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BRITISH
BEAUTIES
 The
rest of my cars from Toad's Country!
The reason I have so many English cars is that there were so many really classic
ones. The U.S. never really built any neat little roadsters with the exception
of the very first Corvettes, but the Brits sure did. Even today MGs, TVRs, Morgans
and others are on the roads in the UK but not in the US since the 80s. What
a shame.
 But
here are some early classics from the Isles.
 I'm
including the Inn Car, the Bentley here for want of a better  place
to put it. Not sporty, but sporting in it's own way. Another classic. I am sure
the collection isn't over, so
I plan on adding some more red 'loose ends' onto
this page as time goes by. That's kinda the fun of collecting English Sportsters.
There were just so many varities. You can just never have enough of these fun
little sports cars. 
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1960
DAIMLER SP 250
The Dart, first and only sports car of this marque.
Used a copy of the TR3 frame and hung a molded fiberglass body over it.
Then they put in a 2548 cc V8 with the newly designed hemi heads and twin
SU carbs designed by their head guy, Ed Turner. Turned out over 140 hp
which made it the 'hot rod' of the day. The SP250 was made from 1959 till
1964 when Jaguar bought out the company and dropped this model in favor
of their new E-types. Only 2600 of these cars were built, and this particular
model was probably a prototype.
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1960
AC ACE ROADSTER
AC started out making little
delivery cars around 1908, and was named Auto Carrier. By the 1930s they
started sports cars. The AC Bristol led to the AC Ace and then by 1964
to the AC Cobra that Carroll Shelby helped out with. This car started
out with the Bristol engine, but in the late 1960s got a Ford 289 V8.
like the AC Cobra, but with a much more graceful look.
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1966
SUNBEAM TIGER
The Rootes Group built the Sunbeam Alpine in several
versions. The Tiger was the killer of the group. The engine was a 289
Ford V-8 turning out 205 bhp in a car weighing some 2500 lbs, Very fast.
Sounds like the '60s muscle car it really was. Car also handles well,
and was a great race car back then. Car has a soft top and a detachable
steel one as well. Same engine Shelby put in his Cobras.
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1965
MORGAN 4/4 ROADSTER
A series III car. 4 cylinder
Ford Cortina engine. 1498 cc with 96 hp, and a top speed of about 100
mph in this stock trim. First series with disk brakes. Classic English
roadster that really didn't change much from the '50s to the '90s. Love
the leather belt that holds the bonnet in place. Still being made today.
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1999
MINI COOPER
This is as British as you can get. This one is
the Monte Carlo Rally edition. Has 'huge' 13" wheels instead of the
stock 12" variety. 1.3 liter four with 65 hp and a top speed of about
90 mph. Teeny little thing, but fast as all getout. They were originally
Austins, but this one was made under Rover ownership, so has their engine.
This was the last year of their production before BMW took over.
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1967
BENTLEY SALON TYPE T
The official Inn car. Every Inn should have a Rolls.
This fella's main job is to sit out front and add a bit of class to the
joint, and to shuttle guests to town and the airport. Everything reasonably
well restored. Right hand drive looks great, but takes getting used to.
Got rid of the twin Strombergs, and put in a Carter carb so the car runs
better than it ever did.
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