Month: May 2015

The UK Concours of Elegance has revealed a few of the legendary cars set to shine in its 2015 event, ranging from a 1905 Star Gordon Bennett racer through to the 2015 Touring Superleggera Berlinetta Lusso. The Concours of Elegance began in 2012, showcasing the world’s finest cars at Windsor Castle to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Since then it has moved to St James’s Palace and Hampton Court Palace, before this year heading to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. One of the most significant early British racing cars, this 70HP Star was built to compete in the 1905 Gordon Bennett Cup. Powered by a 10,168cc engine and capable of speeds in excess of 100mph, this magnificent car is cast in the same historic mould as the famous 60HP Mercedes. Of the dozens of cars specifically built to uphold […]

According to Car Magazine, BMW is planning to take Mini back to its small-car roots – with a Mini Minor. This is great news for fans of the historic British baby, which has grown podgy under German ownership, and shows that the shrunken Mini Rocketman concept car wasn’t in vain. But it’s also an intriguing industrial development: BMW is planning to co-develop the baby Mini with Toyota. Product planners in Germany acknowledge that the Mini has grown tubby in recent years, stretching to 4005mm in five-door hatchback form. Hence the desire to surf the downsizing trend with a new smaller model, scheduled to stretch just 3450mm long. For reference, that’s the same footprint as the new Smart Forfour. The Mini Minor is likely to come to market in late 2018 or early 2019, CAR can reveal. ‘It’s still early days […]

After announcing the company’s largest apprentice intake in 25 years, Bentley has received more applications to join the programme than ever before. 1,285 people applied for 63 positions, with the successful candidates starting the three-year scheme in September. The second stage of the recruitment process begins now, with assessment centres and interviews taking place throughout the summer. 40 of the apprentices will be working on a newly developed manufacturing programme. A dual education system of learning, 70 per cent of time is dedicated to practical training delivered by Bentley master trainers, themselves with combined industry experience of over 100 years. The remaining 30 per cent of time will be devoted to theoretical learning within chosen professional areas. A further 23 apprentices will be based in business areas at Bentley’s global headquarters in Crewe, including Engineering, Sales and Marketing, Purchasing and […]

The Lotus brand has long been synonymous with small, quick, and agile sports cars. Our Video of the Week this week features a history of the car through the 1980s via a show and rally of dedicated owners. The company was formed as Lotus Engineering Ltd. by engineers Colin Chapman and Colin Dare, both graduates of University College, London, in 1952. The four letters in the middle of the logo stand for the initials of company founder, Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman.

Jaguar announced today that it has entered into a partnership with the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) to introduce its newest high performance models to some of the nation’s most fervent automotive enthusiasts. The partnership will feature seven Jaguar-sponsored SVRA races throughout the US starting with a Gold Medallion Invitational at the Sonoma Raceway on May 28-31. The Gold Medallion program aims to protect the integrity of these vintage vehicles by maintaining and racing them as they were prepared in period. At each of the seven events, Jaguar will offer consumers the opportunity to test the dynamic performance of the newest additions to the Jaguar line-up including the 550-hp Jaguar F-TYPE R AWD1. Activities will include an autocross track specially designed by the Jaguar Performance driving team.

JD Classics – one of the world’s leading classic car specialists – is celebrating its best ever Mille Miglia, in which it prepared, rallied and supported 11 separate entries. Ranging from an Alfa Romeo 1900C Sprint Pininfarina to the company’s priceless ex-Fangio C-Type, the JD Classics entries represented the largest British team competing in the 2015 event. And for the first time, JD Classics was a gold sponsor of the Mille Miglia – the only classic car specialist in the world to have such an association. As all of the Mille Miglia cars arrived at the Brescia Trade Centre for scrutineering, the JD Classics hospitality lounge opened its doors to all competing crews. For months before the rally, JD Classics’ expert engineers and craftsmen were fettling and fine-tuning the cars, some of which were customer entries and some of which […]

