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All the Makes: Lada to Lotus |
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LADA
(1970 - present) |
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LAGONDA
(1906 - 1988)
Lost
Marques| Price
Guide |
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LAMBORGHINI
(1963 - present)
Founded by Ferruccio Lamborghini, born April 28, 1916
in a small Italian farming village, Renazzo di Cento,
Ferrara. Even as a small child Lamborghini displayed
a keen aptitude for anything mechanical. During World
War 2 he was drafted into the Italian services where
he repaired vehicles. After the war he started out
building tractors, then in 1963 he founded the Lamborghini
Automobili company - primarily because of his dissatisfaction
with his recently acquired Ferrari.
Lamborghini used
his birth sign, Taurus the bull, as a symbol for his
cars, with most models being given names relating to
the bull. The first production Lamborghini was the
1964 350 GT, followed by the 400 GT and the 400 GT
2+2. These cars made Lamborghini famous, but it was
the Miura that made it legendary. The successors, Countach
and the Espada, kept the company alive during some
very troubling times.
In 1973 Ferruccio sold all of
his companies and retired to his vineyard in Italy's
Umbria province. He produced a red wine called Colli
del Trasimento, known as "Blood of the Miura".
He died on February 20, 1993 at the age of 77.
Gallery | Heritage | Price
Guide | color Codes |
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LANCHESTER
(1895 - 1956)
Price
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LANCIA
(1906 - present)
Founded by Vincenzo Lancia who launched the popular
Lambda at the Paris and London car shows of 1922. Lancia
would pass in 1937, but not before overseeing the continued
improvement of the Lambda, and leaving behind the wonderful
Aprilia saloon. After World War 2 the company hired
Vittoria Jano, an ex Alfa Romeo designer.
Togther with
Lancia's son Gianni, the two would embark upon a program
of innovation and design which included the wonderful
V6 powered Aurelia B10. The company reached a high
point in rally racing with the release of the Stratos.
Gallery | Heritage | Price Guide | color Codes |
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LAND ROVER
(1948 - present)
The Series I Land Rover would be released at the 1948
Amsterdam Motor Show, a solid workhorse that would
quickly garner a loyal following of devotees with its
rugged no-nonsense style and ability. The original
80” wheelbase would be extended to 86” in
1954, later the 107” making it an attractive
proposition as an agricultural workhorse. 10 years
after its initial introduction, the Series II would
be released, it featuring a vastly improved appearance
and better levels of comfort and performance (but most
importantly it would remain every bit as rugged as
its predecessor).
By 1959 there would be 250,000 Land
Rovers on and off the bitumen, that figure doubling
by 1966. Recognizing that there was a niche to be filled
by providing a luxury version of the venerable Land
Rover, the engineers set about designing the up-market
Range Rover, a paradigm shift in the concept of off-road
vehicles. Released in 1970, the Range Rover was years
ahead of its time.
The following year the Series III
was released, and by 1976 over 1 million Land/Range
Rovers had been sold. By now there were plenty of competitors
determined to muscle in on the success of the vehicle,
most notable would be Toyota with their Land Cruiser.
But unlike all the others, Land Rover remains as the
only marque to have a heritage forever linked to rugged
terrain and dirt roads.
Gallery | Price
Guide | Colour
Codes |
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LEA-FRANCIS
(1904 - 1953) |
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LEXUS
(1988 - present)
color Codes |
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LEYLAND
(1920 - 1983)
Leyland Motors grew from the Lancashire Steam Motor
Company, founded in the town of Leyland, North West
England by the Sumner and Spurrier families. Their
first vehicle was a 1.5 ton steam powered van, and
then in 1907 the company would change its name to simply
Leyland Motors. In 1920 came the Leyland 8, a luxury
tourer that would soon find its way to the racetrack
at Brooklands, being driven by J. G. Parry-Thomas (who
unfortunately would later be killed when making an
attempt on the land speed record after the chain drive
broke).
The Spurrier family would continue its control
of the company through three generations, until the
retirement of Sir Henry Spurrier in 1964. During Sir
Henry’s reign the company would
rapidly expand, acquiring competitors such as Standard
Triumph. It is worth noting that under Sir Henry’s
leadership the company enjoyed excellent labour relations,
it widely reported that not one day was lost to industrial
action – but things were about to change!
Donald
Stokes would take control, and in 1968 it would merge
with British Motor Holdings (BMH) with encouragement
from the Wilson Labour Government, to form the British
Leyland Motor Corporation. Famous marques in the BMH
family included Daimler, Guy, BMC (including of course
BMC Australia), Austin and Morris.
