiles. By the 1980..
The squarer-styled Escort Mk. II appeared in January 1975 with the first production models having rolled off the production lines on 2nd December 1974. Unlike the first Escort (which was developed by Ford of Britain), the second generation was developed jointly between the UK and Ford of Germany. Codenamed ‘Brenda’ during its development, it had th..