Vincent Black Lightning Motorcycle 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952

Vincent Black Lightning

What is your favourite motorcycle of all time?

The Black Lightning was highly modified version of the Shadow built for racing. Its engine was tuned with TT carburettors and straight-through exhaust pipes. It had a rev-counter, but no kickstart, lighting eqipment or stands. Both wheels had alloy rims and magnesium alloy brake backplates, while the tyre sizes were 3.00 x 21 in. front and 3.5 x 20in rear. There were short alloy mudguards and a racing seat, which used the standard mountings. Only 27 are believed to have been made.

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Silver Wraith Rolls Royce 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959

Silver Wraith 1940s-1950s

What is your favourite car of all time?

The custom-bodied Rolls-Royce series of the post-war years, the Silver Wraith continued a famous name from the 1930s. Rolls Royce built the chassis, which was essentially a stretched-wheelbase version (127 or 133 inches) of the Silver Dawn/Bentley Mark VI platform, with the same suspension design and drive-trains. Bodywork was supplied by traditional R-R specialists - Park Ward, HJ Mulliner, Hooper and others, most with wood framing and light-alloy or steel panels. Many Silver Wraiths had classic lines, with freestanding headlamps, separate front wings, divisions between passengers and chauffeur and the characteristic Rolls Royce Parthenon grille.

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Jaguar Mk5 Car 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951

Jaguar Mk5

What is your favourite car of all time?

Produced mainly in saloon form the Mk 5 was a well mannered, traditional model produced at a time when there was a strong demand for transport. Its pre-war lines were updated by the used of faired in headlamps. This was combined with a new independent front suspension chassis designed for the projected Mk VII. Power came from Standard-based 2.5 or 3.5-litre, six cylinder pushrod engines. It was the last Jaguar saloon to be offered with the option of drophead or coupe coachwork.

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Willys Jeepster Jeep 1948, 1949, 1950

Willys Jeepster

What is your favorite jeep?

The brainchild of Brooks Stevens, the Jeepster was built on a modified Station Wagon chassis. Its six-seat body had just two doors and access to the rear seats was either by folding down part of the front split bench seat or, by climbing on a step on the side of the body. The original VJ-2 Jeepster was fitted with the Go-Devil 4-cylinder engine, although from 1949 the Lightning in-line six raised performance in the Jeepster VJ-3 model.

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Lambretta A model and B model Scooters 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950

A model and B model

What is your favourite scooter of all time?

The A model Lambretta was enthusiastically received and almost 10,000 were sold in the year before the B model came along in late 1948. With the B model, Innocenti attempted to solve the minor but annoying problems of the A. The wheels were increased in size to 3.5 x 8 inches and the suspension at the rear was provided by a coil-spring working on a knuckle joint between the frame and the engine. The foot gear-change was replaced by a left-handed change and the infamous control cables were re-routed on the outside.

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Austin FX3 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958

Austin FX3 London Taxi

What is your favourite London taxi of all time?

Produced 1948-58. FX3 (petrol) 1948-58; FX3D (diesel) 1950-58

Specification 1948 (petrol)

Engine: 2,199cc, 4-cylinder ohv.
Transmission: 4-speed manual.
Wheels and Tyres: Disc-type wheels with six securing studs; 5.75x16 Super Taxi Dunlop tyres.
Brakes: Girling mechanical.
Turning Circle: 7.62 metres (25ft).
Maximum Speed: 96km/h (60mph).
Dimensions: Wheelbase, 2.81m, track, front and rear, 1.42m; overall length, 4.401m; overall width, 1.715m; height 1.797m
No. Produced: 7,267 examples
Bodybuilder: Carbodies

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Douglas Vespa ( Rod Model ) 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951

Douglas Vespa ( Rod Model )

What is your favourite scooter of all time?

