The 'coke bottle' Cortina Mk3 was introduced in October 1970 replacing the more boxy Mk2 and bringing with it a swoopy new design language inspired by the products of its US parents.
Engines ranged from the 1300 'Kent' cross-flow up to the 2 litre 'Pinto' overhead cam unit and five trim levels were available from base up to the twin headlight GXL. This gave the car a plethora of body, trim and price point options that helped the Cortina (in Mk3 and Mk4 guise) become the best-selling car of the 70s.
The car on the t-shirt is possibly the Mk3 in its purest form, a 2 door 2000GT with the iconic four headlamp grille, Rostyle wheels and high back seats (in black vinyl, of course). The distressed-effect wording and type style is taken from an original press ad advertising the forthcoming 1970 Motor Show at Earls Court.
The high contrast style of the image means that it is only available in black, but the good news is that sizes go all the way up to 5XL!
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As a proud Brummie I have fond memories of the WMPTE buses from travelling to school on the famous No. 11 Outer Circle route in late seventies and early eighties. The Outer Circle was the last route to still operate the front-engined buses with the open platform and conductor and I think my journey from the Fox & Goose to King's Heath was 12p back in 1978! These buses were then replaced by Daimler / Leyland Fleetlines in various guises, which were then replaced in turn by the MCW Metrobuses, built locally in Washwood Heath (all were usually powered by the legendary Gardner 6LX diesel engine). The single deck Leyland National was another very popular bus at the time, with their very distinctive noise, smell (and fumes) from the 'headless' Leyland 500 series engine. The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) was the public body responsible for public transport in the West Midlands metropolitan county from 1969 until 2016. The WMPTE logo featured here was current from 1969 until 1990 and the cream and blue livery of the buses was once a very familiar sight around Birmingham and the West Midlands.Join me on my nostalgia trip with one of these hoodies which features a distressed style logo for that retro look which is matched to the contrasting hood and drawcords. -
Defender was an arcade video game developed and released by Williams Electronics in 1981. A horizontally scrolling shooter, where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. Development was led by Eugene Jarvis, a pinball programmer at Williams; Defender was Jarvis' first video game project and drew inspiration from Space Invaders and Asteroids. The t-shirt features a distressed style logo for that retro look and is available in a number of colours.
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Total Control Racing (TCR) was a toy brand from Ideal which appeared in the late 1970s, but unlike Scalextric, operated on a slotless track.The plastic track contained lanes of three metal strips about 2mm wide, which made contact with a configuration of two brass pads on the underside of the cars, providing power. The plastic track had two such lanes, and cars could change lanes with the flick of a switch on the controller. TCR sets came with "jam cars", a slow moving drone which both racers had to avoid crashing into. Like Matchbox's Powertrack, some cars featured lights.TCR was withdrawn from the market in the mid 80s and sets are now very collectible.The t-shirt features a distressed style logo for that retro look and is available in a number of colours.
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This Best of British Rover P5B t shirt celebrates the story of this iconic classic car which was introduced as the Rover P5 saloon in September 1958 and was Rover's first foray into unitary bodywork construction. A significantly more modern design styled by David Bache, it featured a traditional wood and leather interior. It was dignified and well appointed but was hardly sporting with around 115bhp from a 3 litre version of Rover's inlet over exhaust straight six engine at introduction. A coupé version was introduced with the Mark II in 1962, still retaining 4 doors but with a lower, more rakish roofline, but the big news came in 1967 with the introduction of the P5B featuring the now famous 3,528cc all aluminium Rover V8 developed from a Buick engine. This gave the P5 a much needed power boost, giving the car excellent performance for its time. The P5b or 3.5 Litre became a much-loved mode of transport for government ministers and was a familiar sight carrying Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher to and from 10 Downing Street well into the early 80s, some ten years after it was discontinued in 1973. In recent years, the Rover P5B has become a much loved classic car, epitomising all of the best aspects of the British car industry, and this t-shirt graphic highlights this perfectly. The car featured on this t-shirt is from a hand-drawn ink illustration, transferred onto my computer and digitised. It is a three colour print, with highlights on the bodywork represented by a white tint which allows the colour of the shirt to show through, making the colour of the car's bodywork. You can read more about the Rover P5's history at the excellent aronline website. You may also be interested in our personalisable Rover P5B T Shirt.
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This MG ZT Mk2 (or facelift model) t-shirt is offered as a two colour style print, with the t-shirt colour making up the colour of the car. Highlights on the bodywork are represented by a white tint which allows the colour of the shirt to show through. This highlight effect is subtle on lighter t-shirts and more prominent on darker ones. Personalisation The number plate area can be personalised with a registration, name or message for that extra personal touch. It will appear in a black UK numberplate typeface. If no personalisation is chosen the number plate will be white.
