Gallery: 20 great cars made in Great Britain

This morning, the United Kingdom woke up to the news that it had built a total of 443,581 cars between the start of January and the end of March this year, it’s strongest opening quarter in terms of production since 2004.

The figure is up 10.3 per cent on the same period last year, after which manufacturers in the UK went on to build a whopping 1,587,667 cars in 2015. At the current rate, one new car rolls off the production line somewhere in the UK every 16 seconds.

If the trend continues, Britain could soon surpass its personal best of 1.9 million units, set all the way back in 1972.

The stats have been put together by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). According to chief exec Mike Hawes, the boost in manufacturing shows there is a big international demand for British-made motors.

“Much will depend on economic and political conditions in key markets,” he explained. “But with several brand new global models starting production here in the first quarter alone, the prospects for future growth look bright.”

Of the 443,581 cars made in the first three months of 2016, roughly three quarters of them were exported abroad, an 11.1 per cent increase on last year.

And of all the manufacturers based in the UK, the most prolific were Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan, Honda and Toyota.

It’s a timely reminder that not only does Britain make some cracking cars, but it also manages to build them in huge quantities as well. Having once struggled for hours on end to build a single Caterham 160 in the office, TG understands just how difficult mass production can be.

With that in mind, we’ve spent several minutes thinking up the following list of great motors made in the UK. Get clicking through 20 of our favourites, each from a different carmaker. And tell us your favourites below...

The Ariel Nomad is probably the most fun you can have in a British car. Even Matt LeBlanc thinks so...

"This might be the best McLaren road car since the F1, 22 years ago." So said we when we first drove the utterly brilliant Long Tail.

Land Rover makes many great products, from the sensible Discovery Sport to the not-so-sensible Rangie SVR...
 

It's not the sharpest hot hatch on sale, but the Mini JCW is undoubtedly one of the most raucous.

All the luxurious goodness that comes with the Rolls-Royce badge, with added sportiness. The RR Wraith is ace.

Eagle has made a number of different E-type-based products. All of them are achingly pretty and beautifully put together.

Pick any Caterham and you'll own a car that mainlines joy to your senses. This is the one that will do it best.

The latest Bentley Mulsanne may not be pretty, but if it's a limo you're after, this is about as good as it gets.

Jaguar makes faster cars and, you might argue, prettier ones. But none are as important as the F-Pace. Expect the SUV to become Jag's bestseller.

It may not be as iconically British as a Rolls-Royce, nor as exciting as a Caterham. But the Sunderland-built Nissan Qashqai contributes an awful lot to the success of British car manufacturing.

Another not-quite-British car for the list. But Honda's Swindon plant cranks out a lot of Civics, with plenty of crazy, 306bhp Type-Rs among them.

The latest Astra is built at Ellesmere Port. Full of tech and lighter than its predecessor, it's also the 2016 European Car of the Year.

The Ginetta G40 can be viewed in two ways: it's either a light, fun sports car, or a relatively affordable ticket into motorsport...

Aston makes many lovely cars. The most fun to drive is the V12 Vantage S, which is now being offered with a manual gearbox to keep the purists happy.

It only has one seat, and it costs over £100,000. Yet the Cheshire-born sports car is easy to recommend: there are few more focused track specialists out there.

Lotus is a rich seam for great sports cars at the moment. As well as the Cayman GT4-baiting Evora 400, there's also the excellent 3-Eleven.

Leicester doesn't just have a football team that takes on the big boys and wins. It's also home to the Noble M600, a car that can compete with Ferrari and Lambo without embarrassing itself.

Radical comes from Peterborough, and it makes some of the sharpest track toys around, including the gullwing-doored RXC and the SR8 LM, the car that still holds the road car record around the Nürburgring.

No car maker keeps the style and grace of old-school motoring alive with quite the success of Morgan. As well as the Aero 8, there's also the bonkers 3 Wheeler.
 

Britain's latest sports car maker has immediately impressed with the fun, funky little E10. With more models planned, Zenos is definitely one to watch.