Search results for ""Author Matthew Vale""

Associated Motor Cycles (AMC) produced some of the most iconic British bikes of the 1940s and 1950s. Badged as either AJS or Matchless, the range covered everything from plodding ride-to-work four-stroke singles, weekend racers, two-stroke motocrossers and full-blown Grand Prix contenders. Illustrated with over 200 photographs, this comprehensive new history looks at the history and development of the single and twin-cylinder ranges; the racing bikes; technical details of all major models, and owning and riding AJS and Matchless bikes today.

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Aston Martin is a marque that holds a special place in the British motor industry. As a manufacturer of cars for over 100 years, its history is tied up with the British psyche, and the marque holds a special place in the hearts of all motoring enthusiasts. This book charts the history of Aston Martin from its early days in central London, as Banford and Martin, through the Bertelli years in Feltham and the post-war David Brown years at Newport Pagnell to the current day with its purpose-built, state-of-the-art factory in Gaydon, Warwickshire. Now seen as an iconic luxury British sports car manufacturer, Aston Martin has been designing, manufacturing and racing cars for over 100 years, almost continuously. Known for combining quality, style and performance in its products, the company has often struggled to balance these attributes with financial success. Fortunately, over the years generous investors who recognize the potential in the company have always been on hand to rescue and perpetuate the brand. Looking at the engines, the cars, the people, the business and car owners, this book tells the story of a quintessentially British marque.

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The Lotus Elan was Colin Chapman and Lotus' first affordable road car, produced from 1962 and, along with its larger Plus 2 (+2) variant, until 1974. As a replacement for the expensive Lotus Elite, the Elan and Plus 2 were both successful sports cars, which carried Lotus through the 1960s and into the 1970s. Starting with a brief history of Lotus and the Elan, this book provides a detailed originality guide to the Elan and Plus 2, identifying the design changes Lotus made to the models through their lifetimes. An 'owner's guide' provides detailed information on owning and maintaining the cars in tip-top condition, and gives details of common faults and upgrades. The restoration guide gives any potential restorer the information to carry out the tasks needed to bring one of the these cars back from the dead. With anecdotes and experiences from current and previous owners of Elans and Plus 2s, along with many colour photographs, the book provides a valuable insight into owning, running and racing these iconic cars.

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Aston Martin has produced some of the finest sports cars made. One of the company’s most exciting periods was under the leadership of Augustus Bertelli. The company’s innovative cars, built between 1926 and 1940, were out-standing in terms of reliability and performance, and were proved in that toughest of motor sport classes, endurance racing – in particular the Le Mans 24 Hours race. This book looks at the cars produced by Aston Martin under the watchful eye of Bertelli, and covers the cars made by the company up to the start of the Second World War. It includes the 1.5-litre First, Second and Third Series cars and the 2-Litre range from 1936. These Aston Martins of the 1920s and 1930s – International, Le Mans, Mark II, Ulster and Speed models – are all covered in this book. Beyond Bertelli’s era, the book sheds light on the contributions made by engineer Claude Hill and owner Gordon Sutherland. It explores their innovative concept cars, ‘Donald Duck’ and Atom, which played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s post-war success under David Brown. Accompanied by a rich collection of contemporary and present-day photographs, this book stands as the definitive reference work solely dedicated to these beloved cars, revered by a passionate community of owners fostered by the Aston Martin Owners Club. Furthermore, these historic cars continue to enjoy great popularity, making this book a must-have for enthusiasts and admirers alike.

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The Lotus Elite was a turning point for Lotus. First produced at the end of the 1950s, it marked Lotus' transition from a maker of small racing cars, which had limited utility on the road, to the producer of a highly sophisticated road and race car. In the Elite, Lotus exploited its knowledge of new technology and racing pedigree to produce a car which, with its glass fibre monocoque and Coventry Climax engine, had the potential to be a world beater. This book gives an insight into the reasons the car was produced and its importance in Lotus' history, especially in the production of lightweight innovative cars. Through interviews with Elite owners, first hand accounts provide a good overview of owning one of these iconic cars, covering its foibles and quirks as well as its exemplary roadholding, handling and performance. Illustrated with many colour photographs, along with period advertising material, the book provides a valuable insight into owning, running and racing these iconic cars.

