The beginning of the 20th Century saw a noticeable increase in cars on the road, especially on the Continent, and many of the pioneering owners were eager to get out and about as often as possible. Among one of the most famous of the early motorists was wealthy French playwright Baron Henri de Rothschild, seen here taking his Mercedes 35 HP car through the streets of Nice in 1900

The Gordon Bennett Cup was one of the first major annual international motor racing events and in 1903 it was held in Ireland, then still part of the United Kingdom. The photo shows Belgian driver Camille Jenatzy on his way to victory and in turn entering Irish motor racing folklore

Aristocratic car enthusiast Charles (C S) Rolls was also a keen adventurer and aviation pioneer. The photo shows him taking the controls of an early aeroplane in 1910, only to be tragically killed shortly afterwards at the age of only 32. Fortunately, his marketing skills, coupled with the engineering expertise of Henry Royce, had ensured that the fledgling Rolls-Royce company he had co-founded several years earlier had already set a benchmark for other manufacturers to follow and would remain a mainstay of the British motor industry for the remainder of the 20th Century

WW1 was the first major war where motor vehicles played a very significant role in the conflict. It meant, for the first time, a large number of British women were employed to help produce the huge number of parts which were needed for the many thousands of vehicles which had to be built

The 1920s saw a substantial increase in the size of the Morris factory at Cowley, with a huge number of workers being employed to hand-build the popular "Bullnose" Morris Oxford car

The Austin company was another of Britain's major early car manufacturers. By the 1930s, with demand for the Austin Seven (Baby Austin) growing around the world, the car was being produced in many countries. The photo shows the cars being assembled at a facility close to Brisbane for the expanding Australian market

The Monaco Grand Prix was first raced in 1929 and had already become one of the biggest events on the annual motor racing calendar by the early 1930s. With its spectacular setting on the Monte Carlo sea front it attracted huge crowds who came to enjoy both the racing, as well as the rich social scene

A resplendently dressed female model helps to promote the launch of the Standard 10/12 car at the 1934 British Motor Show

With a scarcity of resources during the Second World War, drivers were discouraged from using their cars as much as possible. Additionally, notices were erected on many lamp posts and other street furniture advising people to stay indoors, keep their curtains closed and try and stay safe in any way they could

Europe's major car factories were all targetted by enemy planes throughout World War 2. The BMW plant at Milbertshofen in Munich was one of the many which suffered serious damage

The post-war years saw all the major British car makers quickly return to passenger car production. New testing facilities were also established, such as the cold weather chamber at Austin's factory at Longbridge

In the years after the war many of the servicemen who had been severely injured while on duty found employment in the motor industry as part of a special benevolence scheme

In the immediate post-war era, exports played a major role for the British motor industry and a huge number of cars and other motor vehicles began to be shipped to all parts of the world. It meant crates of new cars could regularly be found on the quayside of all the major Australian ports. The telling wording on these crates containing Austin cars was: "Britain has made it"

1946 saw the return of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. For the first time since the late 1930s, a huge number of excited spectators watched more than 130 ancient cars depart from Hyde Park on an early November morning, although fewer than half of them made it to Brighton

As austerity declined in the early 1950s and more people had more money in their pockets, all of Britain's major car factories began to enjoy record production numbers. Ford's massive factory at Dagenham employed tens of thousands of workers who were now producing everything from regular passenger cars to trucks and tractors

With demand for new cars growing rapidly, several new companies joined the motor industry. One was the Bristol Aeroplane Company which began to produce their own range of high-performance executive models. The photo shows the latest 403 model entering a new Bristol Type 170 air freighter

There was a significant interest in British sports cars after the war, especially in America. MG cars, in particular, proved to be extremely popular among many of the US soldiers who had been stationed in Britain during the war. It meant the nippy two-seat cars could be seen at all the major US auto shows and many of the ex-servicemen began buying them in record numbers. However, instead of using them as daily transportation, most bought them to use as a fun second car for the weekend, often to go racing

In this era before personal computers, the designers for all the car companies had to use pen and paper and their own drawing skills to create the designs for all latest models

Jim Clark (circled) began his motor racing career driving a DKW Sonderklase saloon car at the Crimond race circuit in Scotland in 1956 at the age of only 20. His subsequent success on race tracks in Britain and Europe over the next few years helped to make him the first British driver to become a multiple world champion

With the number of drivers on the road increasing rapidly during the 1950s, the AA played a growing role in keeping everyone on the move. To help increase the number of new members, they produced numerous promotional photos showing the range of repair tasks their patrol officers could do if a driver did ever have a problem

Production of the "revolutionary" Mini began at BMC's Longbidge and Cowley factories in 1959. The car proved so popular that it subsequently remained in production for the rest of the century

To try and catch-up with America and much of the rest of Europe, Britain began a major motorway construction program at the end of the 1950s. Huge swathes of land were purchased by the government and began to be converted into fast new roads to link all the country's major towns and cities

The more free-spirited times of the 1960s saw a noticeable increase in glamour at the annual British Motor Show. At the 1962 show, it was not surprising that American film star Eve Arden attracted considerable attention when she became a highly visual "bonnet ornament" on the Sunbeam stand

In the second half the 20th Century, the Tokyo Motor Show was the largest motoring event in Asia and at the 1963 show one of the star attractions was the Nissan Prince 1900 sprint concept car (shown in red)

During a mid-race pit stop in the 1965 Indy 500, Jim Clark discusses tactics with Lotus race team manager and company owner Colin Chapman. Clark was subsequently not only victorious, but was so dominant in the race -the richest motor race in the world- that he passed the chequered flag almost two minutes ahead of the second place driver, previous winner and local favourite, Parnelli Jones

BMC provided a glimpse into the future by demonstrating an in-car telephone in a new Mini car at the 1966 Paris Motor Show

After several years of development, Ford launched its new Escort family saloon car at the end of 1967. By March 1968 it was competing in its first major rally event (San Remo) and by the early 1970s it had already won numerous international rally titles

Since retiring from Formula 1 racing in the early 1960s, Stirling Moss became involved with numerous other motoring related activities. One of them was to set a new record time driving from Milan to Naples in a Suzuki 360 as part of a promotional campaign to help demonstrate the small car's impressive credentials

The late 1960s and early 1970s saw several Japanese car companies gain a much bigger foothold in the huge European and North American markets. They were also developing numerous head-turning concept cars. One of them was the futuristic Mazda RX500

By the start of the 1980s, computer aided design was beginning to play a much greater role in the design of all new cars. The photo shows a designer working on the Austin Montego which was launched in 1984

The late 1970s had seen British driver James Hunt rise to become the world motor racing champion. After he retired, he was so keen to pass on his driving skills to a new generation of would-be champions that in 1990 he opened his own race driving school in Milton Keynes

Throughout the second part of the 20th Century, British sports cars were much admired throughout America. In the 1990s, a unique left-hand drive replica Jaguar XJ13 was built in Florida and not surprisingly it subsequently attracted huge interest among many car enthusiasts

By the end of the 1990s, many of the major car companies were exploiting various new technologies as a way to both enhance the driving experience, as well as make cars safer and more efficient. One idea being looked at by Volkswagen researchers was to see how Virtual Reality could be incorporated into the cars of the future