Cars that defined an era and are still legendary. History, mechanics and the soul of true classics.
Lancia Aurelia B20 GT: the car that invented the modern Grand Tourer Here’s the question almost nobody answers correctly. What was the first modern Grand Tourer in history? The category currently occupied by the Aston Martin DB12, the Bentley Continental, the Ferrari Roma, the Maserati GranTurismo. The big, fast, elegant car that can cross Europe … Read more
Goggomobil: The Toy That Built BMW Here’s a sentence that sounds like a wind-up, but stay with me to the end because every word of it checks out. The biggest factory BMW owns anywhere on the planet today — the one churning out 5 Series, 7 Series and the bodyshells for every single Rolls-Royce made … Read more
Alfa Romeo SZ / RZ “Il Mostro”: Alfa Romeo’s Provocation Fiat had just bought Alfa Romeo, and nobody yet knew what would be left of the brand. In 1986, the IRI sold Alfa Romeo to the Fiat Group after Ford had also tried to acquire the Milanese manufacturer. The new owner inherited financial problems, an … Read more
Alfa Romeo GTV 916: How to Build a Special Car with Parts That Weren’t Some cars feel special because everything underneath them was engineered exclusively for the job. And then there is the Alfa Romeo GTV Type 916. The Italian coupé of the 1990s did not sit on a from-scratch dedicated sports platform. Chunks of … Read more
Fiat 500 Topolino: the car Mussolini asked for and Hitler copied Every car has a story. This one starts with two dictators eyeing each other in 1930. Benito Mussolini calls Giovanni Agnelli to Rome and tells him — with that particular flavour of authoritarian politeness that comes when the answer isn’t optional — that Italy … Read more
Stout Scarab: America Built the First Minivan in 1936 and Priced It Into the Grave Detroit invented the minivan almost fifty years before Detroit took credit for it. The problem was that the man who did it charged four times too much and died before anyone noticed. Everyone knows the story the industry likes to … Read more
Fiat S76: the Beast of Turin, the car that terrified its own drivers You’ve probably seen the video. A monstrous, ancient car sits on the grass at Goodwood, someone hand-cranks it, and it erupts — sheets of flame shooting sideways from open exhaust ports, a noise like artillery fire mixed with a warplane engine, spectators … Read more
Rover P6 3500: the engine Detroit threw away and Britain made immortal Every gearhead in America knows the Buick 215. Or thinks they don’t, until you tell them the story. It’s the little aluminum V8 that Buick and Oldsmobile built for their compacts at the dawn of the sixties, the one that powered the Buick … Read more
De Tomaso Pantera: The Dream That Fit in a Poor Kid’s Hand Thirty grams of painted metal. That was my Pantera. A little diecast rolling across the living room floor while I made the engine noise with my mouth, because I’d never heard the real one. I was a kid. I didn’t know what a … Read more
Citroën Traction Avant: the bet Citroën lost How an aviation engineer, an Italian sculptor, a trip to Philadelphia and an impossible 18-month deadline gave birth to the car that made half the European industry obsolete, ruined its creator, and laid down the technical DNA of every Citroën that followed Paris, 18 April 1934. Motor Show. … Read more
Golf Cabriolet Mk1: Seven Let’s get one thing straight before we start: I’m about to spoil the ending of Se7en. If you haven’t seen it, close this, go watch it, come back. I’ll wait. You’ve had since 1995. Still here? Good. Here’s what makes that film a masterpiece instead of a cheap shocker. John Doe … Read more
Alfa Romeo 75: The Last Real Alfa Romeo, the Car That Closed a Century of Independent Marque There are three things any serious Alfisti will tell you about the Alfa Romeo 75 before you’ve finished saying hello: One: the 75 is the last Alfa Romeo with transaxle architecture in the marque’s history. After the 75, in 1992, no … Read more
