British Leyland

The Triumph Dolomite Sprint was British Leyland's answer to the BMW 2002, a compact sporting saloon whose clever single-cam 16-valve engine reached the mass market a decade ahead of the rest, and the first British car with alloy wheels as standard. A guide to the engineering, the racing success, what to look for when buying, and what they are worth.

The Triumph Stag was a glamorous Michelotti-styled 2+2 convertible with a bespoke 3.0-litre V8, conceived to rival the Mercedes SL but undone by a notorious cooling problem. A guide to the engine saga and why it overheated, what a properly sorted car is like, what to look for when buying, and what they are worth now the reputation has been rehabilitated.

Triumph put sports-car motoring within reach of ordinary British drivers, from the cheap-and-cheerful Spitfire and Herald to the muscular TR sports cars, the V8 Stag and the clever Dolomite Sprint. A guide to the classic Triumphs worth knowing, the marque's Coventry-to-British-Leyland story, and why a good one is one of the friendliest ways into classic ownership.

The Princess was Harris Mann's other wedge, a front-drive Hydragas-suspended family car that BL forgot to give a hatchback. A guide to the 18-22 launch confusion, the Princess 2, the Ambassador handover, what to look for, and what they're worth.

British Leyland was supposed to dominate the 1970s family-saloon market and instead spent the decade losing it. The Marina and Princess fell short of plan. The Vauxhall Victor, Chevette, and Hillman Avenger took the volume. A piece on the five cars that defined the segment and why each is now worth a second look as a cheap British classic.

The Morris Marina sold over a million cars, finished last in nearly every road test, ran on a front suspension dating from 1948, and survived in such small numbers that finding a clean one today is a real search. A guide to the lineage, the Ital handover, what to look for, and what they're worth.

What British Leyland was, the marques it absorbed, the thirty-year industrial arc from the 1968 merger through nationalisation and privatisation to the 1999 BMW breakup, and why it still matters for owners of 1970s and 1980s British classics.