Automotive
Classic & Sports Car
ASTON MARTIN: THE ENTIRE STORY
Aston Martin is fertile ground for marque histories. There are almost as many twists and turns in the company's ownership as at the Circuit de la Sarthe, where Aston achieved its greatest motorsport successes. Being better known for producing beautiful road cars than any particular technical mastery, Aston can attract the ‘coffee table’ treatment, where lovely photography and immaculate production values can mask vapid copy - but that’s not the case here.
2 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
Mick WALSH
The journey, as much as the destination, is a key part of any road trip, as proved on one of my greatest motoring experiences, the 1991 Carrera Panamericana revival. As copiloto to 'Julio Balmez' in his Lincoln Cosmopolitan, 'Wooly Bully', the journey to the start and back to Los Angeles had highlights to match the surreal rally from Tuxtla Gutiérrez to Ciudad Juárez.
2 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
ESCORT DOMINATES IN THE FORESTS
Osian Pryce and Dale Furniss emerged as resounding winners of the Roger Albert Clark Rally from 20-24 November, after one of the toughest editions yet in the 16-year story of this marathon, during which only 125 of the 176 starters made the finish.
5 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
COLLECTORS AND RACERS STAR IN SPAIN
AutoClassic Alcañiz marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Aragonese town's former street track, Circuito Guadalope, during the 28th edition of the indoor show, which returned to Feria Alcañiz exhibition centre from 12-14 December.
6 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
PAUL CAMERON
This design specialist has channelled his creative talent into automotive art, with dramatic results
2 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
Model of the month
BENTLEY SPEED SIX Spark, 1:18, £169.99
1 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
Simon TAYLOR
Ever since the inelegant term 'restomod' emerged in the USA in the 1990s, it has been hung on a great variety of cars: from over-lowered, over-wheeled café showoffs to beautifully engineered developments of the original, such as those Eagle E-types that can cost you half a million quid.
2 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
Martin BUCKLEY
In early spring 2025, the time came, for various reasons, to 'get out of Dodge'. But where to go? Somewhere warm with lots of old cars, ideally, so I could continue earning a living. My friend John had been regaling me for years with tales of Palm Springs: of desert scrapyards full of sun-bleached, rot-free British gems; of living in a condo with a pool, in a place where you could ogle daily-driven classics under endless blue skies while indulging a passion for architecture – or drown your sorrows at Polynesian-themed tiki bars. So I made hasty arrangements, packed a bag and was on the next plane, under instruction from my 82-year-old mum to “bloody behave”.
2 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
Two's a party
Alejandro de Tomaso not only redefined Maserati for the next two decades with the 1982 Biturbo, but also introduced the world to twin turbocharging
10 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
Pick of the month
GADGET GEAR
4 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
ELECTRON IS REBORN FOR THE ROAD
Air Vice Marshal DCT ‘Pathfinder’ Bennett had an extraordinary career, first in the Royal Air Force and then in commercial aviation after that, before becoming a Member of Parliament. Rather than retire into obscurity, he then started to make cars under the Fairthorpe name in rural Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire. After a limited run of a microcar called the Atom there was a four-wheeler called the Atomota, which became the Atom Major. Following the arrival of the Coventry Climax 1098cc engine, Fairthorpe took a modified Atomota chassis and produced a desirable sports car called the Electron, but the high cost of the motor made the car uncompetitive in the marketplace.
1 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
FORD SIERRA RS COSWORTH
The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth's British credentials are upheld here, not because of where the base car was manufactured – its assembly plant was in Genk, Belgium – but rather by its UK-led conception and powertrain development for this iconic high-performance model. That's important because, before the RS Cosworth's launch at the Geneva Salon in '85, the only turbocharged production cars of note that had emerged from Blighty were the MG Metro Turbo in 1983 and its MG Montego Turbo sibling, along with a gaggle of blown M-series TVRs. Prior to that, British buyers' limited exposure to turbocharging had come in the form of the left-hooker-only BMW 2002 turbo and Saab's 99, plus the exotic Porsche 911.
4 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
Brawn with a silver spoon
To some at Crewe the idea of a hopped up Mulsanne went against all the firm stood for, but the Turbo R would save Bentley's bacon
8 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
A STORED SCIMITAR WITH A STRANGE FACE
Of the 1006 examples built of the original Reliant Scimitar SE4 coupé, some 705 survivors are known to the Reliant Sabre and Scimitar Owners’ Club. Martin O’Sullivan has a 1967 example, registered NAR 261D. He had been working on a building site at Bicester in 1975 when one of his colleagues put the word out that his sports car was for sale, because he wanted to raise money for a mortgage. When he said it was a Reliant most lost interest, thinking that it was a three-wheeler, but Martin was bowled over by the car and bought it for £350.
