Legends are often born in obscurity. Alfa Romeo’s humble beginnings gave no hint as to the extraordinary heights the company...
Before WWII, the term “sports car” was an alien phrase in the USA. There was no such thing. Returning G.I.s...
Not every Alfa Romeo 1900C chassis that went to a Carrozzeria for custom coachwork (see this month’s Roadcar Feature) emerged a beauty! Such was the case for the 1953 Boneschi Astral. The first Astral was displayed at the 1953 Turin Motor Show. The second Astral was sold to Rafael Trujillo, then...
At the 1953 General Motors Motorama in New York City, Cadillac unveiled a concept car designed by Harley Earl. Named...
In 1953, Chrysler’s famed design chief, Virgil Exner entered into a partnership with the Italian styling house Ghia to produce...
Enzo Ferrari’s focus was on racing, not road cars, but he needed money to finance his racing addiction, so he sold road cars to feed the habit. In November 1948, the first show cars ever exhibited by Ferrari were on a stand at the Turin show—a 166MM racer and a...
The 1953 Turin Auto Show must have been quite a sight. It presented cars of what would become a landmark...
I spotted Phil Jelinek’s beautiful ’53 Kaiser Traveler Deluxe from across the Huntington Beach Concours show field. That is because...
In the early 1950s, Americans looked forward to attending auto shows for the unveiling of the manufacture’s latest offerings. Adding to the excitement was the increasing number of concept cars that debuted at these events, presenting a possible glimpse into the future of the automobile that they may someday be...
The Ghia-designed Dodge Firearrow III is flamboyantly showcased on its stand during the 1954 Detroit Auto Show....
Archibald Frazer-Nash started his company in 1922, but found himself in receivership by 1927. From the ashes was born AFN...
In 1954, Chrysler debuted the latest iteration of its “Forward Look” Dream Cars, the Plymouth Explorer. Designed by Luigi Segre at Ghia, as a continuation of the themes he started with the trio of Dodge Firearrows, the Explorer featured a 114-inch wheelbase Plymouth chassis, with a somewhat anemic 230-cu.in Plymouth...
Rolls-Royce’s brilliant, first post-war design is as enjoyable to drive now as it was then. The Silver Wraith was the...
In 1950, Gerry Coker got a job at the Donald Healey Motor Company as Healey’s body engineer. A short time...
Independent automotive designer Bill Flajole worked on a number of important designs, including the Nash Metropolitan, before turning his attention to reimagining the Jaguar XK120. In 1955, Flajole mated his custom, fastback fiberglass body with a 1953 XK120M, high performance chassis and running gear to give birth to the the...
There are a number of cars that are better known by their nicknames, than their original designation, like the Alfa...
When I moved to Tennessee a few years ago, one of the first things I did was look for a...
In 1956, three Aston Martin DB2/4 chassis were sent to Carrozzeria Touring, in Milan, for custom, lightweight bodywork. The first Aston Martin to receive Touring’s “Superleggera” bodywork, the new Touring Spider made its debut at the 1956 Turin Motor Show but, surprisingly, did not garner enough interest to warrant further...
Vincenzo Lancia was an ex-racer and an ingenious designer, who made cars to suit his taste and maybe a few...
From our friends at Broad Arrow Auctions comes one of the holy grails of post-war sports cars; the 1956 A6G/54...
I was disappointed. The Aston Martin I was supposed to drive was in the shop. But, Alberto Gutierrez had another Aston waiting for me, and my disappointment quickly turned into joy. Sitting next to the Arnolt Bristol I was to profile (see Wacky? Hardly!—1954 Arnolt-Bristol Bolide) was an absolutely gorgeous...
The year 1957 was one of firsts for Corvette. It may have been a virtual twin to the 1956 model,...
Ray Petros is a dedicated Studebaker collector. It is natural that he focuses on that marque, since his family were...
In 1954, the AC company, in Thames Ditton unveiled a new car, a beautiful coupe called the AC Aceca. Many at the time thought the Aceca name was a derivation of the popular AC Ace model name but in fact the Aceca name is a palindrome incorporating the letters ACE....
As a man possessed of virtually boundless vision and drive, Eugene Casaroll almost single-handedly invented the car-delivery business with his...
In 1948, Jaguar launched the wild and wooly XK120 at the London Motor Show. It was a testbed and show...
It’s hard to imagine that what was probably the greatest range of post-war production sports cars, really started life as an engine looking for a suitable chassis/body unit. Become a Member & Get Ad-Free Access To This Article (& About 6,000+ More) Access to the full article is limited to...
Max Hoffman was a racecar driver in Europe before immigrating to the United States to avoid the Nazis. Hoffman became...
The MGA’s looks harken back to MG designer Sid Enever’s one-off, envelope body that he created for an MG TD...
When you think of Volkswagen you don’t often use of the word rare, but in this case, with a 1958 Karmann Ghia Lowlight Coupe, it is the right word. Volkswagen wanted to be a part of other markets. They needed something other than their ubiquitous Beetle, something with more flair,...