The first draft of history

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

JAMES ATTWOOD Illya, shall we start with your Mini, given that it’s from 2001? ILLYA VERPRAET It’s significant on a number of levels. Originally it was meant to be just a car, but BMW built a whole br

There is something rather special about driving a car built in the 1800s. This 1899 Wolseley 3.5hp Voiturette’s single-cylinder motor first burst into life when Queen Victoria was on the throne and pr

It might not seem like it to those of us of a certain age, but the turn of the 21st century happened quite a long time ago: 25 years, in fact – which is, conveniently, the sort of nice rounded number

Last week, we heralded the 1911 Vauxhall Prince Henry as one of the most influential cars of the 20th century, being perhaps the first proper production sports car. But what was the inspiration behind

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