Not putting the boot in

They made a prototype of a Metro saloon. It didn't make production and was it a missed opportunity for British Leyland?

 

Silk purse from a sow's ear

Something that Land Rover did with the original Discovery...

Posh names and trim levels

Coinciding with Ford's launch of the Vignale name. A look back at top-end names and trim levels of everyday cars...

BOTTLED IT!: Triumph Stag

It had all the right ingredients for a great recipe. Shame it wasn't cooked properly and more the pity for it...

CARS THAT GOT A SECOND LIFE: Austin Maestro

It lived up into being 'The Miracle Maestro' Austin Rover claimed it was.

Vector wheels

IN my spare time, I have been playing about on Adobe Illustrator and made some vector images of cars. I made a vector picture of a Ford Ka - the one that I previously owned. Then a side profile of an Austin Allegro.

I have enjoyed being creative, making drawings and some art. It's been a while since I've used Illustrator and it appears that I haven't forgotten how to use it.

It's been fun. Some more creations may follow.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: Austin Princess

British Leyland missed a trick here, which also proved costly.

VIDEO: Austin Ambassador Y-Reg

A car that inspired John Shuttleworth's song with a 'montage of racy shots' about his Austin Ambassador. Comedy gold.

Brown cars on the road

Tra la la la la. There were brown cars on the road...

BROWN cars were a common sight in the 1970s and the 1980s. But you don't really see any in that colour these days. Most brown cars were made over 30 years ago. So most of them will be scrapped, and surviving ones will be hidden and stored away in garages.

One week, I spotted two brown cars in the wild funnily enough. With a 1979 Leyland Mini in Blackburn. Which looks very similar to the one my father owned in his youth - yes he did have a brown Mini which was also his first car.

Volkswagen looks Up! to BMC

Badge engineering is best known for being a BMC trait. The Volkswagen group are using that practice with their new and upcoming city cars.

Famous faces

A look into car commercials where celebrities front the campaigns.