Wednesday 19th October 1966

The London Motor Show opened with each end of the motoring spectrum exhibited. The best of British luxury car manufacturing was represented by the 6 cylinder Jaguar 420 (£1,930), 420G (£2,238) and their sister model the Daimler Sovereign (£2,121). The Jensen Interceptor (£3,743) was launched to replace the C-V8; the first Jensen to use steel, rather than fibreglass, panels, but again used a Chrysler 6.2-litre V8. Reliant stayed with fibreglass, however, with its revised Scimitar, a more affordable £1,516 despite a new Ford-sourced 3.0-litre V6. Cheaper yet was the Triumph GT6 (£985), a Spitfire-based coupe and the Vitesse’s six-cylinder, 95bhp 2.0-litre engine. More practical family cars were also present, too. The Mk 2 Ford Cortina was set to emulate the runaway success of its predecessor and visitors were impressed by the German Taunus engined Ford Zephyr V4, costing just £949. This engine also made its debut in a quirky Swedish import – the Saab 96 V4, Saab’s first four-stroke car (£801). With prices from just over £800, the Hillman Hunter, launched to replace the old Super Minx and a sister model to the latest Singer Vogue, promising 90mph and 30mpg, also on display. The twin-carburettor version of the 2000, the Rover 2000TC, previously only made for export, perhaps stole the show. This £1,415, 114bhp sports saloon was capable of 112mph and 0-60mph in 11.5 seconds.