After World War II the automotive world noticed that England was building nimble sports cars that were nevertheless under-powered and that tended to overheat or see their electrical systems fail pretty quickly. Meanwhile in the United States we were building powerful, reliable V-8 engines, but no sports cars. That's why some of the most famous cars sports are British-built but American powered.
Behold, an authentic copy of the car every enthusiast dreams about: A 1964 Ford AC Cobra by Carroll Shelby. At auction, this 289 V-8 powered Cobra would go for about $900,000. If it were the later 427-powered car, it would command at least $1.5 million.
You can be forgiven if you've never heard of the British sports car company TVR. They've never made a lot of cars. This TVR Griffith was also powered by the 289 Ford. The first two series of cars had fiberglass bodies, and only 251 cars were sold between 1964 and 1966. This is third-series car from 1966, and it has a hand-made steel body. Only ten were made.
I didn't think I'd ever see an Allard J2. And actually I still haven't seen one - this is a replica. The Allard was a British make originally powered by a flathead V-8 made in England by British Ford. Only 90 were made between 1950 and 1952.
And finally, a car that's all-British: a 1947 Jaguar Mark IV. If this car is really in good working order, then the owner is a genius.
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