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A model-by-model history of the popular Triumph Dolomite family, the range of quality sporting saloons that started with the Triumph 1300 and was in production from 1965-80. The Triumph 1300 was innovative, with front-wheel drive and a four-door body designed by Giovanni Michelotti. In 1970 the Triumph 1500 and the three-door Toledo were introduced, followed by the range-topping Dolomite in 1972, with Triumph's slant-4 overhead cam engine and rear-wheel drive. The fast Dolomite Sprint confirmed Triumph's position as the British 'BMW Beater' in 1973, with its powerful 16-valve engine and value achieved through clever engineering. In 1976 the whole range was renamed 'Dolomite' - and was a well-rounded model spread of four-door saloons, with engine sizes from 1300cc to 2 litres. With technical specifications and over 150 colour photographs, Triumph Dolomite - An Enthusiast's Guide also includes competition history, the Dolomites' ancestors, and a guide to buying and owning these iconic saloons.

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The Lotus Elan was Lotus's definitive roadster. It replaced the elegant but expensive Lotus Elite and was the first car to employ the innovative Lotus steel backbone chassis. The original Elan was produced as a two-seat, open-top sportscar and hardtop coupe from 1962 - 1973. The range was extended by the addition of the 2+2-seater Plus 2 from 1967 to 1974. Lotus introduced an all-new front wheel drive Elan in 1989, the M100, which was produced until 1995.

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This book is something of a celebration of the ADO16. Back in the day these cars were best sellers: they gave lots of British families their first truly modern, stylish and practical car, and were reliable, economical and roomy all-rounders. With over a million cars sold in the UK between 1962 and 1973 the ADO16s were pretty much the 'Universal British Cars' of the time and were present in every city, town, and village, and on every country road and trunk route in the '60s. So let us and this book celebrate one of the British Motor Industry's forgotten successes, the car that built on the success of the Mini to provide Britain and the rest of the world with a little gem of a motor, which was the perfect family saloon car of the time.

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The Essential Guide to buying the Lotus Elan of your dreams, this book will guide you through all you need to know. The Lotus Elan and Plus 2 are the definitive classic Lotus Sports cars. Small, light, and powered by Lotus's own Twin Cam engine, these were and are fast, great handling sports cars with a Grand Prix winning pedigree. With a winning formula of glass fibre bodyshell, and simple sheet steel backbone chassis, the Elan was an affordable replacement for the expensive and exotic glass fibre monocoque Lotus Elite, and became the mainstay of the Lotus road car range throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s. First introduced as an open two-seater in 1962, and as a Coupe in 1966, the Elan was available as a do-it-yourself `kit' car or in factory assembled form, and was refined through the 1960s, culminating in the famous Sprint models of 1971, with the big valve 130bhp Twin Cam engine. The widened and stretched 2+2 Elan with its vestigial rear seats - named, unsurprisingly, the Plus 2 - was introduced in 1967, followed by the higher-spec Plus 2S in 1969, which was the first Elan not available in kit form. The Plus 2S 130 gained the Sprint specification engine in 1971, and the final Elan was the Plus 2S 130/5 of 1972. Just over 9000 Elans were produced between 1962 and 1973, while just over 5000 Plus 2 were produced between 1967 and 1974. This book has been written to provide the prospective owner with all the information they need to establish if an Elan or Plus 2 is for them, and what to look for when viewing an example. All aspects of the cars are examined, including paperwork, mechanical issues, bodywork and interior with many photos of example cars to assist in the assessment of an individual car, and understand the implications of many of the common problems that a car can exhibit. The author is a Lotus enthusiast, and has been working on and writing about classic Lotuses for a number of years.

