Month: April 2016

The Jaguar XF has won yet another major award, having been crowned Fleet World’s ‘Best Executive Car’ at the annual Fleet World Honours. With an aluminium-intensive construction and ultra-efficient Ingenium engines, the XF was not only praised for being great to drive, but also for its cost of ownership figures and technology. Steve Moody, Fleet World Editor, said: Having spent several years building on its fleet infrastructure, Jaguar’s new XF arrived ready to take on this segment’s biggest-selling models. Its aluminium-rich structure cuts weight, reduces running costs and has made this a true driver’s car. The XF is also packed full of useful internet-connected technology, perfect for a life on the road. It’s the right tool to continue Jaguar’s push into fleet. It’s only the latest award won by the all-new Jaguar XF this year, which has already had been […]

On a busy weekend on both sides of the Atlantic for McLaren, Factory Driver Alvaro Parente starred in the 650S GT3, securing pole position and winning in his first appearance at Long Beach in the Pirelli World Challenge. Closer to home, the 650S GT3 and 570S GT4 – the latter making its competitive global debut – both scored points in the British GT Championship, finishing P7 and P5 in the respective classes at Brands Hatch, UK. Stateside, Parente put the #9 K-PAX Racing 650S GT3 on pole with a 1m18.947s tour of the two-mile Californian street circuit – a new qualifying lap record for the series. In the race, Parente held the lead from the start in what turned out to be a heavily interrupted affair, which saw two lengthy safety car periods limit the amount of competitive laps. On the […]

Aston Martin Racing has taken a double podium finish at this weekend’s 6 Hours of Silverstone, as the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) gets underway. The #95 GTE Pro trio of Darren Turner (GB), Marco Sørensen (DN) and Nicki Thiim (DN) enjoyed a positive afternoon at the British round of the WEC. With each driver double stinting, the #95 entry enjoyed trouble free running to achieve a strong haul of points at this early stage in the championship. Turner commented, “That was a huge change from yesterday and after starting the race in the #95 I had a good two hours in the car. The car ran perfectly and I’m both happy and encouraged by the performance of our new Dunlop tyres. With the strategy working in our favour and Nicki, Marco and I all avoiding trouble on the track, […]

The Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival & Concours d’Elegance, one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing automotive and motorsports enthusiast events, today announced the Honored Marque for its 15th annual festival. The 2016 Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival (HHIMF) will pay homage to the 1925 – 1948 era of European Classics. With the 2016 events scheduled for Oct. 28 – Nov. 6, the HHIMF is one of only a few national automotive gatherings to combine collecting and racing with enthusiast and lifestyle activities in a single, action-packed week. Working strictly on the Classic Car Club of America’s designation, marques such as Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Alfa Romeo will line the fairways of the Port Royal Golf Club on Hilton Head Island during the Concours portion of the festival, being held Sunday, Nov. 6.  Three classes have been dedicated to […]

Racing is in Aston Martin’s blood. From outright victory at Le Mans 24 Hours in 1959, to countless race wins in GT3 and GT4 categories and a continued race and title-winning form in the production-based GTE category of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), Aston Martin is proud to be at the forefront of GT racing. All Aston Martin road cars possess some of that sporting DNA, but the luxury brand’s most extreme models draw directly from that knowledge and passion to deliver something altogether more overt in looks and ability. The new Vantage GT8 is just that. Director of Special Projects and Motorsport, David King said: “We long held the desire to create a road car that truly reflects our racing activity at Le Mans. With the Vantage GT8, we’ve finally been able to achieve that. By focusing on […]

When I was at the Amelia Island show a few weeks ago, there was far more to see than just the cars. One of the booths that caught my eyes and pulled me contained artwork by Lory Lockwood. Her collection, known as Portraits in Chrome, are more than just paintings of cars – they are true portraits that bring out the curves and the reflections. Lory is a trained artist and had done much work before turning to motorized subjects. She says she started in doing motorized subjects in the mid-90s but didn’t become seriously involved in this aspect of painting until around 2004 or so. Her husband, Tony, is a Brit and owner of a 1959 TR3A and a 1966 E-Type Jaguar. He is also Lory’s business manager.

