Classic Cars

Italy is the purveyor of the modern supercar and home to some of the world’s most famous and lusted after cars. We all love and know our Ferraris, Lamborghinis, or Maseratis but Italy is also about Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Lancia, all of which have been behind some truly iconic cars as well as some that should’ve broken through but, instead, have remained stuck in the doldrums of automotive history - even recent history. Here’s a list of some less well-know Italian sports cars.

Within the vast automotive world, there are cars from a certain era that aren’t talked about much. The 1940s are times most remembered for the Second World War, which forced many of the carmakers to temporarily switch from making cars to assembling military equipment, such as Tanks and Bombers. It seems the subject is taboo when we talk about German vehicles, in particular, such as the obscure 1947 Volkhard V2 Sagitta. Although the car’s roots are, even today, frowned upon by some, it featured some revolutionary design solutions. Today, we are sharing everything we have uncovered about this unrealized and forgotten automotive treasure.

There are cars out there that beg to be used as platforms. If you’ve watched Jay Leno’s Garage on YouTube, you’ll know he has plenty of weird and cool stuff that he likes to showcase in detail. This time, he’s showing us a 1967 Citroen 2CV, but not just any 2CV. This one has a custom fiberglass body and it’s a convertible.

Born out of a Mercedes-Benz concept car and a man’s reluctance to let the said concept go to waste, the Isdera Imperator 108i is one of the quirkiest, rarest supercars from the 1980s. And it all starts with the name.

The Chevrolet Corvair Corsa was like a hipster car in the mid-1960s as far as what American car culture entailed. Thanks to an air-cooled, flat-six engine mounted in the rear, connected to a manual gearbox that helped spun the rear wheels, the Corvair cranked out 80 horsepower. The Corvair Corsa was blessed with turbocharging, so the output went up to 180 horsepower, a trait that Jay Leno describes as “impressive” during acceleration.

When the Jaguar E-Type was unveiled in 1961 at the Geneva Motor Show, so many people wanted to go on a test run with the coupe that Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons had to have a second car, with a roadster body, delivered from Coventry overnight. That is how special the E-Type was, and to celebrate its 60th anniversary, Jaguar will be prepping 12 restored 3.8 E-Types – six 9600 HP coupes and 77 RW roadsters.

The Petersen Automotive Museum is home to a lot of the most famous vehicles in history. One model, in particular, was the recent subject of a video hosted by the museum’s chief historian, Leslie Kendall. It’s an armored 1942 Lincoln Zephyr that happened to be the presidential ride of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States of America.

Wisconsin-based custom car builder Ringbrothers has unveiled its newest restomod: a 1968 Mercury Cougar that’s affectionately been dubbed the “Coyogar.” The all-encompassing restoration includes a lot of the typical modifications and upgrades you’d expect from a Ringbrothers project. Co-owners Jim and Mike Ring even sourced a Ford 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 engine from a Ford F-150 Raptor for the build. The finished product is more toned down than previous Ringbrothers projects, but it’s still easily identifiable as a Ringbrothers project that combines classic looks with a modern technical side.

We’re in the mid-’60s when the trends amongst sportscar makers pointed towards a transition to the rear, mid-mounted layout. Lamborghini showed everyone the way in 1966 with the Miura but others had already dabbled with the idea, including small-time Italian company ATS. Others, including Ferrari, were already racing mid-engined race cars and Ford joined in on the fun with 1964’s GT40. As history tells us, Mercedes-Benz wanted a seat at the table to kick back and relax away from the serious business of producing the world’s best luxury sedans.

Healthy and safety guides tell you that a car missing a full-width windshield should not be driven on public roads yet here we are, looking at a gorgeous open-top Datsun from the late ’60s that, courtesy of the SR20DET inline-four is so fast it literally blows your cap off.

And then there’s the soundtrack and the fact that you’re never fully in the car because the doors are low enough so that most of your upper body is exposed to the elements. Grassroots Garage gets a taste of this automotive guillotine.

If you are a motoring enthusiast and spend some time on YouTube binging on automotive content, there’s a good chance you’ve come across Doug DeMuro. For years, the YouTuber has been showcasing the quirks and features of some of the most interesting cars, ever made, as well as some pretty obscure stuff.

British automaker Jaguar has just announced a new continuation series for one of its legendary classic models, the C-Type. A race car originally built from 1951 to 1953, the C-Type joins the D-Type, Lightweight E-Type, and XKSS on Jaguar’s list of classic cars revived through the company’s Continuation project.

Just like the cars before it, the C-Type Continuation will be built to original specs using data from the brand’s archive and by scanning on original model. Only eight will be built, adding to the 53 examples that Jaguar assembled in the 1950s.

You don’t need us to tell you who Magnus Walker is, however, you might want to know that he’s part of this gig with Hagerty where he scours the car world in the search for future classics. The YouTube show is called The Next Big Thing with Magnus Walker (obviously) and it’s rapidly turning into one of our all-time favorites.

The Bentley 8 Liter came to life during uncertain times. One year before its debut, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 hit and come 1930, its effects were still rippling through the world economy. That’s why Bentley assembled just 100 units of the 8 Liter in a two-year span, between 1930 and 1932.

Porsche unveiled a handful of previous unseen concept cars back in November 2020, showing us that it considered a road-legal version of the 919 race car, a van, or a 904 revival based on the Volkswagen XL Sport.

The German company unveiled no fewer than 15 concepts, but the 550one isn’t one of them. A two-seater about the size of the Boxster, the 550one was just unveiled online by its creator, Walter de Silva, some 12 years after it was built. As the name suggests, it’s a tribute to the iconic Porsche 550 of the 1950s.