Car Manufacturers
HRG
Founded in 1936 by Edward Halford, Guy Robins and Henry Godfrey, HRG built simple, rugged and fast sports cars at Tolworth, Surrey. Just 241 were made before car…
Humber
Thomas Humber's cycle company began building cars in 1896 and grew into a respected maker of solid, comfortable upper-middle-class cars. As the senior brand of the Rootes Group…
Invicta
Noel Macklin founded Invicta at Cobham, Surrey, in 1925 with backing from Oliver Lyle of Tate & Lyle, building fast, well-made sporting cars such as the 4½ Litre…
Jaguar
Britain's best-known luxury sports and saloon car maker, founded in Blackpool as a motorcycle sidecar business before becoming one of Coventry's defining marques. Renamed from SS Cars in…
Jensen
A West Bromwich coachbuilder turned specialist manufacturer of hand-built, Chrysler V8-powered grand tourers, Jensen is best remembered for the Interceptor and its pioneering four-wheel-drive FF sibling. The company…
Jowett
Brothers Benjamin and William Jowett began making cars in Bradford in 1901, and their durable flat-twin engines powered cars and the Bradford van for half a century. After…
Lagonda
American-born former opera singer Wilbur Gunn founded Lagonda at Staines in 1906, naming it after the Shawnee settlement of Lagonda near his home town of Springfield, Ohio. Lagonda…
Lanchester
The three Lanchester brothers built one of Britain's first petrol cars in Birmingham in 1895 and founded their company in 1899, becoming famous for inventive engineering, including the…
Land Rover
Britain's defining off-road and utility marque, launched by the Rover Company in 1948 and built at Solihull ever since. Land Rover has become shorthand worldwide for rugged, go-anywhere…
Lea-Francis
Richard Lea and Graham Francis founded their Coventry cycle business in 1895 and moved into cars in 1903. A Lea-Francis Hyper, Britain's first supercharged production car, won the…
Lister
Brian Lister began building racing cars at his family's Cambridge engineering works in 1954, and his Jaguar-engined "Knobbly" became one of the most successful sports-racing cars of the…
Lotus
Founded by engineer and racing driver Colin Chapman, Lotus built its reputation on lightweight construction and Formula One success before becoming one of Britain's most respected specialist sports…
Marcos
Marcos Engineering built low, elegant sports cars with an unusual plywood chassis, from its 1959 founding in Wales through decades based in Wiltshire. Best known for the Marcos…
Marlin
Marlin was founded in Plymouth in 1979 by Paul Moorhouse, whose Triumph-based Roadster, with a grille that hints at a pre-war Alfa Romeo, became one of the best-known…
McLaren
McLaren grew out of the Formula One team Bruce McLaren founded in 1963. Its road-car business built the record-breaking McLaren F1 of 1992, and since 2010 McLaren Automotive…
MG
MG grew out of Morris Garages, William Morris's Oxford dealership, where Cecil Kimber began selling tuned, specially bodied Morrises in the early 1920s. Built for half a century…
Midas
The Midas, a rust-free composite coupé on Mini and later Metro parts, was launched in 1978 by Harold Dermott, who had taken over the Mini Marcos. With aerodynamic…
Mini
Alec Issigonis's Mini was launched by BMC in 1959, badged as the Austin Seven and the Morris Mini-Minor, and became a marque in its own right under British…
Morgan
H. F. S. Morgan founded the Morgan Motor Company at Malvern Link, Worcestershire, in 1910, building three-wheelers before the first four-wheeled 4/4 of 1936. Still hand-building sports cars…
Morris
William Morris, later Lord Nuffield, turned an Oxford cycle and garage business into Britain's biggest car maker of the 1920s and '30s. Morris merged with Austin in 1952…
