With their sleek and powerful looks, the big Austin-Healeys have always made an impression. In this revealing book, the author explores the development of the ʻBigʼ Healeys, as distinct from the smaller Austin-Healey Sprite, to produce a comprehensive and compelling account of one of the iconic British sports cars. After Donald Healeyʼs sports car design impressed the managing director of Austin, Leonard Lord, at the 1952 London Motor Show, Healey was given the engineering back-up that he ...

The Jaguar XK120 caused a sensation at the 1948 London Motor Show with its stunning appearance and the startling performance on tap from the innovative XK engine. Although the captivating roadster had been intended as a limited volume showcase for the technically advanced powerplant, unprecedented consumer demand forced the company to build it in greater numbers, becoming the most affordable supercar of the time. In this highly readable and informative book, award-winning historian John Ni...

Considered among the most desirable sports cars ever built, Triumph’s TR series were renowned for their strong performance, rugged construction and iconic styling. Among the ranks of affordable sports cars, these legendary British automobiles introduced a host of innovations, including front disc brakes, independent rear suspensions and petrol injection, making them perennial sales and competition champions. From the stillborn 20TS prototype, Triumph developed the revolutionary TR2, which ...

One of the most successful entrepreneurs in the automotive world, Robert “Bob” McKee writes about his incredible journey in What a Ride: From Boardwalk to Boardroom – A Hustler’s Insights into Business and Life. From a youth spent running gaming booths along the Jersey shore to building Autogeek and McKee’s 37 into some of the most respected brands in the business, this informative and entertaining book discusses all the triumphs and travails he experienced over the years including his wor...

Steam, and then cumbersome motor, tractors existed in small numbers before 1914, after which the need to produce more foods using less horse and man power saw the origins of the machine we know today. Thanks to mass production, Ford brought the price down to suit average farmers, and in the 1920s to 1940s numerous rivals brought in such novelties as diesel engines, pneumatic tyres, hydraulic implement lifts and even cost-effective all-wheel drive and weather protection. After the Second Wo...

The Land Rover has become an icon across the world, famed for its classic design, its practicality and its longevity. In this revised edition of his acclaimed book, first issued as Land Rover - 60 Years of the 4 x 4 Workhouse, James Taylor charts sixty-five years of Land Rover development in comprehensive detail, bringing the story right up to date with the latest Defender variants. Contents include: Prototypes and development vehicles; Standard production models; The special editions; Lan...

The Jaguar E-type was the outstanding British sports car of the post-war years. Introduced in 1961 it was Jaguar's most numerically successful sports car until production ceased in 1974. Contents include: complete history of the E-type in all its forms; special feature panels throughout; information on buying and maintaining an E-type and full specifications and road tests. Illustrated with specially commissioned colour and black & white photographs.

It has now been over a century since Frank Hornby invented a toy to amuse his sons and called it Meccano, coining a word which is now known all over the world.Hornby's vision of an educational toy became the basis of perhaps the most successful British toy business of the twentieth century. Meccano has amused generations of children, encouraging many to become successful engineers.Roger Marriott here explores the long history of Meccano, charting the develo...

“… This is a book for which lovers of the automobile have waited a long time: the most comprehensive text-and-picture history of the dual-purpose car since it came to life more than sixty years ago.As the authors of The Book of Sports Cars point out, “in the beginning they were all sports cars.” The automobile began its active life, whatever the intentions of its creators, as a new instrument of sport. Because the increasing demands of this sport imposed an ever-growing burden of te...

For a whole generation of car enthusiasts, Triumph was the manufacturer to turn to when buying a sports car. Whether it was a Spitfire or GT6 - or the more costly TR models - this Coventry manufacturer was the sports car king during the twentieth century. Now that these machines are fully fledged classics, nothing has changed. While the Spitfire has the MGB as a formidable adversary, the GT6 is still in a class of its own. Triumph Spitfire and GT6 details the history and development of the...

For nearly sixty years, TVR produced some of the most thrilling, spine-tingling, hand-built sports cars to emerge from any British motor manufacturer. Yet it was the period between 1981 and 2004, under the management of Peter Wheeler, when the company finally shook off its shed-built roots and proved that it could produce cars that could match anything from Maranello or Stuttgart in terms of performance, but at a fraction of their price. Illustrated with over 300 photographs, TVR - Cars of...

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...