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This Car Tax Disc Retro Birthday Year & Month T Shirt makes a quirky and original present for a loved one who is celebrating their Birthday or Father's Day, especially if they're a petrol head! Whether it's a special 40th or 50th celebration, Father's Day or just any old birthday, these t-shirts are a unique and stylish keepsake. Better still, for that extra personalised touch, there are 3 lines that can be be customised with their name, favourite car, hobby, band, or anything you wish. The design is based on the UK car tax disc that had to be displayed on every car windscreen until the system was computerised in at the end of 2014. The style used here was current from 1961-1978 in various colour formats, you can read more details here. The layout features their birth month and year as the main heading, their full date of birth at the top, plus personalised details on the 3 lines provided underneath in hand-written style. It is a smaller version of the Large Tax Disc Birthday Year and Month T-Shirt and the printing appears on the left chest for a more subtle look. Important Instructions We will print exactly as you input and spell, so please type carefully and double check. NB. As these are personalised items, no refunds can be given unless faulty.
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The Triumph Dolomite range was introduced in 1972 as a luxurious, well-equipped sporting saloon aimed at the emerging compact executive market. The Sprint version that followed in 1973 was conceived in order to remedy the gap in performance between the Dolomite 1850 and competitors such as the BMW 2002. The Sprint's cylinder head was revolutionary for a mass produced car, featuring a multi-valve arrangement with all 16 of them operated by a single overhead camshaft. This clever design gave the car a 0-60 time of just 8.4 seconds and a maximum speed of 119 mph, very impressive for the early Seventies. The car also had alloy wheels as standard; a first for a British production car. All of this came at a launch cost of just £1,740, which compared very favourably with its other sporting rivals. The mouse mat itself is based on one of the original press ads and shows a Dolomite Sprint in the launch colour of Mimosa Yellow with black vinyl roof. The period correct typeface is used. The high contrast style of the image means that it is only available in black, but the good news is that sizes go all the way up to 5XL!Read more about the Triumph Dolomite and Sprint range here on the excellent aronline website.
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Rover Head Gasket T Shirt As a lover of old cars, I'm in quite a few related FaceBook groups and, much as I enjoy these, there's plenty of tired old clichés to be found in the comments section, repeated over and over. One of the most common has to be the old 'head gasket' jokes on anything featured that is even remotely Rover/MG. This is despite the fact that it only affects some 4 cylinder 'K' Series engines (not diesels, V6s etc), and is relatively cheap to fix. Blown head gaskets are also a common issue for quite a few other brands too, but somehow they never seem to be targeted. A more informed write-up on the revolutionary K series engine can be found here. As a Rover/MG owner myself, rather than let it frustrate me, I thought I would channel my energy into something more productive, so I came up with these t-shirts. They come in a choice of 6 colours with some available all the way upto 5XL and are a great way to deflect the jokes before they even start. They may well become part of an occasional 'car cliché' series, along with other favourites such as; any Jaguar - 'it's just a Mondeo', any Italian exotic - 'It's an MR2 kit', Reliant Scimitar - 'Princess Anne had one' etc, etc...
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The Honda HR-V was introduced in 1999, an early example of a compact SUV, initially available as front wheel drive but subsequently available with four wheel drive. Power was provided by Honda's super-reliable and revvy D16 engine in standard or VTEC format, both with a single overhead cam and sent to the wheels by either a 5 speed manual or CVT automatic gearbox. Honda's ingenious Real Time 4WD system used a dual hydraulic pump rear differential which only activated when the front wheels lost grip. Never a huge seller in the UK but the HR-Vs had funky looks that have aged well and are certainly more distinctive than the second generation models which appeared in 2013 after a seven year HR-V hiatus. The HR-V boasted funky advertising too, focusing on a fun, lifestyle image based around the 'Joy Machine' strapline, as can be seen here. The t shirt itself features a HR-V graphic plus the distinctive logos printed on a contrast varsity style hoody in black with contrasting red inner hood and draw cords.
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The Rover 75 was introduced in 1998 when the Rover Group were under BMW's stewardship and was a very well received, well-appointed executive car with a retro feel harking back to Rovers of old such as the P5. Arguably it was a much more successful execution of the retro look than the then-current Jaguar S Type and the interior in particular won many plaudits. Under the skin it was anything but retro, with front wheel drive and 4 cylinder, V6 and diesel options, a super-rigid shell and a ride that many modern cars would struggle to achieve! The 75 currently represents something of a bargain modern classic and is still very usable as an everyday car, but as more and more are taken off the roads, they can only increase in value as the last real Rover design. The Rover 75 had many fans in its day and still has a surprisingly large following.The car featured on this t-shirt is a Mk1 saloon and the design is such that the t-shirt colour makes up the colour of the car. It features a small iconic-ironic logo so you can help spread the word and it can even be personalised with your number plate if you wish.
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If you're a classic car owner or just feeling nostalgic about old school motoring, why not let everyone know with this stylish 'Oil & Filters' Wording Graphic T Shirt? Remember the traditional engine service long before fuel injection, electronic ignition, ECUs and OBDs took all of the fun out of it? When a Saturday home tune up consisted of an oil change, new oil & air filters, plugs and points (bought from you local motor factor in an actual shop), then a quick session with the strobe light to set up the timing. This t-shirt is based on a stylish text-based graphic using bold typography in our house style and the Iconic Ironic logo to tell everyone where you bought it. The graphic also has 'plastisol' distress effect to complement the retro feel. If you prefer, you can create your own wording on your t-shirt instead! Selected colours available up to 5XL.
