1940s
17 articles
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Triumph Mayflower: the watch-charm Rolls-Royce that dared to be different (1949–1953)The Triumph Mayflower shrank razor-edge limousine styling onto a ten-horsepower small car, aimed it at America and became one of the most argued-about shapes in British motoring. A guide to the little razor-edge, its transatlantic gamble, buying checks and values.
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Triumph Renown: razor-edge grandeur on a Vanguard chassis (1949–1954)The Triumph Renown dressed sturdy Vanguard mechanicals in coachbuilt razor-edge styling that looked like a Bentley at a fifth of the price. A guide to the razor-edge saloons, the 1800 that started it, the rare limousine, buying checks and values.
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Triumph Roadster: dickey seats, Bergerac and the last of a breed (1946–1949)The Triumph Roadster of 1946 carried the last production dickey seat in the world, borrowed its engines from Jaguar and the Vanguard, and found lasting fame as Bergerac's car. A guide to the 1800 and 2000 Roadsters, the television legend, buying checks and values.
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MG T-Series values: TC over TF over TD, the Tickford premium, and a market that has halvedThree letters set the price order, TC above TF above TD. MG T-type values across 1,451 recorded auction sales, what the pre-war TA and TB and the Tickford dropheads make, what the ash frame does to the figure, and why the T-Series has lost half its worth in real terms since 2016.
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Ford V8 Pilot: Dagenham's flathead farewell (1947–1951)The Ford V8 Pilot put America's flathead V8 in a stately pre-war British body and became austerity Britain's unlikely V8 flagship, beloved of police forces, farmers and the wedding trade ever since. A guide to the Pilot's story, the flathead engine, the pick-ups and woodies, buying checks and values.
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Austin A40: from Devon to Farina, the small Austin that kept reinventing itself (1947–1967)The Austin A40 badge covered twenty years of small Austins, the export-drive Devon, the rounded Somerset, the Jensen-bodied Sports and the Farina that quietly invented the modern hatchback shape. A guide to the whole family, buying checks and values.
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Austin Ten: the quiet best-seller of the 1930s (1932–1947)The Austin Ten was Longbridge's family car for the 1930s and quietly out-sold everything else Austin made, running from the 1932 Ten-Four through the Lichfield, Sherborne and Cambridge to the wartime Tilly and the post-war GS1. A guide to the variants, the war years, buying checks and values.
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Morris Eight: the best-seller that saved Cowley (1935–1948)The Morris Eight was Cowley's answer to Ford's Model Y and became Britain's best-selling car of the late 1930s, running from the Series I to the post-war Series E. A guide to the series, the tourers and vans, what to check when buying, and what a Morris Eight costs today.
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Riley RM series: the last real Rileys (1945–1955)The Riley RM series, RMA to RMF, was the final flowering of the true Riley, a twin-cam sports saloon with torsion-bar suspension and coachbuilt elegance, plus the rare RMC roadster and RMD drophead. A guide to every RM model, how to tell them apart, buying checks and values.
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Standard Vanguard: one car for the whole world, and the engine that powered everything (1947–1963)The Standard Vanguard was post-war Britain's one-model gamble, a beetle-backed export machine whose wet-liner engine also powered the Ferguson tractor and the Triumph TR sports cars. A guide to the three phases, the Standard name's fate, the Triumph connection, what to check when buying, and what a Vanguard costs today.
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Land Rover Series I: the aluminium original (1948–1958)The Land Rover Series I is the spartan, aluminium-bodied original that started it all in 1948. A guide to the 80, 86 and 88 inch cars, the petrol and diesel engines, the early freewheel four-wheel drive, what to look for when buying, and why the earliest cars are now so valuable.
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MG T-Series: the traditional sports car from TA to TF (1936–1955)The MG T-Series, from the pre-war TA and TB through the TC that opened America to the TD and TF, was the classic folded-body British sports car on an ash frame. A guide to the T-types, what separates them, what one is like to own, and what to look for when buying.
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Nuffield tractors: the orange tractors built by the makers of Morris carsNuffield built bright orange tractors from 1948, made by the Morris car empire under Lord Nuffield himself. A guide to the old Nuffield tractors worth knowing, from the Universal M3 and M4 to the ten-speed 10/60 and the 4/65, the move to Bathgate, what to look for when buying, and what a vintage Nuffield is worth.
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David Brown tractors: the gear-makers who also built Aston MartinDavid Brown built well-engineered classic tractors at Meltham in Yorkshire from the 1936 Ferguson-Brown to the Selectamatic range, and the same company owned Aston Martin, giving the DB in DB5 its initials. The history, the Cropmaster, Implematic and Selectamatic models, the Aston Martin connection, what to look for when buying, and values.
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Ferguson TE20: the little grey Fergie that changed farmingThe Ferguson TE20, the "little grey Fergie", is the tractor that brought Harry Ferguson's three-point hydraulic system to the world. Over half a million built in Coventry from 1946. Its history, the Ford handshake and the famous lawsuit, the petrol, TVO and diesel engines, what to check when buying, and what one is worth.
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Fordson Major: the big, simple Ford that ploughed BritainThe Fordson Major is the heavyweight British classic tractor, built by Ford at Dagenham from the post-war E27N to the diesel New Major, Power Major and Super Major of 1952 to 1964. Its history, the engines, the difference between the E27N and the New Major, what to check when buying, and what one is worth.
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British classic cars of the 1940sA decade split in two by the war, from the factories' switch to tanks and aero-engines and the 1945 restart, to the landmark launches of the MG TC, the Land Rover Series I, the Jaguar XK120, and the Bentley Mark VI under the "Export or Die" policy.