Car Manufacturers
Napier
D. Napier & Son, a London precision engineering firm founded in 1808, built some of the fastest and finest cars of the Edwardian era between 1900 and 1924.…
NG
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…
Noble
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…
Nova
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…
Peel
Cyril Cannell's Peel Engineering, based in the town of Peel on the Isle of Man, built the P50, listed by Guinness as the world's smallest production car, and…
Peerless
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…
Princess
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,…
Radical
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…
Railton
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…
Reliant
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…
Riley
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…
Robin Hood
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…
Rochdale
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…
Rolls-Royce
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…
Rover
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…
Singer
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…
Spartan Cars
Spartan Cars built a traditionally-styled open two-seater kit car, first on Triumph Herald and Spitfire mechanicals, from Nottingham and later Derbyshire. Over 4,000 kits were exported to more…
Standard Motor Company
A Coventry maker of dependable family cars, the Standard Motor Company was founded in 1903 by Reginald Maudslay. It built the post-war Vanguard, bought Triumph in the mid-1940s…
Star
The Star Motor Company of Wolverhampton grew out of a bicycle business and built its first car, based on a Benz, in 1898. Known for well-engineered, long-lasting cars,…
Straker-Squire
Straker-Squire of Bristol built steam wagons, buses and fast, well-made cars. By 1909 its Fishponds works supplied 70% of London's buses. After the First World War car production…
