Amongst cleaning my Raleigh Grifter, drawing cars and playing my Sega Master System, the anticipation of cutting out the BMW Information Coupon from the BBC-only Radio Times was too great. This was much to the dissatisfaction of my father who had repeated main dealership calls trying to sell him various new cars!

And so it started. Motorshows, County Shows and local dealers had brochures liberated as and when I could. Every brochure was read cover to cover with a hunger for stats. Turning up on a bicycle requesting brochures whilst still at school got mixed results.

Only a small collection by some standards, but I am proud of my 380+ brochures, mainly from 1988 - 1998. Some are much earlier. My Ford 'CARS' range brochure series dates back to 1985 and I am currently building a brochure set for the 70's BL empire. Only the Ambassador to go....

I was a big fan of the British Touring Car Championship at its peak of worldwide success. Seeing Patrick Watts hustle a pink and yellow Mazda Xedos wheel to wheel with a Renault 19 16v Chamade was worth watching. Who can forget the Volvo 850 R Estate? I was a big Vauxhall fan at the time and always followed Cleland, seeing the Cavalier rise to Championship glory before it’s not so good Vectra replacement. Also the late David Leslie and the Ecurie Ecosse Cavalier too….

I collected as much BTCC memorabilia as I could. Just wished I grabbed more at the time.

It brings a smile to my face reading the old brochures from cars that I grew up with. The 205GTi, for instance, was monumental and stands head and shoulders above the current generation, or maybe that was my misty teenaged eyes.....

Anyway, I would like to share 'a select few' of my most favourite items as I think that storing them in a cardboard box in the loft is such a shame.

Why do I like these old brochures so much? Well, apart from being a total car bore, the below is a piece of text from one of my brochures. Does the text talk about an Aston Martin, Bentley or Porsche? No, it describes a Morris Ital!






My British Leyland collection, for more of the above, is found HERE on RetroCarMedia.


Enjoy the site and thanks for stopping by!