In the 1950s and 1960s, luxury car buyers, from government ministers to captains of industry, almost invariably bought British. These were stately, dignified, and grand vehicles, with many featuring leather interiors and wood trim. Unfortunately, that market has now largely disappeared and, with it, so have the car-makers themselves. This new book covers cars in the over-3-litre class from the biggest names in British luxury motoring including Alvis, Daimler, and Lagonda, and high-end models from Austin, Rover, and Jaguar. It examines the features and characteristics of these classic cars, as well as explaining why they fell from prominence in the 1970s. Replete with beautiful photography throughout, this book is a loving portrait of the British luxury car, a dearly missed saloon defeated by foreign imports.

The Magic of a Name tells the story of the first 40 years of Britain's most prestigious manufacturer - Rolls-Royce. Beginning with the historic meeting in 1904 of Henry Royce and the Honourable C.S. Rolls, and the birth in 1906 of the legendary Silver Ghost, Peter Pugh tells a story of genius, skill, hard work and dedication which gave the world cars and aero engines unrivalled in their excellence. In 1915, 100 years ago, the pair produced their first aero engine, the Eagle which along with the Hawk, Falcon and Condor proved themselves in battle in the First World War. In the Second the totemic Merlin was installed in the Spitfire and built in a race against time in 1940 to help win the Battle of Britain. With unrivalled access to the company's archives, Peter Pugh's history is a unique portrait of both an iconic name and of British industry at its best.

Celebrate 75 years of Ferrari with this complete, fascinating, and stunningly illustrated history highlighting the company’s legendary sports cars and their worldwide influence. A stellar combination of beauty, engineering, racing success, exclusivity, and Italian flair combine to make Ferrari the world’s most legendary carmaker. All these traits coalesce in the form of Ferrari’s road cars. No other sports car manufacturer has so consistently set the bar for style and performance. It’s a near unbroken 75-year run of automotive hits: The 125S in 1947 The versatile 340 in the 1950s The stunning 250s and 275s of the 1960s The Daytona in the 1970s The shocking F40 in the 1990s The modern era's outrageous hypercars like the Enzo, F8, and LaFerrari Ferrari: 75 Years dives deep into Ferrari’s sports car history beginning in 1947, but also examines Enzo Ferrari’s early career with Alfa-Romeo before he launched his legendary company. Automotive historian and photographer Dennis Adler offers Ferrari owners and fans a full and fascinating picture of Maranello’s 75 years of sports car manufacturing. Adler's detailed text is accompanied by his breathtaking photography and supplemented by important historic images. For 75 years, Ferrari has created high-performance automotive works of art to fire the imaginations of car lovers and performance enthusiasts the world over. Ferrari: 75 Years provides an inspiring and illuminating look back at this history.

In 1998 Rolls-Royce celebrated the 60th anniversary of the opening of its Crewe factory, the home of the company's car production since World War II. This illustrated history celebrates Rolls Royce and Bentley cars and the company that produced them. Motoring writer Malcolm Bobbitt has brought together a varied collection of photos to create this visual account. The text explains the move of the company's car production from Derby to Crewe just after the war and takes the story through the successful 1950s and 1960s. He recalls the near bankruptcy of the company in the 1970s and its subsequent recovery, and finishes with a description of the company and its cars today in light of the 1998 sale to Volkswagen and the acquisition of the Rolls-Royce name by BMW. The author concentrates on the evolution of the characteristic models - the Bentley Mk VI and the R-Types, the Silver Wraith and Silver Dawn, the Silver Cloud and Silver Shadow and Silver Spirit - and he looks at the recent revival of the Bentley marque which recaptures the spirit of the cars' pre-war sporting history. The book also remembers the notable individuals who played a vital part in the creation of these famous vehicles, and it describes the company's organization and its meticulous methods of design, testing and construction.

During the 1960s, the automobile finally secured its position as an indispensable component of daily life in Britain. Car ownership more than doubled from approximately one car for every 10 people in 1960 to one car for every 4.8 people by 1970. Consumers no longer asked "Do we need a car?" but "What car shall we have?" This well-illustrated history analyzes how both domestic car manufacturers and importers advertised their products in this growing market, identifying trends and themes. Over 180 advertisement illustrations are included.

Briscoe examines the reasons behing Britain's economic decline since the 1960's in this work, discussing the causes and effects of deindustrialization and changes to traditional trading patterns as well as assessing Britain's future.