Profitable car-making is a whole lot harder, and for proof you only need run a wistful eye down this list of defunct marques.

Some were born close to the dawn of the car, when bicycle-makers and blacksmiths saw money in the new-fangled horseless carriage. Dozens of opportunists founded car companies, many of them clever engineers, savvy businessmen and sometimes even both. Car-making at the start of the 20th century was like internet entrepreneurialism at the end of it– plenty jumped into the pool, but only the fittest survived.

Yet other car-makers have gone despite early successes. Recessions have killed many and bundled others into doomed liaisons. Misreadings of the market, the complacency that came with selling sub-standard cars to Britain’s colonies, destabilising government policies, failure to assess foreign competition and poor management all contributed to the demise of car-makers. Here's a look at the best and most interesting: