A-Z of British Cars Trivia Quiz

Answer: Avenger

The Hillman Avenger was a moderately successful design. There was a sporty version, with a matt-black bonnet, called the Avenger Tiger.

To keep production costs down, the engineers from Rootes Group (Hillman's parent company) maintained a light body shell. The result of this was that a fitted sunroof was not an option on the Avenger, because making a hole in the roof tended to make it slightly floppy!

Answer: Bentley

Walter Bentley came to prominence during the First World War as an aero engine designer and producer. He set up his racing car company in 1919 and this came of age by winning four consecutive Le Mans races between 1927-31. In 1931, Bentley became part of Rolls-Royce, before being bought by BMW in 2003. Famous Bentley names were the Continental, the Corniche and the Mulsanne. Rolls-Royce in turn became part of the German Volkswagen Group in 1998.

Answer: Cortina

When the Ford Cortina was introduced in 1962, the pattern for success was immediately established: simple, straightforward engineering dressed in a conservatively styled body (plus a hint of Americana) with lots of room for a family - or a sales rep!

It was produced in five different marks over the next 20 years. In the 1960s, sporty models within the Mks.I & II range including the GT and Lotus versions. The Mk.III epitomised the 1970s, with its famous 'Coca-Cola bottle' lines; its 2000E version offered luxury and power on a modest budget. The Mks.IV and V saw a return to simpler lines before being replaced with the Sierra in 1982.

Answer: Dolomite

The Triumph Dolomite offered the practicality of a four door saloon, but with the performance of a sports car - its Sprint version could achieve 0-60mph in 8.7 seconds, which was pretty fast for the 1970s.

In that iconic TV series that epitomised 1970s machismo, 'The Professionals', Bodie drove a Dolomite. Or at least he did until the producers switched him to a Ford Capri. British Leyland couldn't keep up with the demands of TV continuity requirements, and kept sending in different coloured ones to the props department! Ford proved to be a bit more reliable in this respect.

Answer: Escort

The formula for the Ford Escort was born in the 1960s Ford Anglia which it replaced: simple engineering with an attractive body to make an affordable but nice-looking car. After a steady start, seeing off young pretenders like the Hillman Avenger and the Austin Allegro, it really came of age in the 1980s, with its wedge-shaped, hatchbacked Mk.III version outselling even the Cortina by 1982.

The Escort Mk.I was developed by Ford UK, although later versions were designed collaboratively across the multi-national corporation. Even though the Mk.II was designed jointly with German Ford engineers, the British had the last word with the project's code name: 'Project Brenda'.

Answer: Freelander

Even though any SUV represents a compromise, detracting from its off-road capability, the first-generation Freelander performed creditably in the Camel Trophy Overland Race and Land Rover G4 Challenge Trophy. The Mk.I was the first Land Rover model to offer HDC (Hill Descent Control).

The Freelander 2, introduced in 2006, was typical of many designs in that it shared much of its main engineering components with other cars: its 3.2-litre petrol engine is the Volvo S16 engine, while its 2.2-litre diesel is a DW12 Peugeot-Citroen PGA design.

Answer: Granada

In actual fact, the car used by DI Jack Regan in 'The Sweeney' was a Ford Consul GT. The Consul name was resurrected from an earlier Ford saloon, and initially it was used for more basic versions of the Granada. From 1975, however, all versions were called Granada.

When the Granada was introduced in 1972, Granada Television took legal action against Ford for infringing its name rights. The case was dropped when Sidney Bernstein, the TV company's chairman, drove a Granada and decided he liked it.

Answer: True

The Triumph Herald was an extremely successful British Motor Corporation car, selling over 300,000 units during the twelve years of its production. It was designed by Italian Giovanni Michelotti and it had a certain sporty élan, even though it was little more than a BMC competitor to the Ford Anglia.

In addition to its two-door saloon shape, it was produced in several variants: a coupé, a convertible, a van and an estate. Its chassis formed the basis for other Triumph products - the Vitesse, the Spitfire and the GT6.

The Toledo was a more basic version of the Triumph 1300 saloon, which had been intended as the Herald replacement as far back as 1965. In actual fact, the continued popularity of the Herald meant that the 1300 was produced alongside it as a more luxurious saloon from the BMC stable and the Herald did not give way until the introduction of the Toledo in late 1970. Ford's introduction of its Escort in 1968 had ushered in a new standard for small family saloons, and the Toledo was BMC's attempt to continue the Herald's best qualities into the 1970s, but with extra refinement and a new, four door shape. It superficially resembled a smaller and less sporty Dolomite.

