Jon Branch June 19, 2019

The Triumph Spitfire – An Introduction The paradoxical thing about the Triumph Spitfire is that it didn’t spit fire. The original Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft was powered by a huge supercharged Rolls-Royce V12 engine and…
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Jon Branch June 5, 2019

The Nissan Skyline GT-R – Godzilla When the name “Nissan Skyline” is mentioned it often brings another name to memory, that of Godzilla, a name given to the seemingly unbeatable 1989 Nissan Skyline GT-R in…
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Jon Branch May 21, 2019

The Mazda RX-3 – An Introduction The Mazda RX-3 “Savanna” was a paradox of a car. Fledgling Japanese car maker Mazda built a pretty typical for the period small passenger car and dropped a twin…
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Jon Branch April 18, 2019

The Mazda Cosmo – An Introduction The Mazda Cosmo was born in the midst of the maelstrom of the 1960’s, the era of the Space Race between the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, and…
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Jon Branch April 12, 2019

Introduction: To Build a Better Jeep My first, and only, working experience with an Austin Champ was on a farm down in Australia where I was helping the property owner with some vermin control. We…
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Jon Branch March 29, 2019

The Toyota Hilux pickup truck has become one of the most iconic vehicles to ever emerge from Japanese vehicle maker Toyota. The Hilux, known as the Pickup or Pickup Truck in the US market, has…
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Jon Branch March 2, 2019

Introduction: The GMC Motorhome The GMC Motorhome is a six-wheeled embodiment of the zeitgeist of its age – for those who did not live through the post-war 1950’s to 1970’s era it is likely that…
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Jon Branch February 25, 2019

Germany and Austria Join Forces to Create a Better 4×4 – The G-Wagen (G-Wagon / G-Class) The story of the beginning of the Mercedes G-Wagen (also known as the G-Wagon and the G-Class) brings together…
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Jon Branch February 11, 2019

Introduction: The Volvo “Chevvy Corvette” That Wasn’t The story of the creation of the Volvo P1800 begins back in 1953 when Volvo co-founder and Vice-President Assar Gabrielsson visited the USA and while there he had…
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Jon Branch February 4, 2019

Introduction: Porsche is Born Dr. Ferdinand Porsche had long dreamed of building high performance sports cars just as he had also dreamed of creating cars that ordinary people could afford to own and run prior…
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Jon Branch January 28, 2019

The story behind the design of the Volvo Amazon is quite complex and takes in influences from a number of sources. Volvo had recruited Jan Wilsgaard from the Handicraft Society School (which is nowadays called the HDK, School of Design and Crafts). The young Wilsgaard’s first design work for Volvo was a large V8 powered car called the Volvo Phillip made in 1950.
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Jon Branch January 21, 2019

Introduction to the Toyota 2000GT: An Industry Seeking Credibility The Toyota 2000GT was one of the most significant sports cars to come out of Japan during the 1960s – the decade that started the country…
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