Editorial

Rover built the cars the British establishment actually drove, from the dignified P4 to the Prime Ministers' P5B and the radical, twice-awarded P6 and SD1. A guide to the classic Rover cars we cover, the company that also created the Land Rover, and what its saloons are like to own now.

Austin built cars at Longbridge for over eight decades, from the Seven that motorised middle-class Britain to the A35, the Farina Cambridges and the Allegro. A guide to the classic Austins we cover, what became of the company, and what its survivors are like to own today.

Morris built cars at Cowley from 1913, grew into Britain's biggest carmaker on the Bullnose and the Eight, gave the country the Minor, and gathered Riley, Wolseley and MG into the Nuffield empire along the way. A guide to the classic Morrises and Rileys we cover and what became of the marque.

Vauxhall built pumps on the Thames before it built cars in Luton, wore a medieval griffin on its badge, and spent a century as Britain's other everyman marque under American ownership. A guide to where Vauxhall is from and who owns it, the sporting Edwardian glory years, and the classic Victors and Chevettes we cover.

Lotus built Britain's cleverest sports cars from a philosophy Colin Chapman put in one line, simplify, then add lightness, and won seven Formula One constructors' titles while doing it. A guide to the classic Lotus road cars we cover, from the Eleven and Elan to the Esprit, Excel and the outrageous Lotus Carlton, what each is like to own and what they are worth.

Reliant of Tamworth built three-wheelers for tradesmen, glassfibre sports cars for princesses and the most laughed-at, best-loved cars in Britain, all from a factory that was for years the biggest wholly British-owned carmaker after British Leyland. A guide to every classic Reliant we cover, from Regal and Robin to Scimitar and SS1, what each is like to own and what it is worth.

The Rootes Group was the family-run combine that built Hillman, Sunbeam, Humber, Singer and Commer vehicles from the late 1920s until Chrysler swallowed it in the 1960s. A guide to how two brothers from Kent assembled Britain's great badge-engineering empire, the pecking order of its marques, the classic Rootes cars worth knowing, and what each is like to own.

Austin-Healey built some of the most charismatic British sports cars of the 1950s and 60s, from the muscular, rally-winning Big Healey 3000 to the cheeky little Frogeye Sprite. A guide to the Austin-Healeys worth knowing, the Donald Healey and BMC partnership behind them, and why a good Healey is one of the most prized of all affordable classics.

Land Rover began in 1948 as a stop-gap farm vehicle and became one of the most enduring shapes in motoring. A guide to the classic Land Rovers worth knowing, from the leaf-sprung Series I, II and III through the long-lived Defender to the original Range Rover, the Solihull story, and why a good one is among the most usable and restorable classics you can own.

A guide to Britain's vintage years, from the Austin Seven that killed the cyclecar and the mass-produced Bullnose Morris to the Le Mans-winning Bentleys, the coachbuilt Rolls-Royces and the great vintage sports cars from Vauxhall, Alvis and Sunbeam.

The pre-war decade in full, from the Austin Seven that motorised the middle class and the first affordable MG sports cars to the birth of SS Jaguar, the £100 Ford, and the coachbuilt Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Lagonda, the years the car reached ordinary Britain before war stopped it in 1939.

Jensen was a small West Bromwich firm that built some of Britain's most distinctive grand tourers, hand-finished bodies wrapped around big Chrysler V8s, from the fibreglass CV8 to the glass-tailed Interceptor, the four-wheel-drive FF and the affordable Jensen-Healey. A guide to the classic Jensens worth knowing, what each is like to own, and what they are worth.

Which classic Mini should you buy, and what should you check before you do? A plain-English guide to choosing between the standard Mini, the Cooper, the Clubman, the Traveller, the Moke and the rest, where these cars rust, the mechanical points to check, and how to avoid a cloned Cooper.

Across its long life the classic Mini wore dozens of special and limited editions, from the 1979 1100 Special to the Mary Quant Designer, the anniversary cars and the 1990s Cooper revivals. A guide to the most notable Mini special editions, why there were so many, and whether they are worth more.

The classic Mini was the most influential small car ever built and one of the best-loved British classics of all. Alec Issigonis's 1959 design put four people in a ten-foot car, won the Monte Carlo Rally and ran for forty-one years. A guide to the standard Mini, the Cooper, the Clubman, the Traveller, the Moke and the rest, what they are like to own, and what they are worth.

