Classic Cars Sightings In The UK, France, And Italy: My Highlights of 2026 So Far

Curbside sightings can build up in the file and the easiest way to share can be a periodic batch process. Hence, here are a selection of my sightings (with a couple of extras) kerbside in 2026 of some these are all Curbside (or Kerbside) sightings from the last few months in the UK, France and Italy.

A 1957  Chevrolet Bel Air, gently warmed over and personalised with an attractive paint job and wider wheels.

Unusual in the UK obviously, but I suspect the petrol station owner likes it just as much as the driver.

A frequent sight on CC and why not?

A 1955 Wolseley 15/50 saloon –  a BMC product by this time. 15 meant 1.5 litres, 50 indicated 50bhp coming now from the BMC B series engine rather than Nuffield engine in the earlier 4/44.

From a distance, this could be confused with the MG Magnette but much of the panel work was subtly different and the MG had twin carburettors and 55 bhp. The Wolseley had a richer wood and leather interior though.

Wolseley was the Oldsmobile to the Morris’s Chevrolet in the Nuffield line up; the brand died in 1976.

Looking very striking in period bright yellow, a 1976 Fiat 128 3P Berlinetta. Any Fiat 128, or indeed any 20th century Fiat, is now a very rare sight in the UK and this example shows some of what we’re missing.

The 128 was a standard setter back in 1969 – with the Citroen GS, Alfasud and the (slightly later) VW Golf, it showed the UK buyer the inadequacies of some of the home grown offerings.

The 128 came in various formats – two and four door saloon, three door estate and a three door coupe which was common to the 3P from the B posts forward but with a more typical coupe rear end. And the Jensen Interceptor resemblance of the front end never confused anyone, even on hot days in north west England.

A more traditional choice might be this 1934 Morris Ten/4. This example has been re-engined, with a post war 1141cc (Morris not BMC) engine replacing the original 1292cc side valve from a M series Morris 10.

The CC committee may be interested to know that Lord Nuffield told my friend Arnold that he considered this car to be the best car Morris ever built. Just sayin’.

Still British, still traditional but in a subtle way looking forward – a 1967 Rover 3 Litre Coupe Mark III. This was the last evolution of the P5 before the P5B with the Buick V8 that Rover truly made theirs for almost 40 years.

This car is the Coupe version – a lowered roofline close to an North American hardtop but with a B pillar retained, probably aimed at attracting some buyers back from Jaguars, and was continued with the P6B, though not the ones sold for Royal and Prime Ministerial use. Heaven forbid – that’d be as bad as missing dress code at Wimbledon’s Royal Box.

The perennial favourite – a 1948 MG Midget TC. T87 showed us an 1954 MG Midget TF recently – this is the car two steps earlier and essentially the pre-war car gently warmed over. Still a wood frame on a separate chassis though, and great Spitfire pilot or returning GI vibes.

1250cc, 54 bhp would get you to 60mph in 22 seconds and 78 mph, if you try long enough. But those performance numbers matter little.

After all, it’s a small bright red British roadster on a sunny day….I think we’d all settle for that at least once…..

Feel that the Midget is not strong enough for year’s championships? Try this 1966 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk3 in a striking almost British Racing Green and red leather combination.

You do like red don’t you?

The first UK registration for this car was 2017, so I assume this car has been re-imported, perhaps from Australia or New Zealand given the RHD.

Summer should be cheerful – does it get brighter than this 1934 Standard 10/12 Special Speed saloon? Seen Kerbside but clearly not a daily driver, even if the use that day was nothing dramatic.

1600cc, twin Solex carburettors and entered by Captain John Black, Standard’s Managing Director, in the 1934 RAC 1000 Mile Rally.

And to show how intertwined the British motor industry was, this car formed the basis of the SS Cars 1¹/₂litre saloon, and Captain, later Sir John, Black was a son in law of William Hillman, as was Spencer Wilks, Managing Director of Rover for many years.

Something a little pricier is this 1993 Bentley Continental R – around £180,000 in 1993, say £400,000 now.

Technically, this was closely based on the platform of the 1980 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit and its Bentley Mulsanne twin, with the long serving (1959 to 2020) Rolls-Royce V8, here in 6750cc, 325bhp form. Later versions reached up to 420bhp, and limited (or even more limited) volume versions of the Continental were considerably more expensive.

This car was parked on the street in a small market town, and had the look of a car that been left for sometime, although it is fully taxed and registered. Perhaps someone’s lost the key?

Perhaps a 1948 Austin Sixteen would be more affordable? I see this car on a regular route, parked by the road quietly doing its business.

The Sixteen was Austin’s first postwar car; although it used a prewar chassis and body, the 2.2 litre OHV engine was new.

Not quite state of the art for 1948 maybe, but a decent offering in straitened times.

Something more familiar –  a 1998 – 2002 Fords Focus hatchback. Not a dramatic sighting in the UK or France but don’t underestimate this car.

The 1998 Focus was good enough to frighten VW, where internally it was considered as good as the VW Golf Mk5 was expected to be. And that was still five years away.  Arguably, one of the 1990s more significant European mid-market cars.

