The five coolest cars at Rule Britannia Sunday

Gold Sirrus

A mid-engined sportscar that’s rarer than a McLaren F1? Meet the Gold Sirrus, a sportscar designed and built in Surrey in 1991. It had a steel tube chassis, a composite body, a targa top, all-wheel-drive, a five-speed manual gearbox and a 3.5-litre Rover V8. Only two or three were made, depending on who you ask. It’s wild, whacky and really rather cool.

Reliant Sabre 4 Rally Special

Yes, an actual road car, and one you’ve almost certainly never seen before. This is a Reliant Sabre 4 rally car, specifically ’42 ENX’, which was built by the Reliant Competition Department in October 1962 and competed as a works car from November that year to April 1963. In its first event, the 1962 Nuneaton Rally, it finished second overall, and once it found its way into private hands in 1963 it competed all the way until 2002. A proper little rally trooper.

McLaren P1

Perhaps including a P1 on this list is a bit of a cliché, but come on, it’s a McLaren P1 that’s being used. Evidence of that can be seen on the wheel-arches, which were all covered in mud and road detritus. That someone with a P1 looked out of the window, saw the grey clouds and drizzle and still thought “yep, I’ll go for a drive down to Goodwood today” is to be highly commended.

Talbot Sunbeam

It’s a three-door, rear-wheel-drive hatchback that won the World Rally Championship Constructors’ title in 1981 – what’s not to like? OK, this isn’t the Lotus Sunbeam, the car that won the title, but it is a Talbot Sunbeam – a rear-wheel-drive hatch based on Hillman Avenge – and it formed the basis of the car that went on to claim WRC glory. What’s more, rally connection aside, it’s just cool. The Talbot name emerged in 1902, becoming part of the Rootes Group and later Chrysler, and the Sunbeam was one of the last new cars to come from the brand before it eventually sunk into the abyss in 1994.

Aston Martin DB2/4

One of the best looking cars at Rule Britannia Sunday? Seeing as we included it in our list of the 11 most beautiful cars of all time, we’d have to say yes. The DB2/4 launched in 1953, building on the DB2 that it replaced but with more space and with either the more powerful DB2 Vantage engine, the 2.6-litre straight-six, or a larger 2.9-litre. This particular car, LML/1033, was sold to a Captain Parish in July 1955 with the larger engine and, in 1956, he had a MkIII grille and front disc brakes fitted. Unique factory modifications, this car still has its original gearbox, engine, body shell and paint, and registration number.

Photography by Joe Harding.