Bentley’s return to the home of British motorsport at Silverstone brought a double-top-ten finish despite a challenging race for both cars. While the pace of the Continental GT3 was good enough to try and emulate last year’s victory at the track, circumstances meant that the Bentley Boys had to settle for the satisfactory results of P6 for car #8 and P9 for car #7. After a rain-disrupted qualifying earlier in the day, Car #8 started from P17 on the grid, and Maxime Soulet drove an outstanding opening stint to move up through the field to sit P8 by lap 17. As those around him pitted under a full course yellow, Maxime stayed out to move up to P6 before pitting and handing the car to Maxi Buhk. Maxi drove a solid stint to maintain P6 overall, before being relieved of […]

Jaguar has announced its partnership with two premier U.S.  design colleges, Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA. Student participants in the program will have the opportunity to work on Jaguar design briefs to create a 2030+ model year concept vision halo sports car and 2+2 sports coupe four-door interior. The design briefs were created by the Jaguar Design team who will interact with students throughout the semester and ultimately judge the students’ work. Taking place over the summer semester, the design program will last a total of 12 weeks from start to finish while students transform concept sketches to scale models, both in digital and in clay form. During this time period the students and instructors will work closely with Ian Callum, Jaguar Design Director, and his team […]

Aston Martin is once again returning to the shores of Lake Como in Italy this weekend as it showcases the stunning new DBX Concept in the esteemed 2015 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. Entered in the event’s prestigious Concept Cars and Prototypes class, the DBX Concept defies conventional thinking about the high luxury segment and points to a bold new future for GT travel in the 21st Century. Unveiled at the Geneva International Motor Show, the DBX Concept widens the appeal of the iconic British luxury brand and reaches out to a more diverse global audience than ever before. Ahead of its appearance this weekend, Aston Martin Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman said: “As we explained when we debuted the car, the DBX Concept is designed to challenge the existing status quo in the high luxury GT segment. It promises to […]

This early Jaguar E-Type Series 1, on display at the recent Pinehurst Concours d’Elegance, was restored in 2012 after sitting dormant for nearly 20 years. It belongs to George Hervert of Pompano Beach, Florida. Since its restoration, it has received excellence in class and received various other awards at the Boca Raton Winter Park Concours. It was also featured by Jaguar of North America in the debut of their new F-Type. The Series 1 was introduced, initially for export only, in March 1961. The domestic market launch came four months later in July 1961. The cars at this time used the triple SU carburetted 3.8 litre six-cylinder Jaguar XK6 engine from the XK150S. Earlier built cars utilised external bonnet latches which required a tool to open and had a flat floor design. These cars are rare and more valuable. After that, […]

Legendary cars from Bentley’s past are embarking on a tour of the world’s premier heritage and historical automotive events this summer. The ‘Blue Train’ car that famously raced the Calais-Mediterranée Express and the Team Blower that entered Le Mans in 1930 – the race ultimately won by Bentley Boys Woolf Barnato and Glen Kidston in Speed 6 ‘Old No 1’ – are among the highlights of Bentley’s curated or treasured collection. Both are celebrating anniversaries and will be on the road at numerous international events between May and October. ‘Blue Train’ Bentley This year is the 85th anniversary of that most famous Bentley Boy adventure – the Blue Train race. The car that (probably) accomplished the feat will be touring Europe with a series of high-profile appearances. In 1930 Captain Woolf Barnato, Chairman of Bentley Motors, was staying in Cannes […]

Jaguar will unveil the F-TYPE R AWD Bloodhound SSC RRV at Coventry MotoFest – one of the cars that will support the Bloodhound world land speed record attempt. The Bloodhound F-TYPE R is the latest project of Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations and is wrapped in a bespoke livery created by Jaguar Design incorporating the Bloodhound SSC colours. This year’s MotorFest promises to be bigger than ever with a range of attractions and gigs. The organisers close off the Coventry ring road to public traffic in order to host a number of motorsport activities and the Bloodhound F-TYPE will be taking part in laps on Saturday May 30 and Sunday May 31. Jaguar will also be previewing its activities at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed – the theme of which this year is ‘Flat Out and Fearless: Racing […]