The classic Mini is one of the best-supported classics in the world, with almost every part remanufactured, from a service kit to a complete bodyshell. A practical guide to Mini parts availability, panels and bodywork, mechanical and trim parts, and the club and specialist network that keeps these cars running.

From the rear-wheel-drive rally Escorts to the Capri V6, the XR hot hatches and the mighty Sierra Cosworth, the classic fast Fords are some of the most loved and fastest-rising British classics. A plain-English guide to the main families, how they differ, what they cost, how to choose, and how to avoid a cloned car.

The classic Triumph TR roadsters run from the side-screen TR2 of 1953 to the muscular TR6 of the 1970s, and they are very different cars to live with. A plain-English guide to the differences between the TR2, TR3, TR4, TR4A, TR5 and TR6, what each is like to own, what they cost, and how to choose the right one.

MG built some of the most loved and most affordable sports cars Britain ever made, from the pretty MGA and the half-million-selling MGB to the cheap-and-cheerful Midget and the six-cylinder MGC. A guide to the classic MGs worth knowing, the Morris Garages-to-Abingdon story, and why a good one is still one of the friendliest ways into classic ownership.

A guide to the best classic car museums in the UK, from the British Motor Museum at Gaydon and Beaulieu to Haynes, Brooklands and Coventry. Where to see British classics, what each collection is known for, and how to plan a visit.

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.

Britain built more kit and component cars than any country in the world, mostly because of a tax loophole. A guide to the British kit-car makers worth knowing, from Gilbern and Ginetta to Dutton and Robin Hood, how the cars are registered today, and why a good one is now a genuine and affordable classic.

Jaguar built cars that looked and felt like they cost twice the money, from the XK120 and the E-Type to the Mk2 and the XJ6, and won Le Mans along the way. A guide to the classic Jaguars worth knowing, what each one is like to own and run now, and where it sits in the marque's story.

Ford of Dagenham built the cars that put Britain on wheels, from the Cortina that led the sales charts for a decade to the rally-bred Escorts and the executive Granada. A guide to the classic British Fords worth knowing, what they are like to own now, and where each one sits in the story.

From Harry Ferguson's revolutionary little grey Fergie to the half-million Massey Ferguson 135s that worked farms across three continents, Britain built some of the most important tractors in the world. A guide to the classic and vintage British tractors worth knowing, why they changed farming, and why the survivors are now collected, shown, and restored.

Britain built some of the smallest and strangest cars ever sold, from the Isle of Man's Peel P50 to Reliant's wedge-shaped Bond Bug. A guide to the bubble cars and three-wheelers, why Britain made so many, and why the survivors are now sought-after classics.

The vans that did Britain's everyday work are now among its most charming classics, from the Post Office Morris Minor van to the camper-converted Bedford CF. A guide to classic light commercials, why so few survive, and why the survivors are increasingly collectable.

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.

A decade-by-decade guide to the British classic cars that defined each era, from the vintage Bentleys and Austin Sevens of the 1920s and the pre-war MGs of the 1930s, through the post-war "Export or Die" launches and the swinging-sixties sports-car peak, to the McLaren F1 era of the 1990s.

A decade split in two by the war, from the factories' switch to tanks and aero-engines and the 1945 restart, to the landmark launches of the MG TC, the Land Rover Series I, the Jaguar XK120, and the Bentley Mark VI under the "Export or Die" policy.

The decade British sports cars went mainstream, the British cars of the 1950s running from the Jaguar XK120 and the Austin-Healey 100 to the Bentley R-Type Continental, the Land Rover Series I, and the export drive that built the American market.

Britain's high-water mark as a car maker, the British cars of the 1960s running from the Mini and the E-Type to the Cortina, the DB5, and the export boom that briefly made it the world's sports-car factory.

Brilliant machines and industrial chaos in equal measure, the British cars of the 1970s taking in the Capri and the XJS, the Stag, the SD1, and the cars British Leyland would rather forget.

The turbo era and the birth of the hot hatch, the British cars of the 1980s running from the Sierra Cosworth and the Esprit Turbo to the Range Rover, the XJ40, and the performance cars that landed on everyone's neighbour's driveway.

Supercars, hot saloons, and the slow end of an industry, the British cars of the 1990s spanning the McLaren F1 and the Escort Cosworth, the Lotus Elise, the TVR boom under Peter Wheeler, and the long decline of Rover Group.

A car doesn't become a classic at one moment but at several different ones, and those moments rarely agree with each other. An essay on the legal, market, cultural and personal answers to a deceptively simple question.