Social historians will argue about exactly when Britain’s post-war blues started to lift. In 1957, then prime minister Harold Macmillan announced that we’d “never had it so good”, but the electorate probably wasn’t getting that vibe until about five years later, in 1962. And what a vibe it was, too, with Britons eager to shake off any residual post-war gloom to the accompaniment of The Beatles’ Love Me Do, and the knowledge that change was in the air.
Car makers were also on a roll, with a raft of new products that jettisoned the grey, austere designs of old for good. They now had to appeal to an increasingly youthful, aspirational buyer – as well as the booming American market – and styling reflected that shift. But three models unveiled in 1962 – all homespun two-seaters, but each at a different price point – were to change the face of The Great British Sports Car for more than a decade, and beyond. They were the Triumph Spitfire, MGB and Lotus Elan.
And what better location to bring this trio together than Goodwood Motor Circuit, which would still have been a prime stop-off for these cars’ first owners 60 years ago? Perhaps the most impecunious of them would have been driving the Spitfire, and feeling ever-so-slightly smug at the thought of showing up fellow drivers in their cheap ’n’ cheerful Austin-Healey Sprites. For the Spitfire, despite its relatively low £729 price and humble Herald underpinnings, looked like a glimpse of the future.
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Denne historien er fra May 2022-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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A Breath of Fresh Air- Alfa Romeo's exotic, V8-powered Montreal was like nothing the marque had made before, but can it compare with a Porsche masterpiece, the 911S 2.4?
The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.
Daring to be diminutive
AMC's Gremlin and Pacer, and Ford's much-derided Pinto, led America's response to the threat of imported European compacts
THE LONG WAY ROUND
There is a great tradition of overland trips by Land-Rover, but the tale of this 70s Aussie epic and the car itself was discovered by chance
Handsome cab
The Phantom V limousine marked the beginning of the end for coachbuilder James Young, but this Rolls-Royce represents the craft at its very best
DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
Racing for their own F1 teams brought some drivers success and an enduring legacy. For others, it turned into a nightmare
20 30 LITRES CYLINDERS, 400BHP......AND MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD
Thunderous torque, flame-spitting stub-exhausts, white-knuckle thrills - and hopefully no spills - aboard a trio of Edwardian racing titans
ICON.
The three top-selling vehicles in the USA in 2023 were pick-ups, topped by the Ford F-Series. This is the truck that started it all
Blurred Lines
lan 'Del' Lines blended the V8 burble of Triumph's open GT with real practicality in his Stag V8 saloons and estates
Home of the brave
The innovative Silverstone proved a hit with keen amateur drivers. To mark its 75th, Healey's club racer returns to the circuit for which it is named
PLAYING ALL THE ANGLES
Alfa Romeo's wild RZ eschewed the jellymould styling of the period to offer a striking, wedge-shaped take on open-topped performance motoring