If there is something rock ’n’ roll about a Rolls-Royce Phantom V, we tend to think of the 4-liter Austin limousines – the Sheerline and Princess – as a bit pompous and municipal. Current for 20 years ...

The 1950s are remembered for tailfins and chrome, but the decade’s most important cars did something subtler than grab attention in a showroom. They rewired how people thought about speed, safety, ...