Aston Martin To Build Luxury Brand

February 6, 2008 Staff Comments Off

Aston Martin could co-operate with Daimler AG’s Mercedes on ventures ranging from engines to new models, the British luxury carmaker’s majority shareholder, Kuwait’s Investment Dar, said on Tuesday. Adham Charanoglu, business development manager for Investment Dar, which bought Aston Martin from Ford Motor Company last March, said it had held talks with Mercedes and with LVMH’s Louis Vuitton and PPR’s Gucci on branded merchandising. Charanoglu told the Reuters Islamic Finance Summit that plans to overhaul Aston Martin merchandising had yet to be finished but included opening new centers dedicated to the marquee — made famous by James Bond — in the UK, the Gulf and possibly the U.S. Any brand development would need to be at the top end of the luxury market, with opportunities stretching from apparel, owners’ events and track racing to real estate, Charanoglu said, adding Aston […]

MG Roadster Poised to Return

February 5, 2008 Staff Comments Off

From today’s “Financial Times Limited” come another story about the hopeful return of MG to the market. China’s Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) hopes to begin producing the MG TF roadster in Nanjing in May and at its plant in Longbridge, UK, within three months of that date, a senior executive said yesterday. But SAIC admitted the car’s long-awaited relaunch could be delayed again as it grapples with quality issues and rebuilds tooling bought in 2005 from bankrupt MG Rover and shipped to China by Nanjing Automobile (NAC), with which SAIC merged in December. “We want to begin production of cars at Longbridge as soon as possible, but the first priority for us is the quality of the product,” Chen Hong, SAIC’s president, told the Financial Times yesterday. “If we launch the product on the UK market and don’t have sufficient quality […]

Proteus To Come To US?

February 4, 2008 Staff Comments Off

Classical Drives has some great news for us super car fans: Proteus is coming to the US. For those of you that don’t know, Proteus is a British car manufacturer that makes exacting replicas of the legendary C and D type Jaguars. These cars are not fiberglass knock-offs, they have all aluminum bodywork that is hand formed much as the originals were. If you have a fetish for the great racers of the ’60s, you have got to check out these beautiful machines. Drool away.

Roary, The Racing Car

February 3, 2008 Staff Comments Off

What’s this, more British anthropomorphisation of mechanical objects, a la Thomas the Tank Engine and Tiny Robots? What’s with the fetish for talking metal? Must be a boarding school thing. Roary, the Racing Car focuses on Roary, a small, cheeky, zippy, red racing car, and all his friends at the race track. I suppose it was entertaining, in a Boy’s Own sort of way. There’s a lot of color and movement, competition, going fast and stuff but where are the princesses, the mermaids, the fairies? Entertaining? Yeah, if you’re a boy.

Bring A Trailer

February 2, 2008 Staff Comments Off

I just happened upon this site that is shows off every car guy’s dream – finding that hidden gem stored away in a garage or barn. The site is Bring A Trailer. According to their site they put together Bring A Trailer to showcase the best of the US classic car marketplace to the enthusiast, investor, and racer. They’ve found that the prime ownership opportunities aren’t usually found in the glossy pages of the well known classic mags or at the fancy auctions, and are often sold far quicker than classifieds can get to print. A sample of the cars you will find on their front page? How about a V-6 Sunbeam Alpine, a TR4 vintage racer, a 1969 Bugeye Sprite, plus Alfas, BMWs and some great others. You can waste literally hours here.

Morris Minor Marks 60th Year

February 1, 2008 Staff Comments Off

Morris Minor lovers from across the globe will descend on Oxford this year to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cowley-built car. The iconic vehicle, designed by Mini creator Alec Issigonis, first rolled off the production line in 1948. It became the first British car to sell a million units and went on to shift 1.6 million by the end of its 23-year lifespan. As part of the birthday celebrations, the Morris Minor Owners’ Club will drive a procession of members’ cars from each year of production through Oxford city center in November. Ray Newell, whose book Morris Minor: 60 years on the road was published this month, said the Cowley craftsmanship had helped keep so many examples running. He said: “At the time they were solid, dependable vehicles. In post-war Britain they were really economical to run. advertisement “Morris […]