British Luxury Cars of the 1950s and '60s

by James Taylor

Overview

In the 1950s and 1960s, luxury car buyers, from government ministers to captains of industry, almost invariably bought British. These were stately, dignified, and grand vehicles, with many featuring leather interiors and wood trim. Unfortunately, that market has now largely disappeared and, with it, so have the car-makers themselves.

The book covers cars in the over-3-litre class from the biggest names in British luxury motoring including Alvis, Daimler, and Lagonda, and high-end models from Austin, Rover, and Jaguar. It examines the features and characteristics of these classic cars, as well as explaining why they fell from prominence in the 1970s. Replete with beautiful photography throughout, this book is a loving portrait of the British luxury car, a dearly missed saloon defeated by foreign imports.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784420642
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	01/24/2017
Series:	Shire Library , #832
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	5.87(w) x 8.29(h) x 0.20(d)

About the Author

James Taylor has been writing about cars and transportation in books and magazines since the 1970s. His books for Shire include British Sports Cars of the 1950s and '60s, Family Cars of the 1970s and '80s and Land Rover.

Table of Contents

Introduction 4

The Pinnacle: Rolls-Royce and Bentley 15

The Old-Established Names: Daimler and Armstrong-Siddeley 24

The Volume Producers: Humber and Rover 34

The Sporting Dimension: Alvis, Lagonda and Jaguar 44

The Great Pretenders: BMC 54

Further Reading 63

Places to Visit 63

Index 64