At the outset of World War II, as American automobile factories were switching from making cars to making tanks, planes, jeeps, and munitions, a few independent car companies remained in production.

The Cat Cheetah was created by Rudi Kurth, a Swiss engineering prodigy. Rudi trained initially on the construction of lightweight panels for race cars and also built and raced motorcycle sidecars.

In June 1973, Caterham cars took over production of the Lotus Seven. The move was an historic one and secured Caterham’s long-term future. Three decades, and ten thousand sales later, Caterham has spawned an incredible forty different interpretations or limited editions of the Seven. 

In 1961, Chevrolet introduced the Corvair 95 Greenbriar van and Rampside pickup. One Corvair that largely went unnoticed was the Corphibian prototype.

The Farmobil was designed by German agricultural giant Fahr (now Deutz-Fahr) as a light roadgoing truck/tractor. It was to have a maximum weight of 1000kg, a 180cm wheelbase, 140cm track, manual transmission, a PTO (power take-off), and a top speed of at least 80kph.

The Citroën “Traction Avant” (means front drive) was introduced in 1934 as the 7A; the 15-Six model was introduced in 1938, and was a radically different concept from the cars Citroën had been producing.

This bare chassis gives an unrestricted view of the inner workings of the famous Citroën 2CV, or “Deux Chevaux”, including its longitudinal suspension, air-cooled 602cc engine, unusual shifter linkage, and the in-board front disc brakes.