British and European Car Spotters Guide - 1961

Originally the "big" Healey was the Austin Healey 100 with its 2.6-litre 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.

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-carburettor 3.8-litre XK motor used in the E-Type, but this changed to a 4.2-litre 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.

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.

In 1961 the ZIL 111 was completely redesigned. With softer lines and four horizontally-mounted headlamps, the ZIL-111 D accentuated the styling theme of the period. One year later it was changed again. The ZIL-111 G was stretched to over 20 feet (243.7 in.) and weighed 55.4 cwt. Top speed was claimed to be the same as the 1957 prototypes 106 mph.