Month: March 2013

The Heritage Motor Centre is launching a new show on Sunday 7 July to celebrate a host of British cars including the iconic Mini. ‘The BMC and Leyland Show’ has been launched to incorporate vehicles manufactured by the British Motor Corporation, British Leyland and Rover including commercial and military vehicles. The show is expected to attract up to 80 different marques made over a 100 year period including names such as Daimler, Alvis, Wolsley, Austin, Morris, Riley Standard MG and Land Rover. As well as up to 800 models on show, there will be a large Autojumble and motoring related trade stands. A show highlight will be the opportunity for visitors to see 12 different vehicles from the HMC reserve collection that aren’t normally on display in the Museum. This new show will incorporate the former Gaydon Mini Show and […]

There was something for everyone produced in Britain at Geneva – from the £10,000 Nissan Note to the £265,000 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith. But the most spectacular British debut at the show was the £886,000 McLaren P1, a car being billed as a “hybrid hypercar” — a green supercar. The fearsome and fabulous-looking P1 is the 217mph successor to the legendary F1 that was the world’s fastest car when launched in 1999. The P1 is powered by a combination of a 727bhp, 3.8litre twin turbo V8 engine and a 176bhp electric motor. That’s a total of 903bhp that delivers 0.62mph in 2.8 seconds. McLaren say their aim is not to be the fastest but the easiest to drive the faster you go. The P1 will also do 12 miles on pure electric power making it a supercar with zero emissions in […]

Birmingham car maker MG UK is taking to two wheels – by launching a professional cycling team. The newly-branded MG Maxifuel Pro Cycling Team will compete in nearly 100 of the UK’s top events this year. Its riders will include Hannah Barnes, a 21-time national champion at various events and Sweden’s Magnus Backstedt, a Tour de France stage winner. The team will be officially launched next Tuesday at an event at the MG Sales Centre at the MG Birmingham site at Longbridge. MG spokesman Doug Wallace said: “This is a great opportunity to do some further marketing for MG, to spread the name of the brand. It is initially for a year to see how things go, and then we will see what the future holds.” Backstedt said: “I’m really happy to be racing with MG Maxifuel, it’s a real feel good factor […]

Mini’s Oxford assembly plant is the third-oldest mass-production car facility in the world, and this month it celebrates its 100-year anniversary. As one might expect, the plant has a storied history and a long tally of cars produced. So far, the plant has manufactured more than 2.25 million Minis, including the original Mini that rolled off the line from 1959 to 1969 (another plant in the UK continued production until 2000). In 2001, the Oxford plant began production of the modern Mini Cooper, a project spearheaded by the brand’s new parent company BMW. For centuries, Oxford has enjoyed international appeal as having one of the world’s best known and highly regarded universities, and draws thousands of visitors from around the globe every year. But many people don’t know that Oxford also has a technical and industrial history: 100 years ago – in […]