The Mini. The giant killer. The original automotive bottle rocket. Our video this week tells the story, especially of the Cooper S. “The Mini Story: The Original, the Cooper, the Legacy” is a 20 minute look into the history of this fantastic little car. This original Mini, of course, was designed for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Motor_CorporationBMC by Sir Alec Issigonis. It was manufactured at the Longbridge and Cowley plants in England, the Victoria Park / Zetland British Motor Corporation (Australia) factory in Sydney, Australia, and later also in Spain (Authi), Belgium, Chile, Italy (Innocenti), Malta, Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela and Yugoslavia. The Mini Mark I had three major UK updates – the Mark II, the Clubman and the Mark III. Within these was a series of variations, including an estate car, a pick-up truck, a van and the Mini Moke – a […]

Jaguar is celebrating an excellent team performance in the 2015 Mille Miglia with all nine cars finishing the grueling 1,000-mile endurance rally across Italy, with two cars inside the top 200 finishers. In the year that Jaguar celebrates its 80th anniversary, Jaguar Heritage headed to the start in Brescia with three C-types, three D-types, two XK120s and an XK140 driven by famous faces from the world of motorsport, TV and music. In total, well over 400 cars took part in the punishing four-day event, which started in Brescia, headed to Rimini on the east coast, before dropping down to Rome, back up to Parma – taking in historic Siena and Pisa on the way – before finishing back in Brescia. Supported by an expert crew of Jaguar Heritage technicians, the nine Jaguar entries never missed a beat allowing each driver […]

Lotus Cars is delighted to announce the prices of the new Evora 400. The latest supercar from Lotus combines high performance with the legendary Lotus benchmark handling and is lighter, more efficient and dynamically better than ever, providing a purer driving experience. UK prices will start from £72,000 (for other markets, see table below). For this price the car benefits from a high level of standard specification including 370 mm composite two piece brake discs from AP Racing, a Limited Slip Differential, automatic air-conditioning and infotainment system including satellite navigation. In addition to this, the options list includes automatic transmission at £2,000, Alcantara or Leather trim upgrades at £2,500 and metallic paint at £900. A “Black Pack” option, available at £1,250, provides a distinctive look, with selected exterior panels including the roof, sills and centre section of the three-element rear […]

This weekend, Bentley Motorsport has experienced the toughest and most challenging 24 hour race in the world at Germany’s Nürburgring. After a very positive start that saw all three Continental GT3s entered in the race running in the top ten after two hours, the fortunes of the team changed. First, the #85 car of Guy Smith, Andy Meyrick and Steven Kane was hit and spun off the track, costing a total of five hours of recovery and repair time and dropping the team out of contention. However, after repairs, the car was one of the quickest on track for the rest of the race, climbing 72 places before the chequered flag to finish P74. After consistently running in the top ten for the first eight hours of the race, at midnight the #84 car of Lance David Arnold, Jeroen Bleekemolen […]

Aston Martin celebrated ten years of competing at the world-famous Nürburgring this weekend (16/17 May) and, in fitting tribute, the #49 Vantage N430, donning the same livery as the brand’s debut entry in 2006, crossed the line in first place in the SP8 class. The weekend marked a decade since the Aston Martin engineering team entered a race-prepared V8 Vantage road car into the Nürburgring 24-hour race. The car, affectionately named Rose, marked the birth of a new generation of Vantage-based sports cars and paved the way for Aston Martin Racing’s Vantage GT4. To mark the occasion, the Aston Martin Vantage N430 – running in the close-to-production-specification SP8 class – was adorned in Rose’s yellow livery and, at 1600hrs CET today, it crossed the line in first place with Aston Martin’s non-executive Chairman Dr Ulrich Bez behind the wheel. “Watching […]

Chinese automotive conglomerate SAIC Motor Corp Ltd and local commercial vehicle distributor Weststar Maxus Sdn Bhd have signed an assembly and distribution deal worth up to RM1 billion in a move that could see the return of the MG brand in Malaysia, according to The Star. The report from the English language daily, citing sources close to the deal, states that SAIC is looking to take up a 49% stake in Weststar Maxus and will provide the distribution rights for its wide range of vehicles, including cars from the MG brand, passenger vans and pick-up trucks. These will add to SAIC’s Maxus brand of commercial vehicles that Weststar already sells. In addition, SAIC will also join forces with Weststar Maxus to set up an assembly plant here – Weststar currently builds Maxus vehicles at its facility in Port Klang, so […]