Classic British sports cars of the 1950s

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If ever there was a decade tailored to the proliferation of interest in sports cars it was unquestionably the 1950s.

The war was over, many people were again getting money in their pockets and the open roads were still relatively quiet -as well as extremely inviting. And with motor racing also gaining in popularity, more and more people were keen to get a sporty car themselves and enjoy it in whatever way they could.

MG
At the very beginning of the decade, the two major British sports car manufacturers were Jaguar, with its curvaceous XK120, and MG, with its cheaper, box shaped, TD -the replacement for the spindly looking MG TC.

Both these cars proved highly popular, especially in America -the most important car market of all. In fact, within a relatively short period of time of the cars getting exposure in the major US car magazines, as well as on the racetracks, their sales increased considerably and production of the cars at the factories in England was stepped up to the maximum level.

In terms of both style and performance, the cars themselves offered so much more than the standard production cars of the era. The MG TD, for instance, had separate free-standing headlamps, an instantly recognisable radiator grille, flowing front wings and a chassis hidden underneath the body. It also had rack and pinion steering, as well as coil spring independent front suspension.

Sales of the car was better than MG had ever experienced before and in the early years of the 1950s it was Britain’s biggest selling sports car, as well as the most popular imported car into America. In fact, of the 30,000 or so MG TDs which were built, around 23,000 were shipped across the Atlantic.

100,000 sales
 While MG appreciated the appeal of the TD, it was also well aware that the car still had a basic pre-war design. As such, a radically new car was built which took sports car ownership to a whole new level. This was the low slung, aerodynamic MGA, a car unlike anything MG had produced before and which became an instant hit. Sales eventually topped 100,000 -with more than 90 per cent sold in America alone.

But MG were not the only British sports car success story of the 1950s. William Lyons’s Jaguar company had also been getting great accolades for its sleek, XK120 since the day it was launched, with many people regarding it as a class above anything else on the market, and yet available at a very competitive price.

Jaguar
The car was a success on the racetrack as well as in the showroom and Jaguar recognised this by bringing out a more powerful car, the XK140 in 1954. This had a top speed of 140 miles an hour, rack and pinion steering and bigger front bumpers and proved equally successful. Four years later the even faster XK150 was launched and yet even though this also had excellent high-performance, it was still remarkably well priced compared to the leading sports cars from Germany and Italy of the time.

Triumph
There was no getting away from it, the 1950s saw Britain dominating the market for high-value sports cars and many other manufacturers saw the potential. Triumph were one of the first with their rugged TR2, launched in 1953, and which had a top speed of more than 100 miles an hour. The car was improved further with the launch of the TR3 in 1955 and TR3A in 1957 and again America proved by far and away the biggest market, especially in the sun-drenched states of California, Florida and Texas.

But these were just some of the many British sports cars which could be seen on the roads during the 1950s. Other companies appeared, such as Lotus, TVR and Austin Healey (an amalgamation of Donald Healey’s sports car knowledge with Austin’s mass production capabilities) and all brought out their own popular models, with new variations also being introduced in the years ahead.

Morgan and Aston Martin
Other companies, such as Morgan and Aston Martin, which had been around before the 1950s, also benefited by this new world-wide interest in British sports cars and also managed to retain their market share and continue into modern times.

But not every company succeeded. Manufacturers such as Berkeley, Dellow, Frazer Nash and Jowett all brought out sports cars but were unable to sell them in the quantities required to make them economically viable and all ceased production in a relatively short period of time.

While most of the sports cars which were produced during this golden period have now been scrapped, the ones which have survived, or have been extensively restored, are now highly sought after and generally worth large amounts of money.

Sadly, while very few of these great British manufacturers are still around today, their names will forever have a prominent place in Britain’s rich motoring heritage and the cars themselves will fondly be remembered by aficionados across the globe.

Multimedia stories from history

The classic MG of the immediate post-war era still had a basic pre-war shape and design

Jaguar's XK120 of the early 1950s was regarded as one of the most desireable cars in the world

The HRG was one of the 1950s sports car which primarily still had a pre-war design

The first main Triumph sports car of the
1950s was the rugged, 100mph+ TR2

Like the Jaguar and MG sports car of the era,
the biggest market for the TR2 was America

In 1955, Triumph launched the upgraded TR3 which had a larger and more traditional grille

Above, a publicity picture for the new MG TF which was launched in 1953 and replaced the MG TD

In the early 1950s, the MG TD was
Britain's biggest selling sports car

MG transformed the sports car market in
1955 with its stunning ultra-modern MGA

America also proved the biggest market and
the 10,000th TR3 was sold to a California family

The more powerful DB4 was launched in
1958 and remained in production for five years

There are also many cars of the era which remain in barns and garages across the world awaiting restoration 

These days, the 1950s classic sports cars which
have been extensively restored are highly valuable

Aston Martin was one of Britain's oldest sports car
makers and the DB2 was its main car of the early 1950s

The car introduced a whole new generation to sports car ownership and eventually more than 100,000 were built

Following Jaguar's success with its XK120,
it brought out the faster XK140 in 1954

In 1958, Jaguar launched the XK150. This was not only faster but also had a larger and wider body

Austin Healey also enjoyed successs in the 1950s.
The six cylindar 100 above was launched in 1956

The Austin Healey Sprite launched in 1958 proved especially popular -seen here submerged beneath a bevy of beauties

Jensen produced high-performance sports cars in the 1950s but only sold a relatively small number

The simple Berkeley sports car was launched
in 1956 and used a fibre-glass body

Film now showing
American Triumph Tour of Europe, 1958

Duration: 4 mins. 48 seconds

Motoring through history
Follow the evolution of the motor car with a free, online, informative illustrated history of the automobile, go to:
www.motoring-history.com

Film provided courtesy of www.auto-history.tv

(c) Universal Motoring History Enterprises

Most of the early sports cars of the
1950s had a very simple inerior

By 1950, Lagonda had already been purchased by David Brown's Aston Martin but it still brought out its own cars

Above is a stunning Lagonda DB2 drophead from 1952

Today's 1950s sports cars are
especially popular in vintage race meetings

Many of the better quality cars are also
star attractions at classic car shows

The XK120 was often promoted as a road
 car which could be enjoyed on the racetrack

The Jowett Javelin was another of the many
low volume British sports cars of the era

Jaguar often advertised their sports cars and saloon
cars together as a way of showing their complete range

Many of the early MG sports car adverts would
feature an open top car in a typical road environment