Royal Mail British Auto Legends Stamps: Thoroughbreds & Workhorses

The Royal Mail has issued a set of stamps commemorating British Auto Legends, with cars from the E-Type Jaguar to the Royal Mail Morris Mini Van.

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Commemorative stamps have become an industry on their own, and are probably the only bit of Royal Mail that works at a profit. After all, stamp collectors are buying a service when they buy the stamps but aren’t actually using it.

The latest set of Royal Mail stamps are designed to commemorate ‘British Auto Legends’ with the core set of six stamps celebrating some of the coolest cars to come out of the UK in the 1960s and 1970s.

That means a return to the front of a stamp for the Jaguar E-Type (last seen in 2011 when the E-Type celebrated its 50th anniversary), along with the 1965 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, the 1963 Aston Martin DB5, the 1962 MG MGB, the 1968 Morgan Plus 8 and the 1976 Lotus Esprit.

Rather than use stock photos from the period, Royal Mail commissioned photographer James Mann to take a new set of photos for the stamps, tracking down great examples of each marque (even if they weren’t exactly the first examples out of the gate) to create their new stamps.

But it’s not just ‘Thoroughbred’ Auto Legends on offer, as Royal Mail has also managed to commemorate some rather more prosaic metal as well as the more expensive stuff (well, the MGB was never exactly a thoroughbred).

The ‘Worhorses’ mini set of stamps uses the Morris Minor Van (in Royal Mail livery), the Austin TX4 (the London Black Cab), a Ford Anglia in Police livery and a Land Rover Defender in Coastguard guise.

We’re not completely sure Royal Mail has picked the very best examples of British Auto legends, but if you happen to be a petrolhead and a philatelist, all your dreams have arrived at once.