Many enthusiasts dream of finding a Bugatti or a Bentley in a barn or a long disused building. In reality, such finds are more likely to be an Austin 7, Ford Popular or a Mini. This book is stuffed with these so called "barn finds". The author has tried to find out the background to the abandonment and the previous history of the "as found" car when it was in regular use. Why was it put away and apparently forgotten? Many of the stories have appeared in his "Lost and Found" column in "Clas...

Goodwood in the sixties epitomised all that was good about the British motor racing scene. It was a circuit where anybody could have a go, and yet the established greats like Stirling Moss would be there too. It was a circuit where Minis rubbed shoulders with Ferraris and Ford Galaxies, MGBs diced with Triumph TRs and Morgans, and clubman's races were as keenly fought as RAC Tourist Trophy events. Most of all Goodwood was accessible and informal: spectators with no special privileges could...

TV presenter and all-round car nut Ant Anstead takes the reader on a journey that mirrors the development of the motor car itself from a stuttering 20mph annoyance that scared everyone’s horses to 150mph pursuits with aerial support and sophisticated electronic tracking.The British Police Force’s relationship with the car started by chasing after pioneer speeding motorists on bicycles. As speed restrictions eased in the early twentieth century and car ownership inc...

The split screen, the indicators poking up like perspex orange fingers, the notoriously rust-prone floors, the pootling exhaust note… just some of the much-loved characteristics of the Morris Minor or Morris 1000. Designed by Sir Alec Issigonis back in 1948, in a sense it was Britain’s answer to the Beetle – a bulbous little creation that was also Britain’s first mass-appeal car. Between then and 1972 when production belatedly ceased some 1.6 million were built. There were variants like th...

Dinky Toys are a part of many people’s childhood. They were one of the many famous brands produced as part of the Meccano empire set up by Frank Hornby at his Binns Road factory in Liverpool. Although they began before the Second World War, it was the post-war ranges produced by Dinky that really caught the public’s imagination and helped to make the period into the company’s golden years. This colourfully illustrated book tells the story of Dinky Toys, including small Dinky Toys, the larg...

The Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow & Bentley T-Series were a revolutionary step forward when launched in 1965. Here's the full story, including related coachbuilt cars & the Silver Wraith ll, Corniche & Camargue.

Aston Martin is now more than a century old – and what a century it has been.Since its birth in London on the eve of the First World War, the company has experienced the highs of racing triumph – most famously in the 1959 Le Mans 24-hour race – and the lows of bankruptcy, yet throughout it all has been in the first rank of British marques.Published in association with the Aston Martin Heritage Trust and written by enthusiast Richard Loveys, Aston Martin...

Over 80 ex-employees and their descendants give perceptive and often humorous accounts of life in the Enfield works, charting its expansion from a humble needle factory into one of Britain’s best known motorcycle manufacturers. Contributions include Enfield-trained Bill Lomas, double World and British motorcycling champion, and Johnny Brittain who describes how he became the youngest member of the British winning team in the 1953 International Six Days Trial. They create a company ...

Alfa Mail is about Alfa Romeos. What made them great - and what will probably make them extinct. It's also about other cars too - great, good, bad and appalling - plus planes, bikes, places, people, prejudice ... and tractors.Motor vehicles are the greatest practical enablers of the 20th Century (even IT can't physically take us to Hollywood, or hospital), and stir our emotions like few other artefacts.Artefacts and their creators make history. Thus, this book is also about g...

In the modern era, mass-produced motorcycles tend to be Japanese or Italian, with the big four oriental manufacturers dominating the market. However, this wasn t always the case. Until the 1950s, and even into the 60s, British makers such as Scott, Rudge, BSA, Norton and Vincent ruled the roost. These legendary companies sold their bikes around the world, winning racing championships and setting speed records as they went. They, and many smaller British firms like them, are motorcycling s ...

Beginning with the arrival of the company founder from Germany, this book tells the story of the early years, the rescue of the brand name by the Standard Motor Company following the Second World War and the inspired idea to use the Triumph name on a new sports car - the TR. The Triumph TR cars were built on a minimal budget yet would go on to achieve significant success in motor sport and encompass a range of cars that would remain in one form or another for nearly thirty years. Triumph T...

Great British Cars celebrates the cars commonly seen on the nation’s roads during a golden age of motoring. From the 1950s to the 1970s, Britons drove such models as the Ford Zephyr, Hillman Imp, Triumph Herald, Ford Capri, Vauxhall Viva and, of course, the Morris Minor 1000. While rarely seen now on our roads, the 40 models described here still have a special place in many drivers’ hearts. Join Stephen Barnett on a nostalgic road trip back in time, in this beautifully illustrated celebrat...