Looking back on our diamond year

It's five miles to Exeter and one car has a half a tank of Esso Extra – will it make it or end up at the roadside?

John Simister gets under the skin of six classics that are now officially ‘historic’

Price new: From £18,950 Price now: £16,000-25,000 Engine: 1.8-litre, four-cylinder petrol Gearbox: Fivespeed manual Power/torque: 118bhp/165Nm 0-60mph: 5.8 seconds Top speed: 126mph HAD Lotus not come

FAIRFIELD HALLS, CROYDON

The first Autocar magazine of the new century was a cracker: official details of MG’s hot new roadster, the F Trophy 160 SE, conceived to do battle with the BMW Z3 via its 158bhp engine and £21,000 pr

The first bearer of perhaps motoring’s most famous brand name and widely regarded as the first modern car, thanks mainly to its low-mounted engine. “The manner in which the gear lever is moved to obta