British and European Car Spotters Guide - 1961

Originally the "big" Healey was the Austin Healey 100 with its 2.6-liter four cylinder motor established from the Austin Atlantic. The Healey was not seen as a sophisticated vehicle with its separate chassis, cam-and-peg steering and solid rear axle.

1961 Facellia convertible.

1961 Fairthorpe Electrom Minor Mk III. The body and chassis was the basis form many other Fairthorpe models, ranging from the unsuccessful Electrina sedan to the powerful Ford Zephyr engined Zeta, which had a 130 mph top speed and could accelerate over a quarter mile in a little under 15 seconds.

This one absolutely stunned the world when unveiled at the Geneva motorshow in 1961. It backed up those legendary looks by cracking 150mph in the hand's of Autocar's road test team.

This Jaguar Mark X still holds the title as being the broadest British production saloon being 1.93 metres across its rear. It offered independent suspension and power-steering and was half the price of its rivals. Originally it was fitted with a triple-carburetor 3.8-liter XK motor used in the E-Type, but this changed to a 4.2-liter unit in 1964 that resulted in more torque but with identical power which was enough to push it to 193 km/h even in automatic.

1961 Reliant Regal, which was fitted with a 750cc engine.

1961 Rover 100 Sedan, which came with a 2635cc six-cylinder engine developing 104 bhp @ 4750 rpm.

1961 Rover T4 Prototype, which was powered by a gas-turbine engine. The more conventional petrol driven Rover 2000 would be introduced 2 years later.

The new TR4 body style did away with the classical cutaway door design of the previous TRs to allow for wind-down (roll-up) windows (in place of less convenient side-curtains), and the angular rear allowed a trunk with considerable capacity for a sports car. Advanced features included the first use of adjustable fascia ventilation in a production car and the option of a unique hard top that consisted of a fixed glass rear window (called a backlight) with an integral rollbar and a detachable, steel centre panel (aluminum for the first 500 units). This was the first such roof system on a production car and preceded by 5 years the Porsche 911/912 Targa, which has since become a generic name for this style of top. On the TR4 the rigid roof panel was replaceable with an easily folded and stowed vinyl insert and supporting frame called a Surrey Top. The entire hard top assembly is often mistakenly referred to as a "Surrey Top". In original factory parts catalogues the rigid top and backlight assembly is listed as the "Hard Top" kit. The vinyl insert and frame are offered separately as a "Surrey Top". Features such as wind-down windows were seen as a necessary step forward to meet competition and achieve good sales in the important US market, where the vast majority of TR4s were eventually sold. However, dealers had concerns buyers might not fully appreciate the new amenities so a special short run of TR3A (commonly called TR3"B") were produced in 1961 and 1962.

The October 1960 facelift of the Velox was marked by further modifications to the trim and to the rear lights. There was also a new engine, still of six cylinders, but now increased in capacity to 2651cc, and delivering 95 bhp (71 kW). The UK had recently embarked on its first programme of motorway building, and the Velox now boasted a straight line maximum speed of 94 mph (151 km/h). At the same time, the saloon models were joined by a five door estate. In their 1960 form, the Velox and its Cresta sibling continued without further significant changes until replaced in Autumn 1962.

The 2nd generation Victor FB ran from 1961 until 1964. It was widely exported, though sales in the US ended after 1961 when Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick came up with home-grown compact models of their own. Consequently, the FB only achieved sales of 328,000 vehicles by the time it was replaced in 1964. Mechanically, the main change was the option of a 4 speed all synchromesh transmission with floor change but the previously used 3 speed column change unit was still fitted as standard. The engine was also revised with higher compression ratio and revised manifolding increasing the power output to 49.5 bhp. In early 1964 the engine was enlarged to 1594 cc. At the same time front disc brakes with larger 14 in (360 mm)wheels became an option.

1961 Wolseley 16/60.