Surprisingly, perhaps, Sir Alec Issigonis considered the Austin/Morris 1800 to be his finest hour as a car designer. A five-seater, wheel-at-each-corner piece of front-drive rationalism, what was codenamed ADO17 and colloquially known as the Landcrab took his Mini concept of compact spaciousness to its natural – but not particularly attractive – conclusion: a 13ft 11in-long, 5ft 7in-wide family saloon with more rear-seat legroom than anything this side of a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
He made no such public utterances on the subject of the closely related 1967-’71 Austin 3 Litre, other than a few ‘I told you so’ type noises when, as predicted, the new ADO61 bombed in the arenas of both expert opinion and public acceptance. Fewer than 10,000 sales across a four-year production run made the poor old 3 Litre a poster child of the British Motor Corporation’s 1960s incompetence.
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Esta historia es de la edición May 2022 de Classic & Sports Car.
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RAY HILLIER
Double-chevron oddity proves a break from the norm for this Crewe specialist
SHORT BACK & GLIDES
Eccentric enthusiast Captain RG McLeod's series of Manx-tailed Bentley Specials reached its zenith with this unique S2 Continental.
People's choice
The diminutive but multi-million-selling Fiat 850 packed a remarkable diversity of form and function into its compact footprint
PLASTIC BREAKS FROM THE NORM
Glassfibre revolutionised niche car-body production, but just occasionally strayed into the mainstream.
A SENSIBLE SUPERCAR
The cleverly conceived four-seater Elite secured Lotus a place at the big players' table, but has it been unfairly maligned since then?
"I had a habit of grabbing second place from the jaws of victory"
From dreams of yachting glory to the Le Mans podium, via a stint at the top of the motorsport tree, Howden Ganley had quite the career
Still going strong
Herbert Engineering staked its reputation on the five-year warranty that came with its cars. A century on, this Two Litre hasn't made a claim
One for the kids
General Motors was aiming squarely at the youth market with the launch of the Pontiac GTO 60 years ago, and its runaway success popularised the muscle-car movement
A NEW BREED OF HERO
Launched at the turn of the millennium, the GT3 badge has already earned a place alongside RS, CS and turbo in Porsche lore.
Brits with SIX appeal
The straight-six engine is synonymous with a decades-long legacy of great British sports cars. Six variations on the sextet theme convene for comparison
