Britain’s Biggest ShowStoppers
As a family car, the Morris Minor was praised most for its economy and versatility following its launch, while at the same time being admired for its handsome styling, that bulbous bonnet and those swooping wings ensuring it would remain instantly recognisable for many, many years to come.
But while it was undoubtedly its looks that cemented its wow-appeal at the 1948 Earls Court Show, it was its appeal on the road that won over contemporary road testers; the precision from the lovely Bakeliterimmed steering wheel of Paul Herd’s MM Convertible is initially what impresses, while the ride from the independent suspension is very forgiving, making an excellent job of filtering out lumps and bumps. What’s more, while there’s undoubtedly a big dose of body roll as you negotiate a bend, it doesn’t compromise the amount of speed you can take into a corner, the car’s independent front suspension bestowing the car with an unexpectedly high level of roadholding – all without a hint of scuttleshake.
Being an MM, Paul’s Minor has the Series E prewar sidevalve ‘four’, and while hardly exceptional in performance terms, it does have a surprising amount of verve. Coupled to the fact that the driver is exposed to the elements with the rag-top thrown back, it certainly doesn’t feel slow. The engine sounds strained at high revs, but it would seem the extra performance from later examples’ A-series engine is primarily for more comfortable high-speed cruising. This all means it’s far better to ease back and enjoy its qualities as a comfortable, compliant and utterly charming classic.
It’s fair to say that there are fewer opportunities to relax behind the wheel of the TR Register’s Triumph TR2, It’s something very special, being the very first right-hand-drive TR2 produced (chassis number TS2) and the only member of our show-stopping quintet to actually have appeared on a motor show stand.
Going on appearances alone, with its neat styling and diminutive size, you wonder how it could’ve possibly forged its reputation as a rugged, ‘hairy-chested’ sports car. All becomes clear once you’re sitting inside: The steering wheel is humongous and requires the driver to throw his or her weight behind large inputs, making the car’s low-cut doors a necessity. In fact, the sharpness of the turn-in is wholly determined by how quickly the driver can wrestle the wheel into the desired position. The actual steering effect offers the sensation the car is pivoting at a point behind rather than ahead of the driver. As such, it feels very safe; there’s lots of grip on hand, and the TR slides rather than snaps when you do find its limit. There’s a long travel to the throttle pedal too, so the almost exaggerated movements required from the arms mirror those of the feet – the brakes, too, being far from fast-acting.
It’s a challenging and engaging machine to drive quickly, which is almost exactly as it would’ve been in 1953. The only thing TS2 has over standard that it wouldn’t have had at launch is overdrive, which TR Register press officer Wayne Scott suggests is needed for today’s traffic.
Whereas TS2 is special thanks to its provenance, what unites the legions of adoring E-type fans is how special it feels from behind the wheel. After first
drinking in its beautiful, aerodynamic shape (courtesy of Malcolm Sayer) you step over its huge sill and settle into a driving position that at once sets your heart racing with anticipation, your view ahead characterised by bonnet bulges, louvres and curvaceous wing lines.
Inside, there’s the lovely thin-rimmed wooden steering wheel, Sixties black crackle plastic and beautifully detailed toggles, switches and Smiths gauges.
The actual driving experience doesn’t disappoint. Darren Green’s car is specified as it would have been for the E-type’s debut in Geneva, with the same twincam 3.8-litre XK engine that made the C- and D-types Le Mans winners. It sounds incredible, but its ability to pull cleanly from low revs in almost any gear truly impresses, growling from its exhaust pipes as it does so. It doesn’t build revs quickly, though conversely, it doesn’t feel at all slow and never stressed. Of course, it’s an engine that’s capable of going on to 150mph and, being in a production sports car, it’s this fact that bestowed the E with overnight legendary status in 1961.
The E-type’s handling should also be celebrated. The steering is feelsome, responsive and precise, and the car corners without a hint of body roll. The semi-moncoque construction and independent rear suspension gives the ‘E’ a rigid quality, but the ride quality itself straddles that line between being firm and too forgiving almost perfectly.
In short, it’s a car that’s extremely difficult not to fall in love with – and a bargain launch price of £2194, while by no means cheap, meant that many thousands did just that.
Conversely, it was the price of the excellent Nineties Lotus Elan that would result in it not realising its immense potential. At just shy of £20,000 in turbocharged SE form ( just like Ian Saunders’ example) the Mazda MX-5 undercut the Elan by a whopping £5000. Sure, the M100 looks great, and even now it’s easy to appreciate what a stir it must’ve caused at the 1989 London Motorfair, but sitting inside on extremely rigid seats and observing swathes of bland black plastic, it’s difficult to appreciate its appeal. After all, it’s the namesake of what is one of the most celebrated sports cars of all time.
Any sense of apathy disappears the instant you take a corner, though. There’s no feeling of roll whatsoever, while the small steering wheel requires only minimal inputs to inspire a reaction at the road wheels. After a few more miles, it becomes clear that the Elan remains essentially flat thoroughout; throttle response is immediate and the brakes are sharp with no excess pedal travel. But there’s no feeling of weight shifting whatsoever, either under heavy braking or acceleration. For this reason, it’s a car that can easily be driven both quickly and smoothly. And make no mistake, it is a quick car, not just in terms of straight line speed (0-60mph in 6.5 seconds) but how much speed you can carry into corners without the tyres squealing in protest.
What truly boggles the mind, though, is just how good the ride is, considering the exemplary nature of its handling. You’d expect greater compromises to be made, but only generous bumps are noticed, most of the vibrations being fed through the wheel rather than the driver’s seat.
The Rover 75, on the other hand, is an entirely different front-wheel-drive modern classic, though equally as impressive judged on its own merits. Rather than opting to include a saloon as one of our show- stoppers, we chose a Tourer instead – to our eyes, the estate shape suits the styling even better than the inherently ‘right’ saloon – which arrived in summer 2001. By this time Rover was under the control of the Phoenix Consortium, BMW having washed its hands of the British brand. Engine choices included a 118bhp 1.8, 2.0- and 2.5-litre V6s and a 114bhp 2.0-litre turbo-diesel. The engine in Jon’s 2003 car is an evolution of the latter; the 133bhp CDTi, enjoyed instant popularity – and it’s easy to appreciate why. While no slouch, it’s the economy figures with which Jon is regaling us with that impress, 50mpg apparently being within easy reach.
The levels of refinement are also considerable. This is an executive dripping with the sort of class that embarrassed its rivals and gave one or two luxury cars (such as the Jaguar S-Type, launched at the same motor show) a run for their money. And that’s all before considering Jon’s car is specified as a top of the line Connoisseur SE, with its leather interior finished in one of three special order colours Rover offered at the time – in this case, Neptune Blue.
The 75 is quiet out on the road – engine noise is not invasive – and smooth, both in terms of power delivery and the way in which it glides over road surfaces of varying quality. It’s impressively relaxed, all the more so as it’s mated to a smooth shifting five-speed automatic gearbox, the well-weighted brakes also adding to that impression of smoothness.
These cars are so different from one another that it would be unfair to choose a favourite. After all, each is a show-stopper in its own right, while together they demonstrate just how rich and varied the British backcatalogue of motoring highlights really is.