England

Discontinued 1979 – 2021 Kit Car

NG Cars was founded in 1979 by engineer Nick Green in New Milton, Hampshire. Its MGB-based TA, TC, TD and TF evoked the elegant British sports cars of…

Active 1999 – present Sports & Specialist

Lee Noble founded Noble Automotive in Leeds in 1999, and its lightweight, turbocharged M12 and M400 won a devoted following for their handling and value. Now based in…

Discontinued 1971 – 1996 Kit Car

The Nova, a wedge-shaped kit car on a Volkswagen Beetle chassis with a canopy that lifts forward instead of doors, was launched in 1971 by Automotive Design and…

Discontinued 1959 – 1964 Sports & Specialist

Ogle Design of Letchworth, founded by David Ogle in 1954, built a small number of its own cars between 1959 and 1964, most famously the Mini-based SX1000 coupé.…

Discontinued 1957 – 1962 Sports & Specialist

The Peerless GT, built at Slough from 1957, was a four-seat glass-fibre grand tourer on Triumph TR3 running gear, and a works car won its class at Le…

Discontinued 1975 – 1981 Mainstream & Utility

British Leyland's wedge-shaped 18-22 series, designed by Harris Mann, was launched in March 1975 as an Austin, Morris and Wolseley, and became a marque in its own right,…

Active 1997 – present Sports & Specialist

Amateur racers Mick Hyde and Phil Abbott founded Radical in Peterborough in 1997 to build affordable, lightweight sports-racing cars. Its SR3 has sold over 1,000 examples, and a…

Discontinued 1933 – 1940 Sports & Specialist Luxury / Prestige

After Invicta, Noel Macklin founded Railton at Cobham in 1933, fitting British coachwork to powerful American Hudson Terraplane chassis. Named after land-speed-record engineer Reid Railton, the cars were…

Discontinued 1935 – 2002 Mainstream & Utility Sports & Specialist

Best known for the three-wheeled Regal and Robin, which briefly made it Britain's second-largest British-owned car manufacturer, Reliant also built the Ford- and Ogle-styled Scimitar sports estate, famously…

Discontinued 1896 – 1969 Sports & Specialist

The Riley family's Coventry cycle business turned to cars at the end of the 1890s and became known for well-engineered, fine-handling sporting cars such as the Nine and…

Active 2001 – present Mainstream & Utility

Riversimple, founded by former motorsport engineer Hugo Spowers in 2001 and now based in Llandrindod Wells, Wales, develops lightweight hydrogen fuel-cell cars. Its two-seat Rasa has been tested…

Discontinued 1980 – 2006 Kit Car

Robin Hood Engineering, founded by Richard Stewart in Sherwood, Nottinghamshire, in 1980, made some of the cheapest and most popular Lotus Seven-style kits, built around a single donor…

Discontinued 1948 – 1973 Kit Car Sports & Specialist

Rochdale Motor Panels and Engineering built glass-fibre sports car bodies and complete kits in Rochdale from 1948 to 1973. Its GT body was the best seller, and the…

Active 1906 – present Luxury / Prestige

Charles Rolls and Henry Royce met in Manchester in 1904 and founded Rolls-Royce in 1906, building cars such as the Silver Ghost that set a new standard for…

Discontinued 1904 – 2005 Mainstream & Utility Luxury / Prestige

Rover grew from a Coventry bicycle business into one of Britain's most respected makers of dignified family and executive saloons, from the P4 and P5 to the P6…

Discontinued 1921 – 1988 Mainstream & Utility

Scammell of Watford built specialist heavy lorries, tank transporters and the little Mechanical Horse, from 1921 until the works closed in 1988. Its articulated six-wheeler let lorries carry…

Discontinued 1957 – 1964 Mainstream & Utility

The Scootacar was a tall, narrow three-wheeled microcar built in Hunslet, Leeds, by a division of the Hunslet Engine Company, better known for railway locomotives. Nicknamed "the telephone…

Discontinued 1938 – 2004 Mainstream & Utility

Seddon Atkinson was formed in 1970 when Seddon Diesel Vehicles of Oldham bought Atkinson of Preston, a steam-wagon maker turned lorry builder. It made large lorries for refuse…

Discontinued 1874 – 1970 Mainstream & Utility Sports & Specialist

George Singer's Coventry cycle company moved into cars in the early 1900s and by the 1920s was one of Britain's biggest car makers, known for the Ten and…

Discontinued 1920 – 2017 Mainstream & Utility

Smith Electric Vehicles of Gateshead, founded as Northern Coachbuilders in Newcastle in 1920, was once the biggest name in British milk floats. It later built electric lorries and…