| Company |
Year Founded |
Year Closed/Sold |
Country |
Founders |
Models |
Notes |
| Abarth | 1949 | 1971 | Italy | Karl Abarth | | Sold to Fiat in 1971 | | AC | 1903 | | UK | Weller Brothers | Ace, Petite, Cobra | AC = Autocarriers | | Adler | | 1957 | Germany | | Favorit, Diplomat | Alder is German for Eagle. The company ceased car production in 1945 but continued with motorbikes and office equipment eventually being taken over by Olivetti | | Alfa Romeo | 1916 | | Italy | Nicola Romeo | Mille Miglia, Giulietta | Anonima, Lombarda, Fabbrica, Automobili. Enzo Ferrari was their racing driver. Since 1986 has been a part of Fiat | | Allard | 1936 | 1966 | UK | Sidney Allard | J series | S.Allard died in '66 and strangely his factory burnt down the same night. | | Alvis | 1919 | 1967 | UK | T.G. John | TD, TE, TF series, Eagle, Silver Crested, Grey Lady | | | Argyll | | 1932 | UK | Alex Goven | Voiturette, Flying Fifteen | | | Armstrong Siddeley | 1902 | 1966 | UK | John Davenport Siddeley | Lancaster, Huricane, Typhoon, Tempest,Sapphire, Whitley | In 1966 merged with Rolls Royce. | | Aston Martin | 1913 | | UK | Lionel Martin, Robert Bamford | DB | | | Audi | | | Germany | August Horch | | Audi is the Latin translation of 'Horch' | | Austin | 1905 | 1989 | UK | Herbert Austin | Austin, A Series, Sprite | | | Bentley | 1918 | | UK | Walter Bentley, H Bentley | Mark VI, R Type, Continental, S2 Type | | | Bentley | 1919 | | UK | Walter Owen Bentley | | Currently owned by VW | | BMC | 1952 | 1966 | UK | | Mini Cooper, Austin Farina, Westminster, Cambridge,Somerset | Combined companies of Morris, Austin, Riley, Wolsley MG.Merged with Jaguar | | BMW | 1928 | | Germany | | 303, 327, 501, 700, Isetta | Bayrischen Motor en Werke | | Bond | 1949 | 1971 | UK | | Minicar Mark A, Villiers Mark G | Three wheeled cars, based around a motorbike engine. Taken over by Relient in 1971 | | Bristol | 1945 | | UK | | | | | Bugatti | 1910 | | Germany | Ettore Bugatti | Garros, | | | Buick | 1903 | | USA | David Dunbar Buick | Electra, Century, Roadmaster, Skylark, Special, Super, | Badge consists of three sheilds taken from the Buick family coat of arms. Buick is the original company from which GM sprang. | | Cadillac | 1902 | | USA | Henry Ford | Eldorado, De Ville, Fleetwood, Sixty | 1909 - brought by GM. Named after the founder of Detroit - French explorer Antoine Laumet de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac. | | Chevrolet | 1911 | | USA | Louis Chevrolet, William Durant | Baby Grand, Little Four, Little Six, Series H, Styleline, Stylemaster, Fleetmaster, Impala | 1917 - became a part of GM. The 'bowtie' badge was first used in 1913 and based on the wall paper of a hotel. | | Chrysler | 1925 | | USA | Walter P Chrysler | Plymouth, DeSoto, Crown Imperia, New Yorker | | | Citroen | 1919 | 1974 | France | Andre Citroen | Traction Avant, TPV, 2CV | Went bankrupt '74 and merged with Peugeot | | Darracq Italiana | 1907 | 1916 | Italy | Ugo Stella, Alexandre Darracq | | Later to be named Alfa, and ultimately becoming Alfa Romeo in 1916. | | Datsun | 1914 | 1934 | Japan | Kenjiro Den, Rokuro Aoyama, Meitaro Takeuchi | | DAT Motorcar Co, after a merger in 1926 the company was renamed Son of DAT, but as son also means 'loss' in Japanese it was spelt SUN, hence Datsun. | | De Dion Boulton | | 1932 | France | Albert de Dion, Georges Boulton | Type S, AD, CN, Trepardoux | Went into stagnation after WWI, finally closing in 1927 | | Dodge | 1914 | 1928 | USA | John Francis and Horace Elgin Dodge | Crusader, Regent, Viscount, Mayfair | Bought by Dillan Read in 1925 and sold to Chrysler in 1928 | | Ferrari | 1946 | | Italy | Enzo Farrari | 166 Inter, | | | Fiat | | | Italy | Giovanni Angelli | 500 Topolino, 600 | Fabbrica, Italiana, Automobili, Torino | | Ford | 1903 | | USA | Henry Ford | Model A, B, Y, T, Thunderbird, | | | General Motors | 1908 | | USA | William C. Durrant | | A holding company initially for Buick but then went on to purchase some of the worlds leading brand names including Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Chevrolet and Pontiac | | Hillman | 1907 | 1928 | UK | William Hillman | Minx, Huskey, Hawk | In 1928 they were taken over by Humber and ultimately Rootes in 1931 | | Hotchkiss | 1903 | 1955 | France | | AD, AF, AG | The company started out as an armarments manufacture, indicated by their badge which was two crossed canons. | | Humber | | 1931 | UK | Thomas Humber | Snipe, Pullman, | When in 1931 Rootes bought the company but the names continued in production until 1975 from which time all brands were marked as Chrysler and then Talbot as part of Peugeot. | | Jaguar | 1945 | | UK | | Mark V, XK120, XK140, XK150 | | | Jensen | 1934 | 1971 | UK | Richard & Allen Jensen | White Lady, S Type | | | Jowett | 1906 | 1955 | UK | Benjamin & Richard Jowett | Javelin, Jupiter, Bradford | | | Lagonda | 1906 | 1947 | UK | Wilbur Gunn | Rapier, | Wilbur, an American from Springfield Ohio, named the company after the river which flowed through the town. In 1946 was incorporated into Aston Martin | | Lamborghini | 1964 | | Italy | Ferruccio Lamborghini | | | | Lanchester | | 1955 | UK | Frederick Lanchester | Leda, Sprite, LD10 | BSA Daimler bought them out in 1931 | | Lancia | 1906 | 1969 | Italy | Vincenzo Lancia | Zeta, Artena, Astura, Augusta, Aurelia, Dilamda | 1969 Encorporated into the FIAT group | | Lea Francis | 1903 | 1963 | UK | Richard Henry Lea, Graham Ingoldsby Francis | Hyper, Ace of Spades, | | | Lincoln | 1917 | 1922 | USA | Henry M. Leland | Zephyr, Sport, Cosmopolitan, Premier, Continental | Brought by Ford in 1922, the brand was name after Leland's presidential hero Abraham Lincoln | | Lotus | 1952 | | UK | Colin Chapman | | | | Maserati | 1914 | 1940 | Italy | Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, Ettore, Ernesto and Mario Maserati | A6, Touring, Spyder | Orsi family gained control of the company, followed by Citroen, De Tomaso, Fiat, Ferrai and Fiat once more. | | Mercedes (Daimler-Benz) | 1926 | | Germany | Gottlieb Daimler, Karl Benz | 500 series, V Model, D Model | Mercedes - named after a Daimler distributor, Emil Jellinek's daughter | | MG | 1922 | | UK | Cecil Kimber | Super Sports, Oxford, Midget, Magnette | Stands for 'Morris Garages Ltd' | | Morgan | 1910 | | UK | HFS Morgan | Aero, 4/4 | | | Morris | 1910 | 1984 | UK | William Morris | Oxford, Minor, Major, Isis | The logo of an Ox crossing a river is a reference to Oxford where it all began. The Morris name finally fell into disuse in 1984. | | Nissan | 1934 | | Japan | Yoshisuke Aikawa | | Nihon Sangyo Co, known as Ni-San came about from a merger with Datsun. Initially entered into a partnership with Austin Motors | | Oldsmobile | | 2004 | USA | Ransom E Olds | Super, Fiesta, 98, Rocket | Logo symbolised a rocket. | | Opel | 1902 | | Germany | Adam Opel | Olympia, Rekord | | | Peugeot | | | France | Armand Peugeot | Lion, Torpedo, 200 series, 400 series | | | Pontiac | 1906 | | USA | | Bonneville, | Initially founded as the Pontiac Spring & Wagon company, merged with Oakland Motors and were bought by GM in 1909. Pontiac as a marque was introduced in 1926. Pontiac's logo until 1956 was an Indian Headdress, since then they have adopted a stylised arrowhead. | | Porsche | 1931 | | Germany | Ferdinand Porsche | Spyder, 365 | Ferdinand Porsche developed the first VW. | | Reliant | 1935 | 2001 | UK | T L Williams | Scimitar, Sabre, Regal, Robin, Kitten, Rialto | | | Renault | | | France | Louis, Marcel and Fernand Renault | Voiturette | | | Riley | 1903 | 1938 | UK | William Riley Jr | Pathfinder, RMB, RMC, RMA | In 1938 became part of the Nuffield organisation which later merged with Leyland | | Rolls Royce | 1906 | | UK | Charles Rolls, Henry Royce | Silver Ghost, Phantom, Wraith, Silver Dawn, Silver Shadow | | | Rootes | 1919 | 1967 | UK | William Rootes | | Included Hillman, Humber, Singer, Talbot, within its stable. Taken over by Chrysler in 1967, then Peugeot in 1978. | | Rover | 1904 | 2005 | UK | John Kemp Starley | | Starley is also responsible for manufacturing the first modern bicycle. | | Saab | 1947 | 2000 | Sweden | | 92, 93, GT750 | 'Svenska Aeroplan AB' was completely bought out by GM in 2000 | | Seat | 1950 | 1990 | Spain | | | Sociedad, Espanola de Automoviles de Tourismo. Taken over by VW 1990 | | Simca | 1934 | 1970 | France | Henri Theodore Pigozzi | Aronde, | Became part of Chrysler in 1970 and was defunct by 1978 | | Singer | 1905 | 1956 | UK | | Gazelle, Ten, Bantam, Junior | Incorporated into the Rootes Group, with the Singer name finally disappearing in 1970 | | Standard | 1903 | 1960 | UK | Reginald Walter Maudsley | Vanguard, Sportsman, Pennant | Taken over in 1960 by Leyland and the last Standard left the production line in 1963 | | Studebaker | 1902 | 1979 | USA | Studerbaker Brothers, Henry Jr, John, Clement, Peter | President, Champion, Dictator, Commander, Hawk series, | Studebakers logo, a wagon wheel, indicating the companies origins. | | Swallow Sidecar | 1922 | 1945 | UK | William Walmsley, William Lyons | Jaguar SS100 | Renamed 'Jaguar' after WWII as SS had too many Nazi conotations | | Talbot | 1903 | 1935 | UK | Charles Chetwynd-Talbot | | Rootes took over Clement-Talbot (British operation), while the French division was bought by Anthony Lago and marketed as Talbot-Lago | | Trabant | 1957 | 1991 | Germany | | | | | Triumph | 1921 | 1945 | UK | | Gloria, Vitesse, Dolomite, TR | Started out producing motorcyles but later moved into cars in 1921. Bought by Standard in 1945 | | TVR | 1947 | | UK | Trevor Wilkinson | Jomar, Grantura | TVR comes from TreVoR | | Vanden Plas | 1910 | 1946 | UK | Warwick Wright | Princess | Orignally a Belgium coach builders until Wright bought the name and started to produced cars. 1946 became a subsiduary of Austin | | Vauxhall | 1903 | | UK | Alexander Wilson | Victor, Wyvern, Velox, Cresta, | The Griffin logo came from Fulk le Breant's coat of arms, who in the 13th century had a manor house called Vauxhall in Luton. Brought by GM motors in 1925 | | Volkswagon | 1930 | | Germany | Ferdanand Porche | Beetle | Instructed by Hitler the 'peoples car' was born. | | Wolseley | 1901 | 1935 | UK | Herbert Austin | Wasp, Hornet, Viper, | Joined the Nuffield Group in 1926 but the name continued in use until 1975 |
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