UPDATE: We have a winner!  Mr Steve Wincze of the Connecticut MG Club has been drawn by random number. I have a feeling folks attending the Gathering By The Sea in June will see this puzzle up for grabs. Congratulations to Steve and thanks to all of those who entered. A new contest will  appear on the site soon, so good luck. Well here it is, the new contest. I told you that this one would be a puzzle, and it is! Yes, a true 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle produced by Ravensburger and title, “Car Boot”. A boot sale, of course, is basically a flea market held out of the boot of cars. So with this distinctly British puzzle, you will see all sorts of British cars, vans, trinkets and other memorabilia. It is honestly a feast for the eyes […]

Bentley Motors has teamed up with the godfather of British pop art, Sir Peter Blake, to create a one-of-a-kind Bentley Continental GT V8 S Convertible. This unique car will be auctioned for charity by Bonhams at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 24 June. Bentley commissioned Sir Peter to deliver the world’s first pop art Bentley, drawing on inspiration from the acclaimed artist’s celebrated career at the forefront of the famous British pop art movement. Bentley has donated the car to the Care2Save Charitable Trust, which provides palliative and hospice care around the world.

Whilst waiting to go into the Royal Academy of Arts, in London’s Piccadilly, Martyn Watchurst stumbled upon MG’s flagship showroom and it proved to be a great use of his spare time. Once Martyn walked into the showroom, he was immediately taken with the MG3. He said: “I hadn’t seen the new models, so when I spotted the MG3 I thought it looked great and the price was right.” Martyn was so impressed with the MG3, he dropped in at Roadworthy in Bristol to take a closer look. Richard Onslow-Carey, a new salesman to the dealership, offered Martyn a test drive. It wasn’t long before he had picked out his MG3, which happened to be the 5,000th registered MG3 and Richard’s first sale. Martyn said: “I’m so happy with the car; it’s designed really well and comes with a large […]

On the eve of the 2016 World Endurance Championship opener at Silverstone, Aston Martin Racing has unveiled a bespoke selection of wings for the Vantage GTE in celebration of the premiere endurance series. Every Vantage produced for the road or race track is crafted by hand and the wings that adorn each model make no exception. Commissioned by the British marque’s personalisation service ‘Q by Aston Martin’, the collection has been created by a highly accomplished and talented workforce based in Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter. Each of these unique pieces celebrate each of the rounds of this year’s championship. With the series to commence with the 6 Hours of Silverstone, all three V8 Vantage GTE entries will be treated to a union flag inspired piece. Alternative designs of the iconic wings logo will be proudly displayed for the following eight […]

International auctioneers COYS return to the famous Ascot racecourse with more than 50 classic and sports cars going under the hammer at their long-established auction on Saturday 16th April. Chris Routledge, CEO of COYS, said: “Ascot promises to be a great auction. Held in the grounds of the Ascot Racecourse, a true British sporting establishment, we have lined up a fine selection of historic and sports cars with everything from Jaguars and Aston Martins to Bentleys and Ferraris.”

Maybe it is the fact that I have been playing with a lot of carburetors recently – both SU and Zenith-Stromberg. Or perhaps it is the fact that I had a friend ask how such a simple design could work. They literally stared at me in dumbfounded amazement when I explained the basic principles by which our carbs work. But, whatever the case, there are a lot of people who consider carburetors a bit of black magic, and I thought this video from Moss might help sort that out. To that end, our Video of the Week (VotW) is “Side Draft Carburetors and How They Work” from Moss Motors. Now in addition to providing a wealth of great parts, Moss also does its part (get it?) to keep our cars on the road by producing a series of videos on […]

