The Rivals

The heart of the Simca 1000 lay in Italy, but it was the French that built it – and proved that a small, rear-engned didn’t necessarily have to have a Renault badge on its nose to sell in its millions. […]

The Scimitar started out as a two-door coupe, but soon evolved into something far more innovative. We pull together the brief, but fascinating story of one of Britain’s most underrated […]

The full story of how the front-wheel drive Vauxhall Cavalier overturned the Ford Sierra and Austin Montego in the UK fleet market during the 1980s. […]

The 1977 Matra-Simca Rancho is one of those wonderful cars that made more of an impact than anyone realised at the time of its launch. Today, no-one would bat an eyelid if a manufacturer launched a chunky-looking van-based lifestyle vehicle with looks that hinted at off-road ability– but back in the late 1970s, this was radical stuff. Here’s its story. […]

The Simca 1100 might be all-but forgotten today, but this revolutionary hatch caused quite the storm when it was launched in 1967. With front-wheel drive, torsion bar suspension and a wide-opening tailgate, it had everything a modern family man needed in their car. […]

Mike Humble Here’s yet another one of those car birthdays that makes you feel old. Ford’s medicine to a customer base that still mourned the passing of Cortina came along thirty years ago. The old […]

The story of Alfa Romeo’s groundbreaking small family car of the 1970s. It was a handling and packaging tour de force, and one of the best cars of its decade. How differently would history have judged it, had its rustproofing been better? […]

Andrew Elphick recounts a brilliant trip in a Citroen C5 from Geneva to Monaco, via the Alps, Italy… and a little bit more. […]

The TVR Tasmin arrived in a flurry of hype at the beginning of 1980, but only really bloomed much later in the decade once its Ford engines had been replaced by some very interesting tuned Rover V8 units… […]

A very British supercar When the Esprit burst onto the scene in October 1975, it had a similar effect on fans of the marque as that fateful storm had on […]

Keith Adams takes a sideways look at one of those bangers, which once littered the streets of the UK. This one was loved and admired as a repmobile for a […]

Keith Adams There are plenty of cars that have achieved notoriety during their lifetimes – one only has to look at the Boulevard of Broken Dreams that is the British […]

Keith Adams Well, it looks like 2013 is going to be another one of those years guaranteed to make me feel old. I’ve already drawn attention to the fact that […]

Mike Humble Once upon a time, life was so much simpler wasn’t it? You got your electric from the electric board, your gas from the gas board and yes… you […]

Richard Kilpatrick on the innovative small car since the 1959 Mini. Sadly, Germany’s reinvention didn’t go on to inspire as many copies as Issigonis’ baby. A car with a reputation […]

We love value for money purchases at AROnline, and no new car sums-up this philosophy so well as Dacia. John O’Sullivan tries one for size in Ireland, and comes away […]

Keith Adams You’ll have to forgive me for this indulgence, especially as it’s concerning a – gasp – rival car built overseas, but in the case of the C6, I’m […]

Mark Mastrototaro casts a fond eye over one of the UK’s favourite imports during the 1970s, the Datsun 120Y. Why was it so popular? Striking British factories, waiting lists for […]

After spending time driving around the UK at Christmas, Mike Humble wonders if the Golf truly does lead where others merely follow. And comes to an unsurprising conclusion. Simply the […]

Mike Humble takes another sideways look at cars which once littered the streets up and down the land. This one, on paper, had little going for it – it was […]

Mike Humble takes a sideways look at one of the sheds that littered the highways and by-ways of the UK. The Ford Granada Mk2 might have smacked of Teutonic coolness, […]