The change of designers from David Bache to Roy Axe gave the latter, albeit with limitations, the chance to give more personality to the saloon, trying to camouflage its rather obvious relationship with the Maestro. The result was a fairly modern and balanced line with an original rear window divided into three parts. In the … More Montego, the last one
Considering the project dates back about thirty years, it can certainly be said that it was ahead of its time and in some ways can be considered visionary, so much so that even today the concept of this car remains modern. In recent years, due to the known emissions scandals and the need to reduce … More Green and Forgotten: the future in the past – Mazzieri and Micron
The resulting car was officially presented on August 26, 1959, introducing a way of conceiving the car which was completely different from other examples of the period, and the Mini was so modern that it remained the benchmark for ten years. The article I am about to offer you here is certainly a bit of … More Alec’s Mini
The style of the car, from the pen of Ian Beech under the supervision of David Bache, was very simple, characterised by large glass surfaces and, at first glance, it was almost dated already at the time of its launch. Despite this, the Maestro also introduced interesting elements for its time, such as body-coloured bumpers. … More Speak to me Maestro!
The project, named R6, successfully showed that it was possible to come up with a car which was much better than the one from which it was derived. Discussing the history of the Austin Metro, we said that its successor was presented in 1990, branded a Rover. The group had already started working on the … More A British car to beat the world – Part 2
Throughout the history of the car we have frequently witnessed the birth of cars whose arduous task was to replace models which, during the course of their existence, had taken on cult status. The result was that, faced with the immense image of the progenitor, the model originally destined to be its replacement was often … More A British car to beat the world – Part 1
Although the Magnum was positioned as a premium car, many of its components were sourced from series-production models; despite its long production life, in 18 years on the market only 6,000 examples were built. The Rayton Fissore arose in 1976 from the ashes of the Fissore coachbuilder; straight away the intention of Cherasco’s new company, … More The Giant Uno
Erhardt purchased the licence to produce a car locally from the French company Decauville. The name he chose was Wartburg, inspired by the name of an ancient castle located in the area. When we think of the cars from former East Germany, what usually comes to mind is the funny one, the Trabant, or Trabi … More Not just Trabant
The innovative glass-fibre reinforced polyester bodywork meant certain decisions aimed at containing costs faded into the background. In the early 1960s, sales of the American marque Studebaker were not going at all well following the 1954 merger with Packard; the fate of the two brands now seemed to be sealed. Hopes were resting on a … More Too far ahead
Mechanically the car used the reliable components of the 127, including the engines. Its lines were simple, square and unoriginal – precisely why Fiat engineer Ghidella had discarded the project. In Yugoslavia in the early 1980s Zastava, a local car manufacturer, produced models under licence from Fiat and obtained the design of a compact car … More Sometimes we need a Yugo!
Cars Forgotten - Stories 