2 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
LEA-FRANCIS TO RACE AGAIN
Lea-Francis cars can trace their roots back to 1903, when the firm, which had previously produced bicycles, made its very first automobile. During the 1920s and ’30s its cars were successful in competition, and the company was rescued from bankruptcy by George Leek and Hugh Rose. Production was suspended for WW2, but engineering for war work proved profitable, which enabled production to start again using mainly updated prewar models. Yet behind the scenes, a number of experimental cars were being worked on, including a prototype sports-racer.
2 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
COLLECTORS AND RACERS STAR IN SPAIN
AutoClassic Alcañiz marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Aragonese town's former street track, Circuito Guadalope, during the 28th edition of the indoor show, which returned to Feria Alcañiz exhibition centre from 12-14 December.
5 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
ESCORT DOMINATES IN THE FORESTS
Osian Pryce and Dale Furniss emerged as resounding winners of the Roger Albert Clark Rally from 20-24 November, after one of the toughest editions yet in the 16-year story of this marathon, during which only 125 of the 176 starters made the finish.
5 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
ALVIS IS REAL BARN-FIND DEAL
In September 1937, the Alvis Firebird was redesigned by George Lanchester. It later reemerged as the 12/70, with coachwork supplied by Mulliners of Birmingham. Following the Second World War, the famous TA14 model was launched as a development of the 12/70.
2 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
PORSCHE 911 TURBO
Forget the figures for a moment. When the 911 turbo finds a straight, on boost, it will leave everything behind. On paper, a Carrera RS should keep up. It won't. “A 3.2 is basically just as quick,” say the doubters, those who see 3500rpm as time to consider easing off. The 911 turbo rewards commitment. Roll on the throttle and a hissing, tearing building of pressure begins an irresistible surge of torque that ignites like an afterburner on Porsche's thumping flat-six behind. Stay in, line up your corner exit and the horizon, and it becomes a full-force explosion of momentum at 4000rpm, firing forward in a tachometer-blurring rush. All that's left for those behind is an empty space that had once displayed the word: turbo.
4 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
THE FORCE AWAKENS
When atmospheric pressure was no longer enough, engineers turned to turbocharging - the art of using exhaust gases to forcefeed an engine fuel and air
8 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STi
The turbocharger was a gift for the Japanese car enthusiast, more than perhaps any other nation. Expensive fuel and oppressive tax regimes kept engines over 2 litres – and thus real performance – the preserve of the very wealthy in Japan before its arrival. Though not first to the technology, Japanese car makers would take to it like few others, applying characteristic rigour to create some of the best engines of the 20th century with the aid of forced induction.
4 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
DON'T LOOK BACK IN ANGER
The C&SC team pops on the rose-tinted spectacles to count down the best bits from the class of 2025
10 min |
February 2026
Classic & Sports Car
Genetic engineering
Shared technology led to four distinct executive expresses being spun from the same raw materials by Lancia, Saab, Fiat and Alfa Romeo
10+ min |
January 2026
Classic & Sports Car
AUDI RS3
Ingolstadt mates its Dr Jekyll grip and practicality with Mr Hyde performance
2 min |
January 2026
Classic & Sports Car
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Early 911S takes a laser focus on originality to impressive volumes of Porsche restorations
3 min |
January 2026
Classic & Sports Car
TOYOTA MR2 (Mk1)
Japan's first mid-engined sports car was a brilliant package that is becoming increasingly collectible
2 min |
January 2026
Classic & Sports Car
An unexpected journey
This glorious 250 Europa GT was conceived for touring, but has spent much of its iire in competition - and it's hungry for more
8 min |
January 2026
Classic & Sports Car
BRUNO PINHA
This Portugese car dealer felt so at home in his garage that he now lives in it
2 min |
January 2026
Classic & Sports Car
WHAT GOES AROUND...
...comes around. Mazda popularised rotary power with cars such as the R100 Coupé. This tastefully uprated example brings the technology full circle
8 min |
January 2026
Classic & Sports Car
Simon TAYLOR
'Most of us consumed children's fiction, from Enid Blyton to Biggles. But we had car books as well'
3 min |