Jaguar E-Type (1961 - 1975)
The best looking, the fastest and easily the best-value sports car of its era. It set the world alight and should have made Jaguar a fortune. Amazingly Sir William Lyons, who made every decision at the company, did not think it would last, so never bought the tooling for efficient large-scale manufacturing.
Austin 7 (1922-1939)
The car that made Austin. It was cheap, reliable and infinitely tuneable - plenty were turned into little sports cars. This was kind of a British Ford Model T: a car that was cheap to buy (and got progressively cheaper over the years) and simple to maintain. It was not revolutionary, but it ensured that, in the face of Ford and General Motors, Britain would have a strong domestic industry through to the 1960s. It also had a remarkable effect on the global car industry: the first BMW car was an Austin 7 under licence, the first Lotus was based on an Austin 7, William Lyons' first car was a rebodied Austin 7 (whose success led to the creation of Jaguar) and the Japanese took a very close interest in it when designing their first cars in the 1930s.
Rover 2000 (1963 - 1976)
Europe's first compact executive model that boasted a host of ultra-advanced features underneath its sober styling: four-wheel disc brakes, advanced deDion rear suspension and industry leading safety features. Sales were well ahead of forecasts, but it never made any money - productivity at the strike-racked Solihull factory was abysmal.
Range Rover (1970 - 1996)
A car designed by a genius (Spencer King), but made by idiots (the management more so than the workforce). It was a completely new concept - a luxury off-roader - but made to the same standards as an Austin Allegro. The styling is timeless in its elegant simplicity and makes current off-roaders look fussy.
Nissan Bluebird (1986 - 1990)
It was Japanese and rubbish, so what is it doing here? Simply because the success of the Sunderland-built Bluebird showed that Britain could make cars as well as anyone in the world - an idea that would have seemed ridiculous in the 1970s. This car led to Honda and Toyota coming to Britain: without it, we would no longer have a car manufacturing industry worth the name.
Jaguar XJ6 (1968 - 1986)
Possibly the best looking four door saloon ever made. The design brief was simple - take an E-Type and develop it into a saloon car. The result might not have looked like an E-Type coupe, but it had the same grace and athleticism. When fitted with the V12 in 1972, it became the best saloon car in the world.
Morris Minor (1948 - 1971)
This was the first production car of a little-known engineer called Issigonis. Unlike his later Mini, it was not revolutionary, just better than any other small family car made in Europe at the time. It stayed in production until 1970 and should have been the British VW Beetle. Unfortunately the Beetle might have been a poorer design, but it was made and marketed far better. Incidentally, the crease along the centre of the bonnet of the Minor was because Issigonis decided at the last minute the car was too narrow and had to be widened a few inches. The bonnet had already been designed, so a plate had to be inserted along the centreline to make it wider.
Mini (1959 - 2000)
The cleverest car designed in Britain (and possibly anywhere). Like all revolutionary ideas, it was not perfect (the gearbox in the sump under the engine was not an ideal location), but it proved for the next 50 years that a transverse engine with front-wheel-drive is the only sensible layout for a small car. The fact that it had 40% better grip than other small cars was a bonus fully realised on the Monte Carlo rally. In fact it was so good that the French eventually banned it just for being (a) clever and (b) not French).
Jensen FF (1966 - 1971)
Only 20 years ahead of its time. Tractor magnate Harry Ferguson (FF stands for Ferguson Formula) wanted to improve car safety and came up with electro-mechanical anti-lock brakes and four wheel drive. Today all performance cars have ABS and traction control to do the same job - but at around 10% of the cost of the FF system.
Jaguar XK 120 (1949 - 1954)
The car that put Jaguar on the map and established the principles for all Jaguars of the following 25 years - faster, better looking and better value than anything remotely comparable. Its 3.4 litre twin-cam engine gave 120 mph performance (hence its name) when most cars would struggle to hit 70 mph.