What Classic Car
Discover the histories of Britain’s car makers, find classic car clubs, and use our free UK classic car directory of specialists, services and parts suppliers.
Car manufacturers A–Z
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…
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…
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