#England
Dirtbag English Car Dealer Gets Jail Time for Ripping People Off
While there are absolutely exceptions, the days of the super-sleazy used car dealer seem to be behind us here in the States. Anyone ripped off by one of them probably wishes we had laws like those in England, where a shady dealer recently got jail time for his actions.
![Chris Teague](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/08/19/65688448_1.jpg?size=50x50)
Scrapyard Find: 2010 Citroën C4 Picasso VTR+
While SUVs and crossovers have become increasingly popular in Western Europe in recent years, compact MPVs have done very well there during the past quarter-century. One model that proved to be a solid showroom hit was the Citroën C4 Picasso, and I documented one of these machines during my recent trip to the scrapyards of Northern England.
![Murilee Martin](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/26/70200_2.jpg?size=50x50)
Scrapyard Find: 2009 Alfa Romeo Brera S
I took a four-day trip to Northern England a couple of weeks ago, primarily to visit one of the only American-style self-service junkyards in the UK. While there, I also dropped by quite a few traditional dismantlers (known as "breaker's yards" over there), and one of them was Sherburn Motor Spares in Leeds, a business specializing in Italian and French vehicles. While there, I found a special-edition Alfa Romeo that never made it to our side of the Atlantic: a UK-only Brera S, hot-rodded by Prodrive.
![Murilee Martin](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/26/70200_2.jpg?size=50x50)
Scrapyard Find: 2010 Peugeot Bipper, Royal Mail Edition
Last week, I joined fellow car writer Andrew Ganz on a four-day trip to Northern England, with one of Great Britain's two Ewe Pullet-style self-service junkyards as our primary destination. This was the U-Pull-It in York, and today's Junkyard Scrapyard Find is one of the more interesting products of the Société Européene de Véhicules Légers during the 2000s.
![Murilee Martin](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/26/70200_2.jpg?size=50x50)
U.K. Dealer Sells 'Death Trap' Twice, Faces Jail Time
The United States doesn't have a monopoly on shady car dealerships.
![Tim Healey](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2023/12/15/1375158_1.jpg?size=50x50)
Rare Rides: The 1975 Aston Martin Lagonda Series I, One of Seven
The Rare Rides series has covered every generation of Aston Martin’s Lagonda four-door except one. In the Sixties, the Lagonda Rapide helped to define the super sedan class: A grand tourer that could sweep four passengers and their luggage across Continental Europe with ease.
Then there was the late Seventies Lagonda, which had a long production run through 1990. Advanced electronically, that Lagonda was too ambitious and generally earned its reputation as a good-looking, expensive disaster. Finally, there was the Lagonda Taraf, a large sedan designed specifically and cynically for the UAE market. It was built to extract maximum dollars from oil barons and the like. Great success!
But between Lagonda Rapide and Lagonda was a missing link. It was called the Lagonda Series I and is the rarest Aston Martin Lagonda ever made. And one is for sale.
![Corey Lewis](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/105035_2.jpg?size=50x50)
Abandoned History: The Navistar EStar, a Very Troubled Electric Van
The plain white van you see here is the subject of our second edition of Abandoned History. Though it was produced and sold domestically as eStar by Navistar, it was actually developed in England years prior. In fact, the story of this electric van begins with the traditional black London taxi.
![Corey Lewis](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/105035_2.jpg?size=50x50)
Rare Rides: A Trio of 1965 Aston Martin DB5s, a Complete Collection
We’ve featured several Aston Martins on Rare Rides previously, but have never covered its most recognizable car: the DB5. Designed in Italy, the DB5 was an instant collector’s item when it starred as James Bond’s ride in Goldfinger.
Today’s collection includes all three different DB5 body styles, each rarer than the last.
![Corey Lewis](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/105035_2.jpg?size=50x50)
Rare Rides: The Superbly Rare 1963 Aston Martin Lagonda Rapide
Rare Rides has featured a couple of fine Lagonda sedans previously. First was the 1980s rectangle designed by William Towns, which miraculously remained in production from 1976 to 1990. Next was the Lagonda Taraf, a super sedan intended only for the oil-flush UAE market.
Today we bring you the genesis of the Aston Martin Lagonda sedan line, the Rapide.
![Corey Lewis](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/105035_2.jpg?size=50x50)
Junkyard Find: 1976 Triumph TR7 Victory Edition
I’ve been visiting car graveyards since I bought my first hooptie for 50 bucks in the early 1980s, and one thing about American junkyards has remained constant during the following four decades: the presence of 1970s British and Italian sports cars. Maybe they were a bit less weathered in 1987 or 1994 or 2006, but a steady trickle of discarded MGBs, 124 Sport Spiders, X1/9s, Jensen-Healeys, Spitfires, Midgets, and TR7s into U-Wrench yards has flowed at about the same rate throughout. That’s why I wasn’t surprised to discover this allegedly rare 1976 Triumph TR7 Victory Edition in a Denver-area yard last month.
![Murilee Martin](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/26/70200_2.jpg?size=50x50)
Rare Rides: The 1972 Gilbern Invader, Obscure and Welsh
Today’s Rare Ride hails from a tiny carmaker in business for less than two decades. The Gilbern name stands out in history as one of the few companies that built cars in Wales.
Let’s check the company’s most successful model, the Invader.
![Corey Lewis](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/105035_2.jpg?size=50x50)
Rare Rides: The Very Rare 1964 Alvis Graber Super Coupe
A small British firm headquartered in Coventry, England, Alvis faded from the automotive memory of most long ago. But for over 50 years, Alvis produced quality, hand-made British cars for the moderately- to very-well heeled.
Today’s Graber Super Coupe was one of the more luxurious ones.
![Corey Lewis](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/105035_2.jpg?size=50x50)
Rare Rides: The 1992 Lotus Excel, End of an Era
Today’s Lotus Excel hails from the end of a period of transition at the famed British brand. Built for 11 years, by the end of Excel’s run the company had chosen a new direction for its cars.
Most would say the change was for the better.
![Corey Lewis](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/105035_2.jpg?size=50x50)
Rare Rides: It's a 1977 Reliant Scimitar GTE, You Know
Today’s Rare Ride is a sporty shooting brake from the days when there were still many British manufacturers building cars like it across England.
Let’s travel back to the Seventies when everything was brown, excepting this particular Reliant.
![Corey Lewis](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/105035_2.jpg?size=50x50)
Rare Rides: The 1962 Singer Vogue, the Smaller Side of British Luxury
Today’s Rare Ride is the first time a Singer vehicle has appeared on these pages. Compact and well-trimmed, the Vogue was a bit more than the standard Sixties British family car.
![Corey Lewis](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/20/105035_2.jpg?size=50x50)
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