Car Manufacturers
DeLorean
The stainless-steel, gull-winged DeLorean DMC-12 was built at Dunmurry, near Belfast in Northern Ireland, from 1981 to 1982, with heavy British government backing. Around 9,000 were made before…
Dennis
Dennis Brothers of Guildford began by making bicycles in 1895 and became famous for fire engines, buses and dustcarts, all built to order and more strongly than mass-produced…
Dutton
Dutton Cars of Worthing, founded by Tim Dutton-Woolley in 1970, was by number of kits sold the largest kit-car maker in the world. Its Escort-based Phaeton roadster and…
Elva
Frank Nichols founded Elva in 1955 at Bexhill-on-Sea, taking the name from the French elle va, "she goes". Elva built successful small sports-racing cars and the Courier road…
Enfield
Enfield Automotive of the Isle of Wight built the Enfield 8000, a two-seat electric city car launched in 1973, with 65 of the 120 made going to the…
ERF
ERF was founded in Sandbach in 1933 by Edwin Richard Foden after he left the family firm to build diesel lorries. It bought in its engines, gearboxes and…
Fairthorpe
Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett, the wartime leader of the RAF's Pathfinder Force, founded Fairthorpe in Buckinghamshire in 1954 to build small, light sports cars, many sold as kits.…
Foden
Foden of Sandbach in Cheshire grew from a steam engine builder into one of Britain's best-known lorry makers. Its steam wagons, built for over 30 years, ended in…
Ford
Ford of Britain opened its first factory outside North America at Trafford Park, Manchester, in 1911, and its vast Dagenham works of 1931 built many of Britain's best-loved…
Frazer Nash
Archie Frazer-Nash founded the company at Kingston upon Thames in 1922, and its chain-drive sports cars became favourites of pre-war competition drivers. Run by the Aldington brothers from…
Frisky
The Frisky was a British microcar built at Henry Meadows' engine works in Wolverhampton from 1958. Its gull-winged prototype was styled by Giovanni Michelotti of Vignale, but the…
Gilbern
Gilbern was the only Welsh car maker of note, building glassfibre-bodied GTs from a former colliery site near Pontypridd. Early cars were sold mainly as kits, and around…
Ginetta
The four Walklett brothers founded Ginetta at Woodbridge, Suffolk, in 1958, building kit and component sports cars such as the G4 and G15. Now owned by Lawrence Tomlinson's…
Gordon
The Gordon, built at Bidston by a subsidiary of Vernons Pools from 1954 to 1958, was the cheapest car on the British market at £300. It was a…
Gordon Murray Automotive
Gordon Murray Automotive was founded in 2017 by Gordon Murray, designer of the McLaren F1 and Brabham Formula One cars. Its V12 T.50 supercar, with a fan borrowed…
Gordon-Keeble
John Gordon and Jim Keeble combined a Chevrolet V8 with a spaceframe chassis and a Giugiaro-designed body to create the Gordon-Keeble, a fast, well-equipped four-seat grand tourer. About…
GTM
GTM began in 1967 as the Cox GTM, a mid-engined coupé built from Mini parts in a Stockport garage. Under later owners it became one of Britain's leading…
Guy
Sydney Guy left Sunbeam to found Guy Motors at Fallings Park, Wolverhampton, in 1914. It built light, tough lorries, the Arab bus chassis and the first British V8…
Healey
Donald Healey set up his own car company at Warwick in 1945, and his Healey Elliott was claimed as the world's fastest production saloon in 1948. The Silverstone…
Hillman
Founded in Coventry in 1907 by William Hillman with designer Louis Coatalen, Hillman became the everyday family-car brand of the Rootes Group, best known for the Minx, the…
