The new Aston Martin Valour was a sight for sore eyes at this year’s Festival of Speed. Its maker is no more immune to electrification than any other large-scale carmaker, yet it seems happier than most to unashamedly tout the glory days of combustion. Among other notable extracts, the Valour pays homage to the Vantage of the ‘80s and ‘90s, a long-running model so laden with testosterone that it almost qualifies as a hormone injection. This one, an X Pack in British Racing Green with a larger bore exhaust and integrated half cage, is said to be the last one ever made. It also uses the phrase ‘bon viveur’ in the advert. Welcome to the concentrated essence of the Brit bruiser. 

Seems like we’ve featured the Brooklands quite a lot recently; we make no apologies for returning to it here. No bruising list of uniquely British contenders would be complete without it. For one thing, it features the L Series V8 in God-like format; for another, well, just stand back and look at the thing. Waaay back. Despite being a confirmed aristocrat at birth, today the Brooklands is like encountering a powerfully built company director holding a cricket bat in one hand and a DVD copy of ‘The Firm’ in the other. It makes any subsequent version of the Continental GT look as though it were designed by Mary Berry. This one appears immaculate in Metallic Anthracite – but then again there’s probably not a dud anywhere among the 550 examples built.

Like the Valour, the Speedster was another car built to celebrate the passing of time (100 years of car making at Malvern, as it goes) and debuted on Goodwood’s grass. Underneath it was just another Plus 8, but its maker did away with all the tedious inclement weather clutter – including the windscreen – which resulted in possibly the most rakishly handsome Morgan ever made. None of those changes made it drive spectacularly well, of course (again, it’s just a Plus 8 underneath) but bruiser status is not necessarily synonymous with dynamic excellence, it’s about vibe. And the Speedster had more vibe standing still than most cars muster at full pelt. And when you are moving, it has a 4.8-litre V8 connected to a manual gearbox. Here’s one that hardly seems to have aged a day and certainly looks no worse for a light smattering of upgrades. Perfection. 

At the opposite end of the style spectrum, you get one of the 150 old Defenders painstakingly rebuilt by JLR’s Classic Works department. It goes without saying that no car is more stridently British (or bruising) than a Defender, but it is the retrofitted 5.0-litre V8 that earns it a place on this rundown. Firstly, because it makes the Defender inappropriately fast; secondly, because it taps into the indecorous, devil-may-care attitude that ultimately characterises many of this country’s quirkiest performance cars. Did the Defender need a 405hp naturally aspirated V8 to be good at what it does best? No. Was Land Rover right to install one? Yes. Gripe about the absurd price for this very rare 110 version if you like, but the 70th Edition resale values remain sky-high for good reason: they’re infrequently available and more than a little brilliant. 

No explanation needed here. Except to say that Lotus’s take on the ditchwater-dull Carlton heralded not just another entry in the performance saloon category, it provoked that most British of responses: feigned tabloid outrage. No matter that it wasn’t even the fastest four-door model in Europe – that title remained with the E34-based B10 launched by Alpina in 1989 – the Carlton’s heady cocktail of 377hp, 176mph top speed and the fact that it originated from Norfolk was sufficient for silly questions to be asked in Parliament. The Association of Chief Police Officers apparently called it ‘an outrageous invitation to speed’, which is possibly the best strapline ever applied to British car. A bruiser for the history books. And Hansard. 

And so to TVR. A rear-drive sports car wedge with a huge engine, obviously – but also a scale-model muscle car. This TVR is no ordinary Wedge, either; believed to be one of just seven ever made, it’s a 420SE, a model that earned the racier Rover V8. Not content with that, however, an early owner of this one upgraded it with TVR Power from 4.2 to 4.4 litres, complete with Cosworth pistons and high lift cams. The advert probably says all you need to know, raving about the power and torque on offer while also mentioning its runner-up spot in a sound-off competition. Of course. Despite the age and the number of owners, the belle of Blackpool presents well inside and out; for the most raucous fun for the least outlay, TVR still rules the roost.