Fiat X1/9: the industrial mid-engine Bertone was hiding in a corner In 1971, Gianni Agnelli is making an informal visit to the Bertone factory in Grugliasco, on the outskirts of Turin. Nuccio Bertone walks him through the production halls, shows him models, talks him through current projects. And in a corner, between development cars and … Read more
Rover 220 Coupé Turbo: the car its own gearbox held back Here’s one of those stories only properly understood by someone who’s been under a car with grease up to the elbows. In the early nineties, Rover built the fastest, most powerful car in its entire history. A gorgeous coupé with 197bhp, capable on paper … Read more
Opel Calibra: the world’s most aerodynamic car was the slowest one in the showroom Here’s one of the loveliest ironies the car industry ever produced. In June 1989, Opel launched a car that broke a world record and held it for ten years. The Calibra was the most aerodynamic production car on the planet, with … Read more
Ford Probe: the car built to kill the Mustang, saved by the Mustang’s own fans Here’s one of the greatest “what if?” stories the car industry ever produced. And it’s a tale with a doubly happy ending: it saved the Mustang and, quite by accident, condemned a perfectly good car to spend its whole life … Read more
Ferrari 512 BB: The Boxer That Never Was There is a Ferrari where almost nothing written on the car turns out to be true. The engine is not a boxer, despite half a century of the factory saying it is. The two letters in the name do not mean what Ferrari says they mean, according … Read more
VW Scirocco: the handsome brother who went first to take the bullets for the Golf This year everyone celebrated the Volkswagen Golf’s fiftieth birthday. Fair enough: it’s one of the most important cars ever built, the one that saved Volkswagen, the one that invented a whole class. But there’s something almost nobody mentions while the … Read more
Opel Monza: the day Opel dared to stare down Mercedes There’s a particular kind of car the British call a gentleman’s express. Big, fast, comfortable, six cylinders up front, room for four and their luggage, the sort of thing that eats a continent before lunch without ever raising its voice. For decades that territory belonged … Read more
Opel Manta: sketched in six weeks, still standing fifteen years later Ask any British enthusiast about affordable seventies coupés and the conversation starts and ends with the Ford Capri. The car you always promised yourself. Fair enough. But cross the Channel and there was another one playing the exact same game, built by people who … Read more
Ford Capri: the Cortina in a tuxedo that humbled BMW and Alfa Romeo For a car that spent two decades being mocked as a hairdresser’s motor, the Ford Capri has a remarkable secret hiding under its skin. Underneath that long-bonneted, fastback glamour sat a humble Ford Cortina. The most ordinary of family saloons. And with … Read more
Opel GT: the baby Corvette that was never actually a copy Everybody who clapped eyes on an Opel GT in 1968 thought the same thing: somebody shrank a Corvette. The nickname wrote itself. Mini-Vette. Baby Corvette. And for fifty years that lazy shorthand has buried the far better truth, which is that this little German … Read more
Ferrari Daytona: The Name Enzo Cancelled America gave this car its name. America redrew its face. America ran it across the continent in thirty-five hours. America faked it twice over. And then America priced Ferrari’s twelve-cylinder engine out of the country for eleven years. The 365 GTB/4 is one of the most imposing things Maranello … Read more
Renault Gordini — What’s Left of the Sorcerer When the Sorcerer Is Gone A Name on a Hatchback You are standing in a Renault dealership somewhere in Europe around 2011. There is a Clio in the showroom. It is blue — not just any blue, but a deep, specific shade called Malte Blue. Two white … Read more