Answer: Imp

The Hillman Imp was an attempt by the Rootes Group to take a share of the market that had been opened up by the Mini. It was a very different design to the Mini, however, being a synthesis of rear-wheel-drive engineering in a conventional body shape but with its water-cooled, all aluminium engine at the back and its boot in the front.

It was built at a new factory in Scotland with an inexperienced workforce. This dogged the car with dubious build quality throughout its existence. It was reasonably popular nevertheless, possibly because of its good handling and nippy performance. One interesting feature was its rear screen that could lift up like a hatchback, enabling the rear seats to be used like extra boot space.

Answer: Jensen

The Jensen Interceptor offered a combination of Italian styling and British luxury motoring. It sold over 6,400 units during its ten year production run. It was the first Jensen design that was built from steel, rather than fibre glass, and in its 'FF' version it was one of the first production cars with four-wheel drive. A distinctive feature of the Interceptor was its curved, wraparound glass tailgate.

The Interceptor name was resurrected from an earlier Jensen car of the 1950s. A 'special' S4 version was introduced in the 1980s as a low-volume model with a cleaner engine and sports interior.

Answer: False

Kieft Cars were built in Wolverhampton, England. The owner, Cyril Kieft, was originally from Swansea, Wales, however, hence the red dragon design incorported into the badge.

Kieft Cars mainly built Formula 3 racing cars. They did introduce a road-going version in 1954, a two-seater sports car with a Coventry Climax FWA engine and a lightweight fibre-glass body. It did sell in modest numbers, though many went straight to the amateur racing circuit.

Answer: Lotus

Formed as Lotus Engineering Ltd. in 1952, Lotus racing and sports cars are one of the best-known postwar British automobile names.

It competed in Formula 1 racing from 1958-1994, and Lotus cars were driven to victory by Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti, to name but a few.

The DeLorean DMC-12, famed for its starring role in the 'Back to the Future' film trilogy, was based on a Lotus-designed chassis.

Answer: Mini

The Austin Mini revolutionised the thinking about how cars should be designed when it was introduced in the late 1950s. Its engine was transverse-mounted, over a front-wheel drive arrangement, all of which meant that it could offer the maximum space inside a very compact, lightweight shape.

Apart from its cute shape and nifty handling, which appealed to the younger set, it was also very frugal, returning 40 miles per gallon in its basic version. This widened its appeal to families on a budget, becoming a car for 'The Everyman'

The Mini Cooper was a special sports edition, capable of 0-60mph in 7.6 seconds (in the 1275cc 'S' version). It became as iconic on the rallying circuit as it did being driven by celebrities on the King's Road. It was this version that made its appearance in the crime caper, 'The Italian Job'.

Answer: Noble

The Noble M400 was a race version of the M12, a much tamer beast that could only manage 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds!

Founded in 1999 by Lee Noble, the Leicestershire-based company's first offering was the M10 convertible, which could be compared to the Lotus Elise and Toyota MR2 Spyder. With the introduction of the M12 and later M14 model, Noble entered the 'supercar' market, in direct competition with Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche.

Answer: Oxford

The Morris Oxford was a name synonymous with British suburban driveways for nearly 60 years. Its first version was the Oxford 'Bullnose' that appeared just before the First World War. Re-appearing after the conflict, the Morris Oxford was in continuous production (except for a gap between 1935-1948), in a series of improved versions until the early 1970s. With the incorporation of the Morris company into the British Motor Corporation, the Oxford name continued, even though it often shared its components and design layout with other cars from the BMC stable, such as the Austin Cambridge.

With its image and design increasingly unable to compete with the more modern and desirable Ford Cortina, however, it was eventually replaced by the Morris Marina.

Answer: Popular

The Ford Prefect/Popular series of cars were symptomatic of the postwar austerity years. Starting with the introduction of the four door Prefect in 1953, they were crude, uncomplicated and slow (0-60 in 30 seconds). But they were suited to the times, when cars were hard to come by, and with low incomes meaning that having any kind of car at all was a status symbol.

The Prefect/Popular were the last Ford designs to feature side-valve engines, an obselete form of engineering that went well with their three-speed gearboxes. But they proved to be very popular, being relatively low-priced (£560 could buy you a brand-new Prefect in 1955) and were common sights on British roads throughout the 1950s and well into the 1960s. They were replaced by the Ford Anglia.

Ford resurrected the Popular name in the 1970s and 80s as an entry model designation for its Fiestas and Escorts.

