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1)1950 Goliath GP700: Despite its two-cylinder two-stroke 688cc engine, the GP700 was highly innovative with front-wheel drive, full-width styling and from 1952 there was even fuel injection.
2)1950 Marauder: George Mackie and Peter Wilks left the Rover Car Company to build their own sportscar; the Rover P4-based Marauder was the result. All of 15 were made though.
3)1954 Paramount 1.5-Litre: There were two US-based Paramount car companies in the 1920s, but this one was British and built Ford-engined sporting cars. Just 70 or so were made however.
4)1954 Swallow Doretti: A car that was arguably prettier than the Triumph TR2 on which it was based, Swallow was founded then sold by Jaguar's William Lyons. A mere 276 Dorettis were made.
5)1959 Volvo P1900: No, that's not a typo. Before the P1800 came the P1900; just 68 were made. It was a glassfibre-bodied open-topped sportscar, inspired by the plastic Chevrolet Corvette.
6)1957 Peerless GT: Later revived as the Warwick, the Peerless used Triumph TR3 mechanicals and a bespoke tubular steel chassis. Around 325 of these four-seater coupés were produced.
7)1958 Elva Courier: Taking its name from the French for 'she goes' (elle va), the Courier was Elva's most successful model. Around 400 examples were made between 1958 and 1961.
1959 Facel Vega HK500: If you wanted a fast, luxurious and exclusive grand tourer in the late Fifties or early Sixties, Facel Vega was the company to go to, with these Chrysler-engined coupés.9)1959 Panhard PL17: Panhard was one of the true motoring pioneers, starting in 1891. By 1965 it had been swallowed up by Citroen, soon after the two-cylinder PL17 went out of production.
10)1960 Rochdale Olympic: Rochdale built its first glassfibre cars in 1952, with the Olympic appearing in 1960. Early cars featured Riley 1.5 engines; from 1962 there was 1.5-litre Cortina power.
11)1961 Reliant Sabre: Initially offered with Ford Consul four-cylinder power before a change to a six-pot Zodiac unit in 1962, the Sabre was originally developed for Israeli company Autocars.
12)1962 Tornado Talisman: Tornado sprang up to offer glassfibre bodyshells that could be put together from kits. The Talisman was such a car; 186 were sold before the company closed in 1964.
13)1964 Gordon Keeble GK1: Styled by Giugiaro, built of plastic and featuring a Chevrolet Corvette 5.4-litre V8 in the nose, the Gordon Keeble was a superb grand tourer, but just 99 were built.
14)1966 Unipower GT: Universal Power Drives was better known for its agricultural machinery, but 75 examples of this interesting diversion were also created, each fitted with Mini running gear.
15)1967 Fairthorpe TX-SS: This was Fairthorpe's swansong; the company had arrived in 1954 but its invariably weird-looking cars were too costly. This one used Triumph six-cylinder engines.
16)1967 Fiat Dino: Fiat's Dino used the same 2.0 or 2.4-litre V6 engines as Ferrari's car of the same name. Bizarrely, Pininfarina styled the spyder edition while Bertone penned the coupé.
17)1967 Monteverdi 375: Swiss BMW importer Peter Monteverdi moved into building ultra-exclusive exotica in 1967; over the next decade there would be a string of Chrysler-engined specials.
18)1967 Trident Clipper: Starting out as a TVR at the 1965 Geneva motor show, the Trident went into production independently and lasted a decade – although just 200 or so were made in all.
19)1968 Piper GTT: Piper began building racing cars, then moved into road-going models in 1967. However, over a six-year run just 100 or so of these plastic-bodied sportscars were made.
20)1969 Gilbern Invader: The only car company ever to come out of Wales, Gilbern set up in 1959 and built over 1000 cars in all, including around 600 of this final model, with Ford V6 power.
21)1969 Iso Lele: Iso started out building the Isetta bubble car. BMW bought the rights to this, leaving Iso to make big, costly V8-engined luxury cars such as the Lele. 317 were made.
22)1970 Ford GT70: While the GT40 quickly became an icon, its successor, the V6 mid-engined GT70, didn't take long to fade into obscurity. It was built for rallying, but never got that far.
23)1970 Lamborghini Jarama: Effectively a cut-down edition of Lamborghini's Espada, the Jarama featured the same 3929cc V12 up front, 2+2 seating and 350-385bhp. In three years, 327 were made.
24)1970 Marcos Mantis: Marcos was renowned for its curvy cars, so the angular Mantis came as rather a shock to the system when it was unveiled. Power was from a Triumph 2.5-litre engine.
25)1970 VW K70: Two firsts for VW; water-cooling and a front-mounted engine. That's only because this was meant to be an NSU; VW swallowed up the company in 1969 after it went bust.
