Sid James, Sir Laurence Olivier, and the Duke of Edinburgh all drove London taxis around the capital for the sake of anonymity. Nubar Gulbenkian, the Turkish-born Armenian oil magnate, is probably still the most famous Austin FX4 exponent, although keeping a low profile was not part of the remit for this eccentric Harrow- and Cambridge-educated Anglophile; and it appears unlikely that he ever took the wheel himself.
Born in 1896, Nubar Sarkis Gulbenkian inherited part of his fortune from his miserly father Calouste, whom Nubar famously sued for $10million when he once refused to pay for his son's $4.50 chicken lunch out of petty cash. When Calouste died in 1955, most of his legacy went into a Portugal-based foundation, but the younger Gulbenkian had inherited all of his father's business acumen and accumulated an independent fortune that easily funded his lavish lifestyle.
Like Lady Docker or journalist Gilbert Harding, this socialite, gourmet and committed womaniser appears utterly irrelevant to 21st-century sensibilities. Yet his exploits - and his many witticisms - captured the post-war public imagination, and he was famous enough in his day to be interviewed by John Freeman for the BBC's Face to Face in 1959.
The legacy of Nubar Gulbenkian's bespoke automobiles has kept his name on the radar over the years since his 1972 demise. Evidently having engineered a day off school, I can clearly recall seeing his coachbuilt Austin on the afternoon magazine programme Pebble Mill at One circa 1973, just before it was auctioned: it made an impressive £6500.
The taxi that Gulbenkian commissioned was bodied - by FLM Panelcraft of Battersea in the style of a horse-drawn brougham, complete with carriage lamps above the doors and faux wicker appliqué along the flanks. From the windscreen backwards, it was designed like a miniature limousine featuring some definite overtones of a Victorian hansom cab.
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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
