What Classic Car
The story of British classic cars: their makers, designers, owners’ clubs and museums, all in one free guide.
- 132car manufacturers
- 43designers and coachbuilders
- 57owners' clubs
- 18museums
- 170directory listings
What you will find here
What Classic Car brings together the history of British car makers with the people, places and clubs that keep their cars on the road.
British car makers
Histories of more than 130 manufacturers, from household names to one-model wonders: when and where each was built, the cars they made, photographs and sources.
Designers and coachbuilders
The designers, engineers, coachbuilders and studios behind the cars, from Alec Issigonis and William Lyons to Vanden Plas and Pininfarina.
Clubs and museums
Find an owners’ club for your car and museums to visit. Every manufacturer’s page lists the clubs and museums connected with it.
Where they were built
Every manufacturer is placed on the map by its factory town, and each town links on to then-and-now photographs on GhostViewer.
Recently added car makers
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…
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…
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…
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…
Westfield
Westfield Sportscars, founded by Chris Smith in 1982, builds Lotus Seven-inspired two-seaters as kits and complete cars. A Westfield XTR2 once beat a Pagani Zonda round the Top…
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…
See where Britain's cars were built
One pin for every factory town. Click a pin to see the manufacturers built there, with links to their histories and to the town on GhostViewer.
Orange numbers show how many marques were built in a town; dark circles group nearby towns, so zoom in to open them. Click a pin for the details.
The people behind the cars
Designers, engineers, coachbuilders and studios, with their careers, notable designs and the places they worked.
Tickford
Tickford, the Newport Pagnell coachbuilder, grew from Salmons & Sons, founded in the 1820s. It made drophead bodies for BSA, Daimler, MG, Rover and others, was bought by…
Clubs, museums and specialists
Find an owners’ club for your car, a museum to visit, or a specialist for parts, servicing and restoration across the UK.
Run a club, a museum or a specialist business?
Add it to the directory so classic car owners can find you, and so it appears on the pages of the marques you cover.
About What Classic Car
What Classic Car is an independent guide to British classic cars. Each page is researched from published sources, which are listed on the page, and the photographs come from Wikimedia Commons and our own collection. Read more about the site.