The Silver Spirit was unveiled in October 1980 as a replacement for the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Direct comparison, however, showed only small differences. The new models had slightly grown in length and width; height had been cut a little, although the styling was more modern than that of its predecessor. The interior was dominated by the expect..
Historically, the E-Class is Mercedes-Benz' best-selling model, with more than 13 million sold by 2015. The first E-Class series was originally available as a four-door saloon, five-door estate, two-door coupé and two-door convertible. From 1997 to 2009, the equivalent coupé and convertible were sold under the Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class nameplate whic..
Built between 1976 and 2004, the Lotus Esprit was unveiled in 1972 as a concept car and was a development of a stretched Lotus Europa chassis. It was among the first of designer Giorgetto Giugiaro's polygonal 'folded paper' designs. Originally, the name Kiwi was proposed but, in keeping with the Lotus tradition of having all car model names start w..
Italian styling house, Michelotti, was commissioned for this exciting new sportscar and came up with this swooping body as well as a single-piece front end which tilted forwards to offer unrivalled access to the engine. It was a huge success and four subsequent variants ensued, the latest of which was the Mk. IV, complete with a 1500cc engine, a to..
Mercedes-Benz first introduced an SL model in 1954 following an original idea by American importer, Max Hoffman who foresaw a market for a car tailored to affluent Americans in the booming post war United States. It has remained in production, in various guises and model years in the seven decades since then making the SL the second longest single ..
The Porsche 996 Turbo was launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September1999 with a driveline derived from the Le Mans winning GT1 from the previous year. The Hagerty guide to buying a Porsche 911/996 points out the regular 996 model from 1997 to 2004 was a ‘whole other world’ from the Turbo model that ran from 2000-2005. The initials IMS (Inter..
The 996 is the internal designation for the Porsche 911 model manufactured and sold between 1998 and 2005. On its debut, the 996 featured the most significant changes to the Carrera model since its 1963 introduction, namely the water-cooled engine replacing the previously air-cooled unit. Progressively stringent noise regulations, environmental con..
With the R107 shape Mercedes-Benz, you are very much buying into an image. The style and flair are there in spades married, obviously, to renowned German build-quality. There are many variations on the theme in terms of engine size and the larger the size, generally, the more desirable, the car and so it is with this ‘Sports Licht’ roadster. The bi..
These fabulous sports cars were unveiled at the Geneva Salon in 1977 and voted Car of the Year for 1978. It was intended as an upmarket replacement for the long-running 911 but in the event Porsche's rear-engined classic would outlive its younger sibling. The front-engined 928's stylish hatchback body featured aluminum doors, bonnet and front wings..
The Maserati Quattroporte was first revealed in 1963. It was the first production Maserati with more than two doors and also the first to be powered by a V8 engine. The Pietro Frua designed, full-sized sports saloon kicked off an almost unbroken run of this luxury car which is now well into its sixth iteration. Fifth generation Quattroporte product..