Month: December 2016

Santa’s chilly grotto could be consigned to Christmas past thanks to Land Rover’s engineers. They have created a cosy cabin that can be transported for a much-needed festive getaway – it fits inside a Land Rover Discovery Sport compact SUV. The cleverly designed cabin has space for two adults to sleep snugly in North Pole temperatures as low as -20°C. It folds down to fit in the rear of Land Rover’s top-selling Discovery Sport, so Santa could even fit it on his sleigh this Christmas.

Classic car and motorbike insurance specialists Hagerty have just announced their most recent update to its market-leading UK Hagerty Price Guide (HPG). The HPG update, published online on 7th December 2016, shows that the UK classic car market has rebounded strongly in Q4 2016, with the Hagerty Classic Index showing an increase of 7.3% against a Q3 increase of just 1.3%. Analysis of the figures has also shown that top condition classic cars have performed best across the full price guide, with Hagerty’s condition 1 (‘concours’) cars achieving an average price increase of 1.8% in Q4 and condition 4 (‘fair’) cars achieving an average increase of only 0.7%.

Our video this week is one I thought I had shown you all before, but I guess not. This video is drone footage of the 2014 British by the Sea car show, held annually in Connecticut. The 2014 show was the 27th annual gathering and saw over 400 amazing British cars, from classic to modern, small roadsters to large off-roads, daily drivers to treasured show cars. This gathering was organized by Connecticut MG Club. The video was captured with gimbal-stabilized GoPro Hero3 on DJI F550 Hexacopter.

Back in the 1952-1953 period, the importer of MGs for the Midwest who was based in Chicago, Stanley H. Arnolt who ran S H Arnolt Inc, decided that the MGTD which was one of his big sellers  needed a new updated body.  Not seeing such a product likely to come from the Nuffield organization in England, he set about finding a coach building firm to create a new body for the car.   He met with Giovani Bertone in Italy at the Turin auto show  in 1952 and the foundation for a cooperative agreement was made.

Aston Martin’s Innovation Partnership with Red Bull Racing is to be extended to cover the 2017 season following an agreement signed at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Aston Martin is also confirming that all 150 road car versions of its groundbreaking AM-RB 001 hypercar have been sold out. Customer deliveries of the AM-RB 001 will commence in early 2019. Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer, Adrian Newey, Aston Martin’s Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman and Aston Martin’s Chief Special Operations Officer, David King, created the AM-RB 001 to provide the ultimate blend of cutting edge F1TM technology with Aston Martin’s signature sports car design. Just 175 examples, including 25 track-only specials, will be built, with all 150 road versions now allocated to customers.

Birmingham-based SAIC Motor UK Technical Centre (SMTC UK), the sister company of MG Motor UK, has launched its 2017 internship program, in a search for the engineering talent of tomorrow. Having selected seven aspiring engineering graduates in September 2016 to the year-long internship program, the company is now on the hunt for its class of 2017. Commencing in September next year, the course covers a diverse range of topics including electronic engineering, powertrain, advanced engineering, body structures, vehicle performance, chassis engineering and vehicle styling. Team working is a key part of the program, which kicked off in 2016 with an outward bound event in the first week to help fast track graduates’ relationships with fellow students and learn about successful teams.

MINI USA announced pricing today on its all-new 2017 MINI Countryman, the best equipped MINI ever, with a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $26,100 for the Cooper variant and $28,100 for the Cooper ALL4 variant. The Cooper S variant will start at $29,100 and the Cooper S ALL4 variant at $31,100.  All prices exclude the $850 Destination & Handling fee. Pricing for the first ever MINI plug-in hybrid model, the Cooper S E Countryman ALL4, will be announced in 2017 closer to market launch in the U.S. The all-new MINI Countryman has been completely redesigned and reengineered from the ground up, yet still is instantly identifiable as a MINI. Now incorporating BMW Group engine technology and vehicle architecture, the all-new MINI Countryman offers an all-turbocharged engine lineup with outstanding acceleration and the famous go-kart driving dynamics – especially when experienced with […]

The three millionth Oxford-built MINI is a John Cooper Works Clubman – the first model to combine the latest John Cooper Works performance enhancements and a new ALL4 all-wheel drive system. Plant Oxford has celebrated the three millionth MINI to roll off the assembly line since production began back in 2001. From around 300 cars a day in 2001 to around 1,000 built to order cars today, the 4,500 strong workforce at Oxford produce one new MINI almost every minute. Around 80 per cent of MINIs built here are exported to more than 110 markets across the world.

It’s back! Yup, time again for our holiday gift giving guide. Honestly, I am not sure whether this is a list of items for you to give, items you might want to receive, or just my own personal wish list. (Hint, hint)  No matter what it is, it is simply a fun exercise in cool stuff for the British car fan.  This year we have broken the list of ten items down into five gift-giving categories: Toys, Tools, Trip, Library, and Clothing. I tried to make them all start with “t” but gave up on that. So, five categories with two items each. As always, let’s start with …. toys! Toys LEGO Caterham – a LEGO version of the Caterham seven 620R, a custom-built sports car with an unashamed old-school vibe. Power steering? no chance. Electric windows? forget it. The Caterham seven […]

The new Just British discussion forums are now open and are your place for classified ads, advice seeking, mechanical tips and other British car discussions. Many, many years ago, in a past incarnation of the Just British site, we used to have discussion forums. Ever since we moved over to the new site and new format, folks have been asking us where the forums are and when and if we would bring them back. Well, that time is now. At the moment there are just two main discussion forums – General and Classified. Obviously, the Classified forum is for posting of ads for items for-sale, wanted, or for trade. The General forum is for everything related to British cars that isn’t a classified ad. Pretty simple really.

In an open letter published in the Financial Times on 18 February 2015, Rolls-Royce undertook to regularly inform its stakeholders about the progress of Project Cullinan. Continuing this dialogue, which has seen twice-yearly updates, Rolls-Royce today publishes photographs depicting the latest key milestone in the development programme of this new ‘all-terrain, high-sided vehicle’. This first full development vehicle will begin testing in public from tomorrow. The world’s leading luxury goods brand has regularly informed its patrons about this painstaking development programme. Advocates of the marque have been shown the first engineering mule built for the development of the new all-wheel drive suspension system, as well as those created to test the all-new aluminium architecture that will underpin all Rolls-Royces from 2018 onwards. This latest development vehicle will travel to numerous locations around the world in a challenging testing programme to […]

Aston Martin has appointed Maximilian Szwaj as its new Vice President and Chief Technical Officer. In this executive role, Max will be responsible for Aston Martin’s global engineering operations and will report directly to President and Chief Executive Officer Dr Andy Palmer and be based at the company’s headquarters at Gaydon, Warwickshire. Commenting on the new appointment: Andy Palmer said, “I am delighted to welcome Max to the Aston Martin team. Max has a wealth of experience across Engineering and Product Delivery, his experience, skills and passion will make him a great leader for the Engineering team as we prepare the business for the next generation of Aston Martin products.” On his appointment, Max Szwaj said: “I’m delighted to be joining Aston Martin at what is an exciting time for the brand. “The company is at a significant point in […]