Exploring the World’s Cult Classic Cars
Does the Austin Allegro deserve its reputation as one of the worst cars ever made? We looked over contemporary road tests to find out.
The Ford Model T was the little car that changed the world - the first global car and the first mass-produced on an assembly line.
The Karmann Ghia was the German-Italian beauty that transformed the underpinnings of the humble Beetle into a sleek, sporty-looking coupe.
Citroën already had a reputation for building extraordinary cars long before the extravagant, Maserati-powered SM stunned the motoring world in 1970. The 2CV had provided affordable motoring for the masses, while the technologically advanced and boldly-styled DS drew gasps on its launch in 1955.
Before its transformation under Volkswagen, Škoda was a byword for cheap and fairly nasty cars, and the butt of countless jokes. But one vehicle among the Czech company’s back catalogue deserves to be treated with considerably more respect.
Range Rover has come a long way since its launch, evolving from hose-it-out workhorse with plastic seats and rubber floors to the world’s swankiest, most luxurious off-roader. The brand even created an entirely new category of vehicle - what, today, we call an SUV.
Think of an unconventional, idiosyncratic French people’s car, and the Citroen 2CV is bound to spring to mind. Yet the Renault 4, almost forgotten in the UK, comfortably outsold the famous ‘tin snail’ to become the best-selling French car of all time, with more 8million produced.
A Herald in a party frock, or a great British sports car for the masses? The Triumph Spitfire pulled off the trick of being both, its pretty Michelotti-designed body periodically tweaked to keep it looking fresh throughout its 18-year production run. Like its chief rivals, the Sprite and Midget, it represented affordable, wind-in-the-hair motoring with the emphasis on fun over
It’s as quintessentially English as fish and chips, talking about the weather and a stiff upper lip. No matter that the MGB was, in some ways, already outdated when it was launched in 1962, and positively antiquated by its demise in 1980, its title as Britain’s best-selling sports car will never be challenged.
Maybe it’s because it was late to the party. Maybe it’s the mark II’s love-it-or-hate-it styling. Or maybe it’s because it had as many downs as ups in the hot hatch arms race of the 1980s. Whatever the reason, the Vauxhall Astra GTE is, these days, rarely spoken of with the same reverence as the Peugeot 205 GTi or the