The Lotus Elan is a British sports car with a cult following around the world, since it was first introduced it’s had an impact on the motoring world that can still be felt today almost 60 years later. Perhaps the greatest accolade the Elan ever received was when Formula 1 and supercar designer Gordon Murray…
The John Wyer Team took multiple wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – often with cars wearing the iconic light blue and orange livery of their primary sponsor – Gulf Oil. It would be the 1959 running of Le Mans that would give the John Wyer Team their first victory – with drivers Roy…
The Arnolt-Bristol is an unusual car that owes its existence jointly to the Brits, Italians, and Americans. The post-WWII era was a golden age for cross-Atlantic automotive collaborations and the mighty little Arnolt-Bristol is (arguably) one of the prettiest of these collaboration cars. Stanley H. “Wacky” Arnolt and the origins of the Arnolt-Bristol Stanley H. “Wacky” Arnolt was…
Joel Clark is a British artist who specializes in an intricately layered vinyl technique, often using automotive parts like car doors and hoods to capture a glimpse of a passing, momentary reflection and freeze-frame it. The series started when Joel bought a car door on eBay, cleaned it up, and set about painstakingly cutting vinyl…
The Connaught L2 was developed by former RAF pilots and engineers in the years just after WWII, the company name was chosen because it was a contraction of Continental Autos – the name of their humble little garage in Surrey. Today Connaught is most often remembered for their single largest racing success – a win…
The Spitfire Pen is a creation of the Hordern Richmond Aircraft Company, they’ve been in business since 1937 when the company was founded by Frederick Gordon-Lennox (the 9th Duke of Richmond) and Edmund Hordern. During WWII they built many of the propellers for British fighters and bombers, as well as the Hordern Richmond Autoplane. In…
There’s something very appealing about a well-built Triumph Thruxton custom, it’s a bike that helped put Triumph on the map in the world of modern classic motorcycles, and the model has proven to be a hugely popular base for customization the world over. Thruxt8n – The Original Tamarit Motorcycles Triumph Thruxton Custom Tamarit Motorcycles is a…
The Alta Car and Engineering Company was astonishingly far ahead of its time, the company was building supercharged, double overhead cam engines with hemispherical combustion chambers all the way back in the 1920s. The Alta Car and Engineering Company Alta was founded by 27 year old Geoffrey Taylor, who planned to develop, build, and sell…
Death Machines Of London is possibly the single greatest name for a London-based custom motorcycle garage that will ever exist, and fortunately they don’t just make bikes. This 330g/m² brushed fabric sweater (or jumper depending on which side of the Atlantic you call home) is made from a blend of 80% cotton and 20% polyester. It has raglan…
These billet aluminum handlebar switches by Lions Den Motorcycles are individually CNC machined in England, they come in either two or three button layouts, and you can choose between black or stainless steel buttons. Lions Den Motorcycles is a British custom motorcycle garage run by Daniel Thomas – a former professional musician who travelled the…
The Tojeiro-Butterworth AJB is a bit of a historical anomaly, it’s the only one that was ever built, and it’s fitted with the unusual air-cooled, flat-four AJB engine. The intials AJB belong to Archibald James Butterworth, a visionary engineer, inventor, and designer, who was a successful and active racer in England until he suffered a…
On its introduction in 1977 the Aston Martin V8 Vantage was hailed by the company as “Britain’s First Supercar” – it accelerated faster than the Ferrari Daytona, and was capable of a top speed of 170 mph. Of course the claim of being the first British supercar was controversial, this is a part of the…
