In the 1950s and early 1960s Ian Allan Publishing produced a number of ‘abc’ books on motor cars of the era – abc British Cars, abc Sports Cars, abc Continental Cars, abc Historic Cars and abc American Cars, as well as more general books on motoring – abc Spotting the Numberplate and abc British Roads. Many of these were produced annually and today provide a nostalgic window into an age when motoring first came into reach of the majority of the population and British car manufacturers still dominated.
Three of these volumes from the 1950s are being reproduced in this facsimile abc of British Motor Cars 1950s – abc British Cars 1958, abc Sports Cars 1957 and abc British Roads (first published June 1956). All the British car manufacturers of 1957 are included with details of the individual car makes that each offered at the time, from the humble Ford Popular built at Dagenham and available to the purchaser for GBP413 17s 0d to the sporty new Triumph TR3, the plastic-bodied Jensen Interceptor, the Vauxhall Wyvern, the Humber Super Snipe, the Singer Gazelle and many others.
So many of the manufacturers’ names, such as Alvis, Humber, Singer and Sunbeam, have disappeared, leaving the manufacturing heartlands in Coventry and Birmingham devastated, but the luxury marques of Rolls Royce, Daimler and Bentley are still famous today. Along with abc British Roads, this interesting compilation provides a nostalgic glimpse of motoring in Britain in the 1950s and will bring back memories of childhood days for many readers.
