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  At the 1932 National Automobile Show in New York, James V. Martin displayed two experimental rear-engined cars of his own design–the four-wheeled Martin and the three-wheeled Martinette. While they incorporated numerous airplane design features, they were also streamlined along jaray principles. This vehicle includes a wooden frame, aluminum body, and independent wheel suspension by […]

  In 1952 the Manom Company started on the prototype Manocar.  The car was to have large curved body shapes that gave it a larger appearance.  Also, with a high seating position and no doors, the Manocar was easy to step in and out of.  While many microcars were small and cramped, the Manocar seemed

Lotus Cars, founded by the late Colin Chapman, was a racing car manufacturer that also built road cars, such as the Elan and Elite. Chapman was the engineer, and a group of committed staff made his ideas come to life. Names like Costin and Duckworth (who later joined forces as Cosworth) worked at Lotus during

  The Lotus Elise premiered in Frankfurt in 1995 as a roadster with go-kart handling.  It is perfectly suited to Lotus’ heritage:  small, light, fast, advanced, race-tuned, and classically styled.  It has no fixed roof, no power steering, no power brakes, no radio – nothing that is not necessary for driving – and driving is

The Larmar holds the claim to be the world’s narrowest car.  At 2 ft., 4 in. wide, it was designed to pass through a standard gate that was 2 ft., 6 in. wide.  That’s pretty close, as it only leaves 1 in. clearance on either side.  Even the diminutive Peel P-50, recognized as the world’s

The Jarret brothers designed electric motors of a new kind – called a Switched Reluctance Motors (SRM).This Brushless design uses a steel flywheel fixed to an axle. A series of 24 magnetic coils are switched in sequence to synchronize the current flow; this determines the direction of magnetism that moves the flywheel in a rotational

At the 1961 Geneva Salon, Autosport’s headline, “The E-Type Steals the Show” foretold the huge success that was to become the E-Type. Based mechanically and aerodynamically on the racing D-Type, the E-type was originally conceived as a race car, but with the changes in Jaguar’s attitudes on racing during development, it became a street car.

Iota was an off-shoot of the Bristol Aircraft Motor Club and offered a range of parts, up to a complete car, to encourage the growth of 500cc single-seater racing, which later became Formula 3.  Iota made 22 chassis but most owners gave their cars individual names.  None achieved much success.  In 1951, some of those