Retro

Classic Cars reader David Driscoll has always dreamt of driving a W113 Mercedes-Benz SL. Today we put him beneath the Pagoda hardtop of a reference.

Searching for a classic Jaguar survivor? Then on the evidence of this beautifully preserved XJ12, Norway looks like a good place to start.

Wifredo Ricart thought that if Ferrari’s horses could prance, his should be able to fly. Then the brilliant engineer surprised the world with this creation, the earliest-surviving example of Spain’s only super sports car. Recently restored, we drive it...

This 1954 Jaguar XK120 DHC 3.4 was originally owned by French singer Gilbert Bécaud. Repatriated back to the UK in the late Eighties, it’s since been restored twice.

This DB2/4 features coachwork by the Italian coachbuilder, Vignale, and was built in 1954 for the king of Belgium. After becoming derelict, it has recently been restored by marque specialist, Aston Workshop.

The convertible is a perfect expression of one version of the American dream and, for a lucky few, dreams do come true.

This Tojeiro-MG, the final car to emerge from thefabled Corsica coachworks, covered only 34 milesbefore 2003. Finally it is being driven as intended.

By 1973, Gilbern had graduated from kit cars and was eying promising new markets with a big new coupé. Fate had other ideas – but today we drive the sole Invader MkIV prototype.

Ian Appleyard’s ‘NUB 120’ scored all the column inches – but its sister car deserves just as much recognition, as Matthew Hayward discovers.

As ‘1970 Manual Prototype Number One’, this car spent five years and hundreds of thousands of miles being developed by its maker. Today we drive it and ask: is this the zenith of the Rover P5B 3500S?

The coming together of technicians from Porsche Cars GB’s network of Classic Partner Centres saw this early 911 wow fans of historic motorsport before the car underwent further transformation in readiness for a return to racing.

Once misunderstood, the Mercedes-Benz ‘Pagoda’ SL W113 went on to create and define an entirely new kind of car. Join us on a drive through its natural playground of nocturnal Mayfair as the icon turns 60.

After the demise of Abingdon and the MG sports cars, the Metro arrived amidst some controversy. It wasn’t a big hit with the purists but, today, Austin- Rover’s first hot hatch has quite a following…

Retired from the funeral business, this three-owner superlative Cadillac now enjoys European holidays towing a caravan, but looks in better nick than some cars 40 years younger!

The short-lived MGC suffered a poor reputation as a driver’s car. The racing GTS suggests it could have been so much greater, as Richard Meaden discovers