The most famous of North American cabs, Checker cabs lasted for 60 years but the company’s failure to update the vehicle’s design in the 1970s led to the company’s demise.

The Audi 5000 introduced many innovative technologies such as a five-cylinder gas engine, Quattro all-wheel drive, and aerodynamic bodywork. But false claims of “unintended acceleration” ruined its reputation and sales in North America.

In 1952, a wealthy American entrepreneur, Stanley Harold "Wackey" Arnolt, was so impressed with the Italian styling of a Bertone-bodied MG TD prototype, that he ordered 200 and sold them as the “Arnolt MG.”

Mercedes’ 230SL/250SL/280SL two-seater sports cars were intended to be grand touring cars rather than out-and-out sports cars like the 300SL, says auto historian, Bill Vance. Their most unusual styling feature was a concave "pagoda" hardtop roof.

The first Toyota Corolla was designed with Japan’s export market in mind, but it proved surprisingly popular in Japan as well. The small car offered decent performance for its time and attractive styling, particularly the fastback Sprinter model.

The relatively high price of the Porsche 356 Coupe in the U.S. prompted Porsche importer Max Hoffman to ask Porsche for a cheaper model. The result was the stripped down, lightweight Speedster, now considered a classic.

Daringly engineered by famous American engine builder Harry Miller, the front-wheel drive Miller race cars won the Indianapolis 500 in 1928 and 1929. But a rule change in 1930 by Indy organizers stopped them from winning more races.

The Volvo car company was created by two visionary Swedes, Assar Gabrielsson, an economist, and Gustaf Larson, an engineer, who believed they could build a more rugged vehicle better suited to Swedish conditions than large, American cars.

Though overshadowed by Ford’s popular V8 engine, Ford’s 3.7-litre side-valve six-cylinder engine offered better mid-range acceleration and better fuel economy, to the consternation of V8 fans, says auto historian, Bill Vance.

Ford of England’s smallest sedans, the Anglia and Prefect, switched to unit body construction in 1954 and a modern overhead valve engine in 1959, but it was the 1959 Anglia’s reverse angle rear window styling that is best remembered today.

The Cordoba, a mid-size "personal luxury coupe," was a very successful vehicle for Chrysler in the mid 70s. It’s best known for its "fine Corinthian leather”, a phrase that became famous in TV commercials starring dapper television actor, Ricardo Montalban.

Now in its third generation, the tall and stubby, black people hauler that resembles a bowler hat is probably the best known taxicab design in the world, says auto historian, Bill Vance.

Due to heavy American import duties in the early 1900s, Rolls-Royce decided to build cars in the United States. A production plant was built in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1920 but slow sales during the Great Depression ended U.S. production.

The first TR sports car with a unit body design, the TR7 was a good attempt at reviving Britain's waning sports car leadership, but it came too late and with too many problems, says auto historian, Bill Vance.

Using the Beetle platform, production of the VW Kubelwagen began in 1940 and the amphibious Schwimmwagen in 1942. By the end of the Second World War, Volkswagen had produced some 14,000 Schwimmwagens and approximately 50,000 Kubelwagens. Few survived the war.

The only two-passenger pony car ever produced, the AMX was created by removing a 305 mm (12 in.) slice from the middle of the AMC Javelin. The AMX lasted for only three model years.

In the 1970s, Cadillac was alarmed to find European interlopers like BMW and Mercedes-Benz eating into its sales. Acknowledging that bigger isn’t always better, the company decided to produce a smaller, more economical Cadillac: the Seville.

Introduced at the 1966 Turin Motor Show, the Fiat 124 Sport came as a two-passenger Spider and 2+2 Coupe. “The design of the 124 Spider proved so sound that it continued into the 1980s, says auto historian, Bill Vance.

In 1896, in a small red brick building at the rear of Henry Ford’s house in Detroit, Ford and his assistant Charles King constructed his first car, a two-passenger quadricycle with a two-cylinder engine.

The Jowett Javelin was a “stylish little sedan with mechanicals that were in some ways ahead of their time,” says auto historian, Bill Vance. A company-entered car won the 1.5-litre class in the 1949 Monte Carlo Rally, he notes.