Tag: TheMechanists
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Nice Vauxhall mate! Oh wait…
Some people are into supercars, hypercars, hatchbacks, etc… There are plenty of categories that appeal to their users for different reasons. For me, the best of all remain the sports saloon or estate. The reason is their discreetness coupled with their practicality and massive power that make them capable of competing with proper sports cars…
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Forward thinking at Prodrive
Making your way through the revolving door and into the laboratory-clean reception area to be greeted by Colin McRae’s 1995 Championship winning Impreza, and an Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3, you can only be in one place; Prodrive’s headquarters in Banbury, Oxfordshire. This team of geniuses, founded by former Aston Martin chairman David Richards CBE,…
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Monday Money – Just a cool Alfa
Based on the less “exciting” 4-door Alfetta (though I am not sure we should label any 70’s or 80’s Alfa not exciting!), the Alfetta GT or GTV is an awesome looking little fastback coupe designed by Giugiaro and was introduced in 1974 in its first version. Also called the Sprint Veloce, it was offered in…
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Some Tough Boxers
At The Mechanists, we like cars a lot, but we also love motorbikes. Even though we haven’t given them much love in the recent posts, it is now time to address this, starting with one of the most the historically acclaimed motorbikes for almost a century – the BMW R-Series. In recent years, the R-Series…
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She’s definitely a fair-lady
The Nissan S30, Fairlady Z or Datsun 240z is part of the legendary Japanese cars that marked the manufacturer’s history by being one of the most successful designs ever created by Nissan as its timeless shape was used and approved by the public for almost a decade. The aimed goal for the Datsun was to…
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The “Knobbly” before the Storm
Lister was founded in 1954 in Cambridge by Brian Lister. He started off building his first sports cars using tubular chassis and MG engine which was inspired by John Cooper. The race car in question started at the British Empire Trophy in Oulton Park the same year, but because of a few outdated bits, Brian…
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Monday Money – Boomerang style!
Another Monday Money, and yet another Giugiaro design… We swear this is not on purpose, we just owe the man so many classic shapes and iconic cars over his long career that it is hard to not mention any of his creations. Especially at Maserati where Italdesign took care of the Ghibli, the Merak or…
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Cool me down with some fresh air
For many Porsche enthusiasts, a “real” Porsche has to be air-cooled and it is not negotiable. The air-cooled units have been favoured for multiple reasons, but mainly for their hairy and involving character that you cannot find with the newer water-cooled designs. For vintage motorbike riders, or car drivers familiar with this type of…
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“The Spy Who Loved Me” Spirit
The project began in the early 70s when Colin Chapman started to work with Giugiaro to work on a new sports car based on his Maserati Boomerang concept. After some initial work and scale prototypes, Chapman was not satisfied and put the project on hold until a second more successful try based on a modified…
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The sound of metal
If you are a BMW fan, surely you are no stranger to inline 6 engine configurations. Of course, BMW does not have a monopoly on the L6 use, and for some of you the quintessential L6 might have originated from Jaguar, Triumph, Aston Martin, Mercedes or Nissan among many of the manufacturers that used that…
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Will that be 6, or 12 of you?
Born in 1975 and based on the XJ platform, the XJS is still a very desirable car today and has seen its popularity and prices climb up in the past 5 to 7 years. The design is the work of the Jaguar team but was initially started by Malcolm Sayer to whom we owe the…
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A step in the Ferrari boys club
I personally think the Ferrari 456 is one of the greatest grand tourers currently available under £50K. Some might argue that it is ugly (too much of a Peugeot 406 coupe look-alike), heavy and have maintenance costs that you would need to get a loan for… However, with prices currently at the bottom of the…