Automobile

Classic Tests

Bavarian beauty

It is remarkable that a sedan that first saw the light of day 48 years ago is more desired than it was at launch and despite having dozens of beautiful siblings, the 2002 is always the one that identifies the brand.

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One-off Wolseley

The Wolseley ute came into existence because the owner wanted something different - a vehicle he could confidently leave in a parking area and know that there’d never be another one alongside.

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Knee-high to a grasshopper

There is no better representation of the term “knee-high to a grasshopper” than the metre-tall sliver of fibreglass launched by the automotive master of minimalism, Lotus, in 1966.

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V12 CRUMPET CATCHER

ENZO Ferrari is oft quoted as describing the Jaguar E-Type, on seeing it for the first time at its March 1961 reveal, as “the most beautiful car ever made”. More importantly to male drivers at least, it was perhaps more accurately defined by motoring writer Henry Manney in 1961 in the US magazine, Road & Track, who said the E-Type was “the greatest crumpet-catcher known to man”.

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RENAULT’S MODEST CLASSIC

It may be more than 55 years old but the Renault 16 remains an important step in automotive genealogy, introducing the (then) radical design of a hatchback. In many ways, the 16 opened the door - literally - to the hatchback craze.

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Ford Falcon Futura Sprint

The good thing about US iron is its boldness. But it can be an acquired taste - like peanut butter and jelly (jam) sandwiches, orange “cheese” from a squeeze bottle and the crunchy “goodness” hidden in the frying of grits.

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The Generation Game

Ferdinand Porsche wears his name and reputation on the successful sports-car maker but the irony is that the car that identifies his surname was designed and developed more than a decade after he died.

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Trevor In His Youth

The tiny British car maker started as a workshop in Blackpool, Lancashire, in 1947 and made its first car sale in 1949 with the TVR badge, named after its founder Trevor (TreVoR) Wilkinson.

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Sandman a Real Sleeper

CAN a commercial vehicle become a cult machine and live a life that outgrows its origins? If you look at the Volkswagen Kombi — once a poor man’s trade vehicle and now a collectable — it certainly seems it can happen.

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Rally Rich Riley

IF this car could talk, it would tell you what hell is like. Built and targeted at wealthy, car-savvy buyers, the Riley 2.5 litre was a model chosen by people who also looked at Rovers and Jaguars.

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