Difficult to manage
because of the many divisions under its control, all
manufacturing similar products and in turn competing
with each other, difficulties would be compounded by
problems arguably outside its control, such as the oil
crisis of the early 1970’s and continued difficulty
with hard line unions. In 1974 the company was forced
to seek a guarantee from the British government so that
it could continue to operate.
With the Australian operation
reportedly losing some $56 million, British Leyland would
dispatch 31 year old David Abell to assume Managing Director
responsibility, and given the financial difficulties
being faced by the parent company it was obvious to most
that he would shut down operation.
The 1974 Industries
Assistance Commission report claimed there was not room
in the Australian market for four manufacturers, which
didn’t help much either. The P76 was the last roll
of the dice, anything less than it being an overnight
sensation would spell disaster – and it was only
given the chance because so much work had already gone
into the design and tooling up of the Zetland facility.
The P76 deserved better, but an impotent marketing
campaign combined with build quality issues would spell
the end, only Mini and Mini Moke production continuing
beyond 1975. Today the P76 is highly collectible, very
few cars having been born into such a turbulent corporate
climate.
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LIGHTBURN
(1963 - 1965)
Founded by Harold Lightburn in the Adelaide suburb
of Camden Park as a white-goods manufacturer, the
company would for a brief time in the mid 1960’s
turn its hand to the manufacture of lightweight fiberglass
bodied cars. Initially launched in 1963, the Zeta
was manufactured in three body styles, the 2 door
sedan, 2 door roadster and utility – each clearly
targeting the “cheap and cheerful” market
segment. On paper at least, the Zeta put forward
a compelling argument to augment the Aussie family
with a second car, the £595 asking price amazingly
low.
But the execution was poor, build quality and
insipid engines combining to wipe the smile off any
new owners face in seconds, rather than minutes.
And with the release of vastly better vehicles such
as the BMC Mini, few were tempted to give the little
Zeta a try. The Sydney City Council did purchase
a handful of the utility body styled Zeta’s
to supplement it’s Hyde Park fleet, but these
rarely ventured onto the bitumen. In the end, only
400 would be sold, production ending in 1965 and
the last vehicles being sold in 1966.
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LINCOLN
(1920 - present)
Lincoln (named after Abraham Lincoln) was founded in
1917 by Henry M. Leland after his departure from Cadillac.
Initially set up to manufacture Liberty aircraft engines
for the war effort, after the war Leland set about
re-tooling the factories to facilitate the manufacture
of up-market vehicles. The transition took a heavy
financial toll on the company, and in 1922 Ford was
able to take control.
It is interesting to note that
Henry Ford had been forced out of his second company
(Cadillac) by a group of investors led by Leland – so it is probable that Ford himself
felt some satisfaction in the Lincoln takeover. Lincoln
would quickly establish itself as a rival to GM’s
Cadillac division, at first using a greyhound as their
emblem, but then replacing this with the now familiar
diamond.
In 1936 Lincoln introduced the Zephyr as an
almost entirely new brand name rather than model, then
from 1939 Edsel Ford would assist in the creation of
the best known Lincoln model, the Continental. Originally
intended as a one-off project car for Edsel Ford to use
when vacationing in Florida, the Ford marketers quickly
realized the fresh design would prove successful in the
showrooms.
The Mark II revived the concept, and for a
short time between April 1955 and July 1956 there was
even a Continental division, but rationalization would
see the formation of the Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln division
(Edsel only surviving until 1960). The Continental proved
extremely popular with Presidents, and remained Lincoln’s
flagship until the release of the Town Car in 1981.
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LOCOMOBILE
(1899 - 1929) |
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LOTUS
(1952 - present)
Owes its existence to the late Colin Chapman, one
of the greatest innovators of motorcar design. Chapman
started out designing and building specials based on
the ubiquitous Austin Seven, however his motoring prowess
would soon see him emerge to control a Grand-Prix racing
team, among many other accomplishments.
The first Lotus
was manufactured in the English winter of 1947-1948,
while Chapman was still studying for his engineering
degree at London University. He continued to construct
other specials for competition work, all built to comply
with the regulations of the 750 Motor Club.
The first
production Lotus was the Mark 6, the first of many
similarly styled cars featuring a multi-tube space
frame chassis enclosing both the engine and transmission,
and incorporating soft independent front suspension – all
adding up to an extremely light weight. And it was
in regards to weight that Chapman became a devotee,
adopting the philosophy that “no item should
be in any way superfluous, or over-strong, for this
simply added unnecessary weight to the machine”.
This philosophy is still very much at the core of production
principles applied to to the modern day Lotus.
Gallery | Heritage | Price Guide | color Codes |
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