Archive Photos

For our third trip down memory lane with evocative and atmospheric press photographs from car manufacturers through the ages, Simon Goldsworthy samples a small selection from I for Isetta through to L for Lincoln.

This issue we select archive photos featuring manufacturers from I to L.

ISETTA

We've included this under I for Isetta, but we have to come clean and admit that we believe this is a 1955 press photo from the launch of BMW's version. The Bavarian company built the Isetta under licence from 1955 until 1962, churning out no fewer than 161,728 examples of the ultracute bubble car. The young lady is beautifully attired for a day on the water, though her companion does have a rather dubious taste in socks. Unfortunately we do have our doubts about the staging and exactly what the ad team are trying to suggest – while we can just about accept that the Isetta could be driven with a paddle poking out of the sunroof, where the heck did the canoe come from?

INNOCENTI

If the Marques and Models feature in this issue piqued your interest with its mention of an Innocenti version of the Austin A40 Farina, then here is an interior shot of that very model. This was the first car produced in conjunction with BMC/ BLMC, though later offerings included the Mini, Allegro and a Sprite- based GT/Coupé.

ISUZU

Bonus points to anybody who recognised this as an Isuzu Florian Deluxe, pictured in its launch year of 1967 at, we believe, the Tokyo Motor Show. Production continued until 1983, by which time the 1600cc engine had grown to 1800cc.

JAGUAR

This photo was issued to show the original and the latest offerings to be connected with Jaguar, and since that is an XK8 in the background we'd suggest it was taken some time around that model's launch in 1996. The sidecar in the foreground does not bear the Jaguar name of course, but is product of the Swallow Sidecar and Coachbuilding Company founded by William Walmsley and William Lyons. That company morphed into SS Cars Ltd, and after WW2 to Jaguar Cars Ltd.

JAGUAR

We are returning to Jaguar for our final offering under the J banner, this time to see William Lyons proudly showing off the new E-Type in 1961. There is scarcely a motoring accolade that has not been bestowed on the E-Type since then, and it is one of the few models for which the term 'iconic' is not hyperbole. Given that, it is incredible to think that when production ended in 1975, dealers struggled to shift the final examples of what was seen as yesterday's car, and for some time afterwards you could pick older examples up for relative peanuts. Where's a time machine when you need one?

JEEP

We Brits like to think that the Range Rover started the trend for luxury 4X4s, but Jeep had already been building their Wagoneer since November 1962. Although it sat on a truck chassis, it was definitely more family wagon than commercial vehicle. Front disc brakes were finally an option by the time this 1975 model year example was produced under American Motors Corporation ownership – AMC acquired Kaiser Jeep Corporation in 1970. Chrysler bought AMC in 1987 to get their hands on the Jeep brand.

JOWETT

The Jowett Bradford was essentially a van adapted for private use with windows and extra seating. Built until 1954, parts of it dated back to before the First World War. It was powered by a 1005cc flat twin engine, though with just 25bhp perhaps the term 'powered' is a trifle optimistic. They were incredibly durable though, and inspired a devoted following. This is a 1948 vehicle in Shell Oil Co livery.

KORAL

We must admit to being a little confused as to just where to place this image. The car was marketed by Innocenti, but was clearly a Yugo underneath, which in turn could have gone under the Zastava banner! However, we've plumped to put it under K because as far as we can tell, it was marketed in Italy as the Koral Cabrio. The car was itself based on Fiat designs and powered by their tried and tested 903cc engine in Koral 45 spec, or the 1.1 unit from the Fiat 128 in the Koral 55 version. It sold enough to wash its face because it was so cheap.

KIA

We haven't managed to find much background to this one, so please do write in if you can help flesh out the details. It is the Kia KMS III, which was a concept car displayed in 1997 at motor shows in Frankfurt and Seoul, but which never made it into production. That is a shame because while the Kia Sephia on which it was based (produced in two generations from 1992-97 and from 1997-2003) was forgettable, this looks pretty good!

KAISER DARRIN

This curious beast looks like the door has fallen off, but in fact it is designed to slide forwards into the front wing. The fibreglass oddity was built for 1954 by Kaiser Motors, but only 435 production cars and six prototypes were completed before the project was canned.

KAISER

More successful for Kaiser was their Henry J model, introduced in 1950 for the 1951 model year. Even that was not a huge success though – despite being aggressively priced, sales struggled to reach a level that made it profitable and the model only lasted three years.

LANCIA

This magnificent beast is a Lancia Flaminia Convertible. The original Flaminia was designed by Pininfarina, but the twin headlights mark this out as the version designed and built by Carrozzeria Touring from 196064. Like its GT coupé cousin this was strictly a twoseater, though Touring did also produce a slightly longer GTL version of the coupé that offered 2+2 seating. Always an expensive car to build, the Flaminia proved to be something of a dead end for Lancia and comparatively few were sold.

LINCOLN

This pair of Lincoln limos outside the White House would appear to be ready for a presidential parade of some sort. Although the dates on the plates suggest 1950, that looks on the left to us like the 1939 Sunshine Special built for Franklin D Roosevelt. It remained on the presidential fleet until 1948, while on the right we'd hazard a guess at the Lincoln Cosmopolitan, perhaps one of nine built for President Harry S Truman in 1950. Would we put money on any of that being correct? Probably not, but we'd have a small flutter on one of our readers being able to tell us more.

LADA

Those who know my own predilections in the classic car world won't be surprised to see a Lada slipped in among the Ls. This 1993 example is in fact a Riva 1.5, still based on the Fiat 124 of 1966-1974 vintage. By this time the Russians had tried to meet the European requirement for catalytic convertors while sticking with a carburettor rather than switching to fuel injection. It was a disaster, and I can speak here from personal experience! UK Lada sales declined sharply, and finished in 1997.

LAND ROVER

Land Rovers might be an unexpected highlight of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, but this cavalcade of 70 examples paraded up the Hillclimb in 2018 to celebrate 70 years of the marque. The largest ever batch of vehicles to drive up the famous hill was led by a recreation of the very first Land Rover – a Centre Steer prototype – and HUE 166, the first Series I pre- production prototype from 1948. Series I, II and III vehicles included fire engines, SAS vehicles, aircraft crash rescue and African expedition heroes, while all four generations of Range Rover also featured in the convoy.