26)1971 Clan Crusader: Set up by ex-Lotus engineers in 1969, the Crusader was killed off by the energy crisis of 1973. The project was revived in 1985 as the Clover, but that soon failed too.
27)1971 Renault 17: Based on the Renault 12, this coupé sold alongside the less luxurious 15, which looked similar but invariably featured smaller engines. There was even a Gordini edition.
28)1972 De Tomaso Longchamp: A short-wheelbase edition of the Jaguar XJ-esque Deauville, the Longchamp featured a 330bhp 5.8-litre V8. Offered as a coupé or convertible, 302 were produced in all.
29)1972 Monica: Intended to compete with Bristol, the Monica featured Chrysler V8 power. Finally bought by Panther, the car never really made production, although 35 or so were made.
30)1973 Scorpion Coupe: Like the Clan Crusader, the Scorpion had rear-mounted Hillman Imp power and was killed off by the energy crisis. With its neat glass fibre bodyshell it promised so much.
31)1976 Argyll GT: With a turbocharged Rover V8, it was claimed that this Scottish supercar could ***** 160mph. But it was more costly than a Ferrari, which dented sales somewhat.
32)1976 Citroen LN: Nothing more than a rebadged Peugeot 104 with a 2CV engine, the LN was remarkably unremarkable. So was its successor, the four-cylinder LNA with Pug 104 power.
33)1976 Lamborghini Silhouette: The Silhouette was effectively a facelifted Urraco with a targa top, which meant there was a mid-mounted 3.0-litre V8. Just 52 were made before the Jalpa replaced it.
34)1981 Talbot Tagora: Designed to sit at the top of Talbot's model range, the Tagora came with big engines and lots of kit - but that still couldn't entice middle managers out of their Granadas.
35)1982 Dacia Denem: Romanian carmaker Dacia reckoned the Renault 12 was cutting-edge in the early 1980s, so it jumped at the chance to produce its own version. But Brits didn't want it.
36)1983 Lonsdale Saloon and estate: Mitsubishi set up a factory in Australia to build these rebadged Sigmas for the UK, with a choice of 1.5, 2.0 or 2.6-litre engines. Hardly any were sold here, unsurprisingly.
37)1984 Alfa Romeo 90: Alfa Romeo has made some odd decisions over the years, but this must rate as one of the barmiest. It sat between the equally forgettable Alfetta and disastrous Six.
38)1984 Alfa Romeo Arna: Desperate to create new models, but with no development money, Alfa Romeo formed an alliance with Nissan which resulted in a Cherry with Alfa mechanicals. Oh dear…
39)1984 Tickford Taxi: Tickford teamed up with Carbodies to produce this stretched Austin FX4 taxi, which was stuffed to the rafters with opulence. Coleman-Milne's version was even longer.
40)1985 Lotus Eminence: It didn't even get off the drawing board, but if it had, the Eminence would have been something special with its V8 engine, four-wheel drive and ultra-opulent interior.
41)1986 Africar: With its wooden bodyshell and Citroen 2CV mechanicals, the Africar was meant to provide cheap motoring for third-world countries, but the cash ran out part-way through.
42)1986 Evante 140TC: Lincolnshire-based Vegantune had been restoring and tuning Lotus Elans for years; this was their own interpretation of the Hethel Classic, with 1.6 or 1.7-litre engines.
43)1988 AC Ecosse: A car that never reached production, the Signature was meant to supersede the 3000ME with an Alfa Romeo-sourced 2.5-litre V6. But there wasn't the money to develop it
44)1989 Panther Solo: It was originally meant to be a cheap two-seater sportscar, then the MR2 arrived. The answer was to move upmarket, which is when things started to go horribly wrong.
45)1991 Sao Penza: Take one defunct Mazda 323, rebrand it and what do you have? Answer: a Sao's ear, or more accurately, a Sao Penza. Has anyone ever seen one of these cars?
46)1993 GTD R42: Better known for its GT40 replicas, GTD also made its own supercar, powered by Ford's quad-cam 4.6-litre V8. But it was poorly made and way too costly at £120,000.
47)1994 Asia Rocsta: Unveiled in 1990 but sold in the UK only between 1994 and 1998, this poorly made 4x4 wasn't Kia's finest hour. It was Kia which sold the car on behalf of Asia; bad move.
48)1996 Keinath GT: Looking like an early Seventies Opel GT drop-top, the Keinath featured a 3.0-litre six-pot Senator engine and a folding hard top before they became popular elsewhere.
49)1998 Ascari Ecosse: Built for just one year, with a mere 17 examples made, the Ecosse was the forerunner to the far better known KZ-1. It featured a Hartge-tuned BMW V8 giving 400bhp.
50)2000 Strathcarron SC-5A: First seen in prototype form in 1996, the production SC-5A was ready in 2000. But type approval changes quickly ruled the car illegal, which is why just 20 were produced.
