William Towns was a British designer who penned a small range of interesting cars. He was born in 1936 and started his automotive career at the Rootes Group in 1954, initially as an interior designer working on mostly seats and other small components. He was then included in the team that started the design process for the range that became the Hillman Hunter - however he … [Read more...]
Backbone Chassis
The backbone chassis was probably the easiest chassis to draw, however it was a major departure from tradition. It is similar to a ladder chassis in that the body and associated mechanical components are bolted to it. The main difference is shown in the naming of the chassis - a ladder chassis looks like a ladder and a backbone chassis looks like a …. backbone! Rover were … [Read more...]
Alvis Car and Engineering Company
This article is about a low volume car manufacturer that survived by manufacturing military vehicles and aircraft engines. T.G. John founded a company in his name in 1919 as a supplier of engines and scooter style motorised bikes. He set up his company in Coventry in the UK, which was at the heart of the British industry. The following year John used a new four cylinder engine … [Read more...]
Triumph V8
This article discusses the famous, or possibly, infamous engine – the Triumph V8. During the 1960s, Triumph decided to build a ragtop based on the 2000 saloon. The original plan was to use the 2 and 2.5 litre engines that were available in the Triumph parts bin, however as development continued and the car morphed from being a convertible saloon into an open grand tourer - … [Read more...]
Buick, Rover, Repco V8
Over the past few years I have described several engines that have had long successful lives and we now add to the list an engine that started in the US and branched out into a Formula 1 winning motor and a source for some of the best sports cars produced in the UK. The engine in question started life in 1961 as the Buick 215, an all aluminium motor of 3.5 litres capacity … [Read more...]