This book charts the origins, design and development of the most iconic British supercar of the 1970s and 1980s - the Aston Martin V8. It traces the car's origins from the introductory model of 1967, the DBS, through the various iterations of the V8 versions, and ends with the final models of the range and the spectacular Vantage Zagato. While the car started life with Aston Martin's ageing six-cylinder engine, it quickly received the engine the car was originally designed for; Aston Marti...

A visual celebration of Lotus’ iconic road cars — from the first Lotus VI to the Evora supercarThis compact and richly illustrated book is part of the popular A Pictorial History series and charts the full journey of Lotus road cars from 1952 through to 2024. Enthusiasts, collectors, and motorsport fans will discover a chronicle of innovation, style, and pure driving excitement that only Lotus can deliver.From the lightweight brilliance of the Lotu...

The Lotus Europa was Colin Chapman and Lotus's first mid-engined road car, and was produced from 1966 through to 1975. Originally designed to slot into the Lotus range below the Elan as a low cost replacement for the Lotus 7, the Europa eventually sat alongside the Elan and Plus 2 as a comparable sports car in its own right. Starting with the design philosophy behind the development of the Europa, this book provides detailed technical descriptions of all the major versions of the model, st...

The Essential Guide to buying the Lotus Europa of your dreams, this book will guide you through all you need to know. Originally intended to be a cheap and basic Lotus Seven replacement, during its development the Lotus Europa morphed into a miniature supercar, described by Colin Chapman as a "working man's GT40," which sat alongside the Elan in the Lotus line-up. Its mid engined configuration gave it exceptional balance, and its handling and roadholding were second to none. Initially prod...

The Triumph Stag was a two-door, four-seat, luxury touring car, designed to be Triumph's flagship model for the 1970s. Styled by prolific designer Giovanni Michelotti, and engineered by Harry Webster and Spen King, the Stag had no direct competitors throughout its production life and was the blueprint for the many four-seat convertibles on the market today. It was in production from 1970 through to 1977, but suffered from a lack of development and gained a reputation for engine problems ca...

Aston Martin is a marque that holds a special place in the British motor industry. As a manufacturer of cars for over 100 years, its history is tied up with the British psyche, and the marque holds a special place in the hearts of all motoring enthusiasts. This book charts the history of Aston Martin from its early days in central London, as Banford and Martin, through the Bertelli years in Feltham and the post-war David Brown years at Newport Pagnell to the current day with its purpose-bu...

This book tells the story of Alvis and its cars, aero engines and military vehicles. Starting with the formation of the company in 1919, it traces the company's products through the 1920s and 1930s, and through its wartime exploits to its eventual takeover by Rover. The book covers: the early four-cylinder cars; the amazing six-cylinder cars; early ventures into armoured car and aero engine production; the post WWII four- and six-cylinder cars; the Leonides post-World War II aero engines a...

Associated Motor Cycles (AMC) produced some of the most iconic British bikes of the 1940s and 1950s. Badged as either AJS or Matchless, the range covered everything from plodding ride-to-work four-stroke singles, weekend racers, two-stroke motocrossers and full-blown Grand Prix contenders. Illustrated with over 200 photographs, this comprehensive new history looks at the history and development of the single and twin-cylinder ranges; the racing bikes; technical details of all major models,...

A model-by-model history of the popular Triumph Dolomite family, the range of quality sporting saloons that started with the Triumph 1300 and was in production from 1965-80. The Triumph 1300 was innovative, with front-wheel drive and a four-door body designed by Giovanni Michelotti. In 1970 the Triumph 1500 and the three-door Toledo were introduced, followed by the range-topping Dolomite in 1972, with Triumph's slant-4 overhead cam engine and rear-wheel drive. The fast Dolomite Sprint conf...

Reliant produced a range of sports cars from the 1960s to the 1990s which complemented their well-established three-wheeled cars. Starting with a design for Israel's Autocars in 1961, Reliant went on to produce many successful cars, including the Sabre, a raw two-seat sports car; the Scimitar GT, a solid GT car; the Scimitar GTE, a market-defining sporting estate car; and the SS1, a small two-seat sports car. Reliant Sabre, Scimitar and SS1- An Enthusiast's Guide explores the history, desi...

This fascinating book tells the complete story of the early days of TVR, from Trevor Wilkinson establishing the company in 1946 through to the Martin Lilley years, which came to an end in 1982. The design and development of these classic British sports cars, with their defining characteristics of tubular backbone chassis and glass fibre bodywork, are described in detail. Illustrated with over 200 colour and black and white photographs the book covers all the early years, including the Spor...

Lotus introduced the Type 75 Elite in 1974. Being a full four-seater coupe with an opening glass tailgate, it was designed to carry a family in comfort while retaining Lotus' trademark, excellent road holding and handling. Perhaps most importantly, it was the first - and successful - step in Colin Chapman's plan to move upmarket and away from Lotus' kit car image. The Elite gave rise to two derivatives, the Eclat and the Excel. The Eclat was a restyled coupe version, sacrificing the Elite'...