Big Car
89 episodes
18:45
The Many, MANY Failed Mini Reboots!
3 days ago
If British Leyland had a pound for every Mini reboot, they’d still be in business! Ever since it burst on the scene in 1959, designers have been trying to reimagine it for a new era. In the process their failure had made the shape of the original Mini a..
25:53
Why did Mercedes' A-Class discard its revolutionary shape?!?
2 weeks ago
The doo wop sound of the 40s and 50s was honed by American teenagers on street corners, trying to one-up each other to become the greatest group in town. This friendly rivalry, also seen in Chinese cafés as electronics engineers try to produce...
14:05
The Retractable Hardtop Fad
1 month ago
In 2007 it seems every car company had a convertible with a fancy electric retractable hard top, but nowadays they seem to be abandoning them for soft tops. Why did they suddenly become popular, almost 100 years after they were invented, and why are they.
24:29
When Honda took on Ferrari and WON!
1 month ago
When Gordon Murray designed the all-conquering McLaren F1 supercar, he didn’t use a Porsche, Lamborghini or even a Ferrari for inspiration. It was the Honda NSX. Yes, Honda, makers of the humdrum, practical Civic. He liked it so much, he bought one with..
19:52
Why didn't the "All Agro" succeed?
1 month ago
The Allegro was supposed to be a fresh start for Austin after being starved of resources in the 1960s. It replaced the highly successful Austin/Morris 1100 and 1300, and was a well-funded project to take on the might of Ford in the UK, and European car...
18:44
The Alfa Romeo Alfasud Story
2 months ago
The Alfasud was a revelation when it stunned crowds at the 1971 Turin Motor Show, upstaging the Lamborghini Countach. The low bonnet line, new shape, and when reviews got their hands on it, the excellent handling and lively yet economical engine seemed...
21:08
The Yugo Story
2 months ago
If you’re my age, you might remember Yugoslavia as a sort-of Communist country that was a nice place to go on holiday. But you’ll definitely remember it for the cheap, tiny hatchback thrust upon an unsuspecting public – the Yugo. It went from an...
17:53
The Audi V8 Story
3 months ago
The V8 is an almost forgotten luxury car from Audi’s late 1980’s line-up, like the Audi 200 before it. It’s easy to get it confused with the A8 that came after it – a car that drove Audi to new levels of opulence that allowed it to compete with...
11:48
The Nuclear Car Story
3 months ago
In the 1950s, as the Cold War was heating up and children were being urged to “duck and cover” from nuclear weapons, car companies seriously proposed powering their cars using lead-lined nuclear reactors. It seems like madness today, but while the...
22:20
The Volvo 400 Series Story
4 months ago
The Volvo 480 shocked the buying public when it launched. Surely Volvo was just boxy, boring cars? What are they doing making a sports coupé? But this was the perfect halo car to entice a younger audience to their showrooms, and Volvo had the perfect...
26:21
The Toyota Prius Story
4 months ago
The Toyota Prius isn’t the coolest car on the block. If you’re ordering a Lyft or an Uber, chances are one of these will turn up to whisk you away. And with the world gravitating towards electric vehicles, the hybrid Prius seems like just another...
13:07
The BMW C1 Story
5 months ago
Cities continue to jam up with more and more traffic, with many city centres taxing cars or banning them all together. Car manufacturers have produced different types of small city cars that have lower emissions and can fit into tight parking spots, and..
15:38
The Volvo 300 series Story
5 months ago
The Volvo 300 series was a common sight on British roads in the 1980s, due to its popularity amongst practical people to buy a safe, affordable car. But many of these slow-driving, flat capped drivers weren’t aware that this car didn’t start out life...
15:33
The Triumph Dolomite Story
6 months ago
When I grew up the Triumph Dolomite was everywhere. And there’s a good reason why. Triumph was known for its sports cars, and luxury saloons, and the Dolomite, and specifically the Dolomite Sprint carried that sports pedigree into the compact class. It...
15:31
The Citroën BX Story
6 months ago
Citroën has always been a car maker that’s charted a different course with car design. It’s meant that several times they’ve been ahead of the curve on technical innovations. By getting a steal on the competition, there was always a feeling that if...
18:28
The Tata Nano Story
6 months ago
The Tata Nano continues in a long line of inexpensive “people’s cars”, designed to push car usage to the masses. Many of these cars succeeded and fuelled both car ownership, and in many cases the standard of living. When the Nano was launched it was...
13:57
Panther's 6-wheeled Car
6 months ago
Surely if 4 wheels are good, then 6 are better? Panther Westwind, maker of the Panther 6 obviously thought so when they produced this crazy car in 1977 to an astonished reaction. How did its owner, a retired clothing company manager find himself launching
25:21
The Toyota Corolla Story
7 months ago
This video is an effort to change your mind. I recently asked on a YouTube Community Post what the most boring car from the last 50 years was, and I got a lot of answers! If you’ve read the title of this video you already know what car won, but here’s...
13:10
The Peugeot 309 Story
7 months ago
In 1984 PSA, the company that comprised Peugeot, Citroën and Talbot was in a bind. They’d just spent a couple of years designing a car that didn’t fit into their new line-up. Should they scrap it, launch it, or give it away to another car company?...
09:29
The 100,000 Subscriber Story
7 months ago
It’s been a wild ride to 100,000 subscribers, and I thought I’d do a quick video talking about it, with a bit of a look behind the scenes. Follow and Subscribe Above! My second channel - Little Car: https://www.youtube.com/littlecar #bigcar