10 Great British Cars

The DB11 went on sale back in 2017 as the first of 7 new models released before 2024, paving the way into the future for the Aston Martin brand. The DB11 still hosts the typically Aston Martin GT looks while also introducing some contemporary styling cues, particularly at the bottom end of the roofline. This is an extremely important car for Aston Martin who are trying to crawl out of half a billion pounds worth of investment debt. The DB11 went into production in 2016 and CEO, Andy Palmer, individually checked over the first 1,000 vehicles for any faults or defects, just to make sure the car was perfect for their customers.
 

The McLaren 720S went on sale back in 2017 and replaced the top-selling 650S model. The 720S was the first vehicle of McLaren’s ‘super-series’; a range of 15 brand new models all coming over the next 4 years. The second of which was the McLaren Senna which has gone on sale and, like the 720S, is built by hand in Woking. Outside of the elite hypercars (Mclaren P1, Laferrari, Porsche 918), the 720S is being hailed as the most impressive supercar on the market. The fastest, the most comfortable and the most agile - the only criticisms you will find online are that it is almost too perfect.
 

Jaguar Land Rover is the UK’s biggest producer of vehicles. In 2018 they built a staggering 592,708 models across both brands. The global appeal of the JLR brand is amplified by the huge celebrity following that the Range Rover (and Range Rover Sport) has created through its sustained superiority in the 4x4 market. Put simply, it’s the most desirable 4x4 on the planet without looking at the likes of the ridiculously priced Rolls Royce Cullinan and Bentley Bentayga.

It was big news back in February when Nissan announced they will no longer produce the X-Trail at the Sunderland plant, however, there was one huge redeeming factor, which was that Nissan committed to continuing the production of the Qashqai in the North East. Nissan employs around 7,000 people in Sunderland, and it is a huge relief for these people to know that one of Nissan's most successful models of all time will continue to be produced in their hometown.

The brand new Continental from Bentley is an exciting car to get behind. It’s the first proper redesign of the Continental in over 15 years and it is built exclusively in Crewe. That means that every single high-earner across the world, whether they’re from Los Angeles, Paris, Dubai, Singapore, Saint Tropez and so on, will be ordering a Bentley that has come from a leafy Cheshire Railway Town, just off the M6. The new Continental starts from £160,000 and will go on to smash the 200mph mark. This is now a more dynamic car that Bentley hope will persuade Porsche buyers who want a GT car without sacrificing handling characteristics.

Ok, it might not be the most attractive, the fastest accelerating, or even the most affordable car in the world, but the Vauxhall Astra is a typically British car that we have come to love over the years. It’s modest, sensible and sophisticated in its current guise. While it doesn’t quite rival the current Ford Focus, which is a truly comprehensive hatchback, the Astra is still one of the best selling hatchbacks in the country at the time of writing, so they must be doing something right...

We could have listed the F-Type here, as that is also built in Britain and it is also extremely pretty, but the F-PACE deserves the limelight. Why? Because it’s the first SUV Jaguar have ever released, and it has quickly gone to be the most popular car in their lineup globally. In fact, the F-PACE sales are greater than the sales of every other model in the lineup… combined. That’s some achievement, and considering it’s their first stab at an SUV makes it all the more impressive. Bravo, Jaaaag. 

To some, the Civic is just another mass-market car. To others, it’s a shining example of reliability, affordability, practicality and (in some cases) blistering performance. The new Type-R (pictured) being the star of the show. Built in Swindon, where over 600 cars are built every working day by the workforce of over 3,400 engineers and designers.

Rolls Royce is a global ambassador for the British automotive industry. Widely considered to be the absolute pinnacle of automotive luxury, the team of 1,700 employees at the Goodwood plant in West Sussex are exclusively responsible for the production of every Rolls Royce on the market. The Wraith, which is the 2-door coupé version of the Ghost, is probably the most exciting of the lot. It blends 2 door styling with the imperious driving characteristics that come factory-fitted with the Rolls Royce. The relatively small team produced a relatively massive 4,107 cars in 2018.

Described as the birthplace and heart of MINI production, this is where the iconic hatchback is produced before being sent off to one of up to 110 countries around the world. More than 2.5million MINIs have been built in the Oxford plant since it opened in 2001, which offers jobs to over 4,000 citizens. That’s a lot of people, which shows just how important the MINI Hatchback really is for our country...