The 125cc Douglas Vespa was a British-built version of the original Piaggio Vespa launched in 1946 in Italy. The first Vespa to be sold in Britain, the Douglas Vespa along with the Lambretta LD set the fashion for all future machines. Nicknamed the Rod Model, the 1951 scooter has a linkage of rods and bell cranks between the handlebars and its rear-mounted gearbox. This complicated arrangement was soon dropped in favour of a less expensive twin-cable mechanism. Only available in metallic green, the Douglas Vespa enjoyed huge success, attracting buyers who would never have contemplated buying a motorcycle.

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Jaguar XK120 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954

Jaguar XK120 Car

What is your favourite car of all time?

William Lyons originally envisaged the XK120 as a limited production run of only two hundred aluminium-bodied sports cars but when introduced at the London Motor Show of 1948 it soon became apparent that this would be incapable of satisfying demand. Launched alongside the car was Jaguar's new engine, the now legendary XK six cylinder. This unit, with a cubic capacity of 3,442cc (210cu.in.) and twin overhead camshafts produced 150bhp at 5.500rpm and was capable of propelling the two-seater bodyshell of the XK120 very quickly indeed. In terms of performance the car had few rivals. In 1949 a standard production model was timed at 126.5mph (204km/h) with the hood and sidescreens in place. Production ceased in 1954 on arrival of the XK140.

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Marshall - Field Marshall Tractor 1945-1957

Marshall - Field Marshall

What is your favourite tractor of all time?

The Marshall M tractor was replaced in 1945 by the Marshall Series I, which featured a differential lock to give maximum traction in difficult conditions. The Series II was produced from 1947 to 1949 and was equipped with steering brakes, which were operated via levers beside the rear wings. The final versions were the Series III from 1949 and 1952 and the IIIA from 1952 to 1957. All used Marshall's well known single-cylinder two-stroke diesel engine. The massive 6 1/2 -inch bore piston travelled through a 9-inch stroke and its audible detonation led to the Marshall's nickname of the "Pom-Pom" tractor. Tracked versions of the Marshall were also marketed under the Fowler name.

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Caterpillar - D2 Tractor 1938-1957

Caterpillar - D2

What is your favourite tractor of all time?

Few tractor names are better known than Caterpillar. From their beginnings in 1904 their speciality has always been track-laying or crawler tractors. The Caterpillar D2 was introduced specifically for agricultural used in 1938. It could handle a three/four furrow plough and was powered by a four-cylinder diesel engine of 26 drawbar and 32 belt horsepower. Speeds of up to 5mph were possible in top (fifth) gear. An interesting feature of the Caterpillar was that it used a horizontally-opposed, twin-cylinder, 10hp petrol engine as a starter motor. Known as a "donkey" starter, these were standard on all Cat diesels. In addition to overcoming the problem of unreliable starting they also kept wear on the engine to a minimum when starting cold.

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Case - Dex Tractor 1940-1952

Case - Dex Tractor

What is your favourite tractor of all time?

J.I. Case increased their production capacity by buying Rock Island Plow Co in 1937, the former makers of the Heider and Rock Island tractors. Then in 1939 they introduced the new streamlined D and R followed by S, LA and V ranges, with the identifying colour schemes of Flambeau Red. The three-plough capacity model D came with a number of options, such as row-crop (DC) and orchard (DO) and had a mechanical implement lift. Rated at 26-32hp with Case's own engine, it was joined by the smaller S and Continental-engined V in the early years of the war and by a new 4/5 plough model, the model LA, in 1941. The full range of Case D models were D, DC3 (tricycle), DC4 (wide axle), DEX (hybrid), DO, DV (vineyard) and DR (rice).

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Velocette MAC Motorcycle 1946-1959

Velocette MAC

What is your favourite motorcycle of all time?

After the war Velocette continued with their tradition of black and gold singles of high performance with ohv or ohc engines. The 349cc overhead valve MAC was perhaps the most impressive three-fifty of the early 1950s, it was fast (for its cubic capacity), smooth and refined. Redesigned in 1951, it lost much of its 1930's look with a fresh one-piece light-alloy cylinder head, rocker box barrel and enlarged timing chest. In 1953 the solid frame was replaced by one with a full pivoted fork with adjustment for ride stiffness possible by moving the tops of the springs fore and aft in articulate slots arranged in rear-frame extensions.

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