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Reliant produced a range of sports cars from the 1960s to the 1990s which complemented their well-established three-wheeled cars. Starting with a design for Israel's Autocars in 1961, Reliant went on to produce many successful cars, including the Sabre, a raw two-seat sports car; the Scimitar GT, a solid GT car; the Scimitar GTE, a market-defining sporting estate car; and the SS1, a small two-seat sports car. Reliant Sabre, Scimitar and SS1- An Enthusiast's Guide explores the history, design and development of the Reliant sports cars. Beginning with the Autocars Sabra, the Sabre, Scimitar, Scimitar GTE and SS1 are each explored in depth. This book includes full technical specifications for every major model owner's experiences and advice for buying and owning.

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This book tells the story of Alvis and its cars, aero engines and military vehicles. Starting with the formation of the company in 1919, it traces the company's products through the 1920s and 1930s, and through its wartime exploits to its eventual takeover by Rover. The book covers: the early four-cylinder cars; the amazing six-cylinder cars; early ventures into armoured car and aero engine production; the post WWII four- and six-cylinder cars; the Leonides post-World War II aero engines and finally, the post-World War II military vehicles.

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This fascinating book tells the complete story of the early days of TVR, from Trevor Wilkinson establishing the company in 1946 through to the Martin Lilley years, which came to an end in 1982. The design and development of these classic British sports cars, with their defining characteristics of tubular backbone chassis and glass fibre bodywork, are described in detail. Illustrated with over 200 colour and black and white photographs the book covers all the early years, including the Sports Saloon, the Jomar, the Open Sports, TVR's first true production car the Grantura from 1958, Griffith models with their remarkable 289 cu in Ford V8 motors, the Vixen and Tuscan range of the late 1960s, the M Series models launched in 1972 and finally, the Tasmin range introduced in 1980.

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The Essential Guide to buying the Lotus Europa of your dreams, this book will guide you through all you need to know. Originally intended to be a cheap and basic Lotus Seven replacement, during its development the Lotus Europa morphed into a miniature supercar, described by Colin Chapman as a "working man's GT40," which sat alongside the Elan in the Lotus line-up. Its mid engined configuration gave it exceptional balance, and its handling and roadholding were second to none. Initially produced for export to Europe in late 1966, the Renault-powered car evolved into the Series 2 in 1968 when it was released to the UK and US markets, and, in its final iteration, gained the Lotus' own Twin Cam engine in 1971. Production ended in 1975 with around 9200 cars completed. This book has been written to provide the prospective owner with all the information they need to establish if the car is for them, and what to look for when viewing an example. All aspects of the cars are examined, including paperwork, mechanical issues, bodywork and interior with many photos of example cars to assist in the assessment of an individual car, and understand the implications of many of the common problems that a car can exhibit. The author is a Lotus enthusiast, and has been working on and writing about classic Lotuses for a number of years.

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The Lotus Europa was Colin Chapman and Lotus's first mid-engined road car, and was produced from 1966 through to 1975. Originally designed to slot into the Lotus range below the Elan as a low cost replacement for the Lotus 7, the Europa eventually sat alongside the Elan and Plus 2 as a comparable sports car in its own right. Starting with the design philosophy behind the development of the Europa, this book provides detailed technical descriptions of all the major versions of the model, starting with the Renault-powered Series 1 through to the Lotus Twin Cam powered Special. It looks at the cars on the road and the racing Type 47 derived from the road cars which competed in the small capacity Group 6 class, as well as featuring in historic racing today. With owners impressions and interviews with ex-Lotus employees, the book provides a valuable insight into owning running and racing these iconic cars.

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Lotus introduced the Type 75 Elite in 1974. Being a full four-seater coupe with an opening glass tailgate, it was designed to carry a family in comfort while retaining Lotus' trademark, excellent road holding and handling. Perhaps most importantly, it was the first - and successful - step in Colin Chapman's plan to move upmarket and away from Lotus' kit car image. The Elite gave rise to two derivatives, the Eclat and the Excel. The Eclat was a restyled coupe version, sacrificing the Elite's unique rear styling and good rear passenger headroom for a more stylish exterior. With its conventional coupe styling, the Eclat was more mainstream than the Elite, and it was in the end the better seller. In turn, the Eclat spawned the Excel, the last of the Elite-inspired family. Matthew Vale looks at the history of these unusual Lotus models, and gives a thorough guide to buying and owning the cars today.

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