Something less familiar to North America is this Audi A2 – if you need a refresher, T87 can help us.

The comparative lack of commercial success of the Audi A2 should be viewed in the context of the knowledge gained around the materials and processes and how that added to the canon of knowledge within Ingolstadt and Wolfsburg.

The Peugeot 204 was France’s best seller in 1969 to 1971 and arguably deservedly so. Not a dramatic or novel proposal, but in true period Peugeot fashion, a thoroughly competent execution of a contemporary format.

Front wheel drive, 1.1 litre petrol engine, transversely mounted with the gearbox below and more modern when launched in 1965 than competing Renault and Simca products.

Another car that showed UK customers what was possible, in contrast to some of our home grown products.

Another unusual sighting, just about anywhere, is this 1973-80 Triumph Dolomite Sprint. The Dolomite story, from the original front wheel drive Triumph 1300 to the rear wheel drive and innovatively engineered Dolomite Sprint, is one that CC needs to see in full. I’ve got a nice 1300 in the files, so perhaps I need to get doing something about it.

The original 1972 Dolomite had the largest engine in the compact Triumph range at 1850cc with 91bhp, closely related to that in the SAAB 99, and developed with input from the consultants Ricardo Engineering. The Sprint’s USP was a 16 valve single overhead camshaft cylinder head and an increased capacity of 1998cc, which raised the power to 127 bhp. The cylinder head was all Triumph’s work with no input from Riccardo. In 8 valve form this engine was used in the Triumph TR7.

In the market, this was considered a competitor for the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, Audi 80,  BMW 1602/2002 and early 3 series and hotter, faster Ford Cortinas and Vauxhall Cavaliers. Despite its profile then and now in the UK CC community, I was surprised to see that total production over 9 years was just 23,000 cars. I suspect not many were exported to France.

Based on the presence and absence of some accessories, I’m pinning this as a 1974-79 car, but differences were slight.

Another innovator – the 1980-91 Audi Quattro coupe, the car that showed four wheel drive did not have to come as an SUV but could add capability to road biased car as well. Based on the regular Audi Coupe and distinguished visually by the flared wheel arches, it was fitted with a 2.1 litre, 5 cylinder turbo charged engine with 197 bhp. This grew by 1989 to 2.2 litres and 220 bhp, and over 140mph.

Of course, the main point of this car was to be able to compete with higher power rear drive Mercedes-Benz and BMW coupes using the front wheel drive Audi 80 platform. The fact that it became an instant world rally championship winner and brand builder for Audi were indirect, if foreseeable, benefits.

This Belgian registered car is one of the later 1983-85 cars with single lens headlamps but the original 2.1 litre engine.

And like the Dolomite, overall numbers are smaller than popular recollection might suggest – just 11,500 in 11 years. But the impact was somewhat larger and for the Audi’s then technical director Ferdinand Piech (and grandson of Ferdinand Porsche) it was a key stepping stone to his eventual position at Chairman of VW’s supervisory board and as perhaps the most influential figure in the 21st century European motor industry.

To help us calm down, a 1983-89 Ford Fiesta, often named as the Mark 2, despite being a facelift of the original 1975 car. Do you remember the days when a manufacture could refresh an eight year old design and call it new?

Take a Mark 1, add new headlights and bonnet profile, a new dash and some reversing lights…..

Talking of not changing much –  a Citroen 2CV 400 van, or Fourgonette. I’m sure based on the corrugated bonnet, headlamp shapes, turn signals and bumper profile we can pin the year pretty closely, but somewhere between 1970 and 1978.

This vehicle was a long term favourite of rural France and of the French postal service PTT, more familiarly known as La Poste.

But in van form it was unlikely to a taxi, then or now.

T87 recently quoted the description of the first 2CV as “Quatre roues sous un parapluie” or “Four wheels under an umbrella”. Here, spotted by our old friend Big Paws, an Italian is taking that advice to create “Quattro ruote sotto un ombrello” based on his Fiat Ritmo (Strada in the US and UK) convertible. It’s a relaxed place, Italy.

Also from Big Paws, a 1960-69 Autobianchi Bianchina Cabriolet, spotted in Tuscany, with what looks potentially like daily driver (and certainly not a garage queen) patina.

Autobianchi is not my specialist subject by any means, but some digging gives production dates of 1960 to 1969 and a total volume of 9300. 499cc twin cylinder engine, borrowed like most of the mechanical elements for the nuova Fiat 500, and as well as this cabriolet, there were saloons, a fixed profile (with Fiat 500 style roof rails) convertible, a station wagon and a van. And just 18 bhp.

Still, pottering around a cramped narrow medieval city doesn’t need many horsepower I suggest.

And just one wildcard for the doubles….

A 1977-87 Citroen Acadiane, the van derivative of the Citroen Dyane saloon, itself a derivative of the 2 CV, paired with a 2015-2018 Ferrari California T, T for Turbo making this Ferrari’s first turbo charged V8 front engined car.

So what’s your nomination for the top spot of the year, so far?