Answer: True

Known as 'The Glass Box', the Quasar-Unipower was cube-shaped, with sliding glass doors. It was designed by a French-Vietnamese, Quasar Khan, in the mid-60s and sold in modest numbers. It was designed as an urban runabout. Another of its futuristic features was that it had plastic, inflatable seats.

It was a product of Universal Powerdrives, a Middlesex-based firm that also built the Unipower GT, a lightweight sports coupé that was based on Mini components.

Answer: Reliant

Although it's difficult to appreciate these days, the Reliant three-wheelers did have a certain appeal. Against a context of relatively expensive-to-run rustboxes in the 1950s and 60s, a fibre-glass car that wouldn't rust, that would return nearly 60 miles per gallon, and could be driven on a motorcycle licence, actually made sense for the motorist on a strict budget.

One oft-quoted misnomer is that Derek 'Delboy' Trotter, in the long-running TV sitcom 'Only Fools and Horses', drove around in his delapidated yellow 'Reliant Robin'. Cognoscenti would tell you that, in actual fact, Delboy's three wheels was a Reliant Supervan Mk.III; the Robin was a later model of the Reliant series, introduced in 1974.

Answer: Stag

The Triumph Stag was designed by Giovanni Michelotti, the same man who designed the Herald saloon. It was based on the pre-production design of the Triumph 2000, an executive saloon, and shared its floorpan. This made it the first Triumph car that did not feature the old-fashioned separate chassis.

The distinctive T-Bar above the front seats lent it essential rigidity. Although they were all sold as convertibles, the detachable hard top was a popular option and many were factory-fitted.

The Stag was bedevilled by reliability problems, especially in the earlier models, but it was still an extremely popular and desirable motor. Thanks to an enthusiastic owners' club, about 9,000 Stags are still being driven on British roads today.

Answer: False

Technically, the TR8 (1979-81) was the last Triumph sports car. This was a 3.5-litre V8 engined version of the tamer TR7, and mainly sold in the USA and Canada (where cheaper fuel no doubt helped with running costs!).

The last car built by Triumph was the Acclaim, a sister car to the Honda Accord, and a product of the fruitful partnership between British Leyland and Honda during the 1980s and early 90s. Underpinned by Japanese engineering and quality control, the Acclaim was a reliable British car, which meant that it never felt like the real deal!

Answer: Ultima

Although the majority of Ultima cars are sold in 'kit car' form, some are built on-site in Hinckley, Leicestershire.

The Spyder and the Sport were the two first Ultima models. These were succeeded by the GRT and the convertible Can-Am models. They were all powered by Chevrolet V8 engines.

Answer: Viva

The Vauxhall Viva was an immediate success when it first came out in the early 1960s. Thanks to its neat looks and good performance, it provided real competition for the Ford Anglia in the small family car sector.

The Mk.II version borrowed its formula from Ford: simple engineering that was reliable, dressed in a body that resembled a scaled-down version of a glamorous American car. It was bigger, too, allowing it to compete with the Cortina. By the time the Viva Mk.III finished its run in 1979, Vauxhall was established enough in the small family car and fleet market to introduce the Cavalier - a real rival to the Cortina-dominated world of British motoring.

Answer: Wolseley

As part of the British Motor Corporation, the Wolseley Hornet, along with its lookalike, the Riley Elf, were luxury versions of the Austin Mini. It had a more conventional shape, thanks to its extended bonnet and boot lines. With walnut and leather interiors and a chrome upright grille, both cars were less functional in appearance than the Mini.

The Hornet was a name resurrected from Wolseley's range of sports cars in the 1930s, that came in a variety of body styles.

Answer: XJ

The Jaguar XJ was the last Jaguar model to receive any creative input from the company's founder, Sir William Lyons. It has been produced in three series for over 40 years; the latest version was introduced in 2003.

Jaguar was originally founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company, and all its models were consequently given the prefix of 'SS'. This was changed to just Jaguar after the Second World War, to avoid any association with the Nazi SS military organization.

Answer: Zodiac

The Zephyr/Zodiac range were the biggest cars made by Ford UK, until replaced by the Consul/Granada range in the early 1970s. First introduced in 1951, they were simply engineered and not exactly complex in the refinements that they offered but, because they were heavily influenced by American style, they were amongst the biggest cars on the road and lent the 1960s driver an air of sophistication that he just couldn't achieve in a Cortina!

When the Zodiac was introduced in 1955, it offered such extras as two-tone paint, a heater, leather seats, windscreen washers and spotlights.

Both the Zephyr and the Zodiac featured as squad cars in the classic 60s TV cop series 'Z-Cars'. But the 'Z' in the title was merely coincidental; it was a radio call sign used by the Constabulary in Lancashire where the series was set.