MINI UK is proud to announce British racing driver, Charlie Butler-Henderson, 37, as a new brand ambassador. 2016 will represent the first time Butler-Henderson competes as a MINI ambassador but he is in no way new to the track. He has driven in the British Touring Car Championship, MINI CHALLENGE 2015, Ginetta G50 Cup and the Trofeo Abarth 500 Great Britain. Butler-Henderson has racing in his blood, coming from a long line of motorsport heritage. His father, Guy, was a member of the British karting team; his Grandfather, Lionel, raced cars for racing legend Fraser Nash, and his sister Vicki, TV presenter on 5th gear and Top Gear, is known as the first woman to win a Maserati race at age 30 in the Maserati Trofeo support race at the British F1 GP in 2002. Butler-Henderson joins the MINI racing […]

Aston Martin and Quintessence Yachts are today celebrating the upcoming launch of the new AM37 powerboat by showcasing its innovative design during the prestigious Milan Design Week, Salone del Mobile. Now in its 55th year, Salone del Mobile is a city-wide design festival, welcoming over 400,000 guests from the international creative community, looking for the latest trends. The exhibition that will be held at Larusmiani Concept Boutique on Via Monte Napoleone from 12 to 18 April will focus on the unique design elements of the AM37. At an exclusive evening event on 13 April, Quintessence Yachts will hold the worldwide preview of the AM37, a powerboat created to capture the performance, handling, comfort and style synonymous with Aston Martin.

XKs Unlimited is one of the world’s oldest and well respected classic Jaguar specialist. What’s more, they have more work than they can handle so they are hiring. That’s right, XKs Unlimited is looking for an experienced tech that knows classic Jaguars and classic British sports cars and does very high-quality work, in keeping with their standards. The person in question should be able to cover it all from tune-ups to full restorations, engine building to vintage racing. XKs Unlimited is offering food working conditions and benefits and a great place to live. If you or someone you know is interested in the position, check out what XKs Unlimited does at www.xksmotorsport.com and then send a resume to Jason Len at [email protected].

The McLaren 650S GT3 began its 2016 European campaign in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup opener at Misano, Italy with a double points finish. Despite tricky conditions throughout, Factory Drivers Rob Bell and Alvaro Parente scored valuable points in both races of the weekend and showed impressive pace during qualifying in the #58 McLaren 650S GT3, run by new customer team Garage 59. Bell and Parente were consistently quick throughout the two free practice sessions on Friday and this form continued into qualifying. The pair steered the car into the Q3 shootout session before Parente set a 1m 33.277s lap to place his McLaren 650S GT3 second on the grid; just 0.015s off the pole-sitter. The hour-long Qualifying Race – run under floodlights on Saturday evening – was held with the track damp at the start following a downpour […]

Jaguar Land Rover has launched InMotion, a new technology business that builds apps and on-demand services to overcome modern travel and transport challenges.  Next month InMotion will begin real-world testing of a number of different services such as car sharing and car ownership solutions, across North America, Europe, and Asia in the coming months. Adrian Hallmark, Group Strategy Director, Jaguar Land Rover said: With the development of new apps and on-demand services, InMotion provides us with an opportunity to provide engaging and invaluable experiences to both new and existing customers globally. As a start-up business, InMotion combines the flexibility and pace needed to compete in the ever-changing mobility sector. It allows us to react quickly to new tech and ever-changing customer demands. With technology changing the way people travel and providing access to vehicles at the swipe of a screen, […]

Bentley Motorsport’s works team made its Blancpain Sprint Series Cup debut at Misano, this weekend, and won the first race of the event, putting the #8 Bentley Team M-Sport Continental GT3 on pole for Sunday’s main competition. Andy Soucek (ES) and Maxime Soulet (BE) chose to start Saturday’s one-hour night race on slick tyres, while all but one of the other 38 competitors started on wets, a decision that ultimately won Bentley Team M-Sport its debut Sprint Series Cup race. The victory secured pole position for the main race and handed Bentley eight valuable points towards the Blancpain GT Series and Blancpain Sprint Series Cup titles. Sunday’s main race was not so fortuitous for the British team. Running in third place, the #8 Continental GT3 of Soulet was tapped from behind and sent spinning. An hour later, following a valiant […]