Month: June 2017

The McLaren 570S GT4 scored its second win of the 2017 British GT Championship season, customer team track-club winning the series’ blue riband event, the Silverstone 500, as part of a packed GT4 class. Drivers Adam Balon and Adam MacKay fought through the field in the three-hour race, after starting P8. In what proved a tight race between the 18 GT4 runners – including six examples of the McLaren 570S GT4 – the triumphant pair crossed the line just 2.7 seconds ahead of their nearest competitors in the bright sunshine at Silverstone.

Land Rover will extend its support of Britain’s America’s Cup sailing team by signing a new deal to continue as Title and Exclusive Innovation Partner of Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) for the 36th America’s Cup. The announcement is a boost for the team, who bowed out of the 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda after a courageous battle with Emirates Team New Zealand in the play-off stages. Land Rover BAR’s exit ends a successful inaugural campaign for one of the newest challenger in the competition. They finished at the top of the America’s Cup World Series and came third in the qualifiers.

Over 90 years of the MG marque will be showcased at the MG Car Club’s annual celebration MGLive! at Silverstone Circuit on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th June, with models ranging from the 1920s to the latest launch from MG Motor UK. Around 3,000 MG models will be on display from the Club’s various registers, paying tribute to the manufacturer’s motoring heritage. There will be MGs from all eras in action on Silverstone’s Grand Prix Circuit as well as on static display on the showground, providing enthusiasts with a fantastic timeline. MG Motor UK will be previewing the new MG XS compact SUV at MGLive! 2017. Previously unveiled at the London Motor Show in May, MGLive! will offer MG fans the first real opportunity to get up close and personal with the latest car from MG. Due to launch in […]

As you all know by now, the induction ceremonies for the British Sports Car Hall of Fame were held this past Friday, June 2nd, in Petersburg, Virginia. The event was held in coordination with the second Moss Motorfest and was a great success with a standing room only crowd of almost 600 people in attendance. Of the twenty-three human inductees (more on that in a moment), eight were in attendance. Those eight were Mike Cook, Michael Dale, Peter Egan, Robert Johns, Richard Knudson, Graham Robson, Bob Tullius and John Twist. During the awards ceremony itself, brief biographies were gone over, stories were told on themselves and others, and then the gorgeous Moto-Lita steering Heacock Insurance wheel awards were handed out. After the awards ceremony proper, started off by Rob Goldman of Moss and then MCed by Graham Robson and John Nikas, a […]

Bentley Motors has been recognized as a top employer for young people at the UK School Leavers’ Awards, as voted for by apprentices. Bentley’s apprenticeship program collected four awards in total, resulting in a 2nd overall national ranking of best employers for school leavers, and the highest position in the automotive industry.

Land Rover has won the Best Brand Design Language award at the 2017 Car Design Awards for its family of vehicles, recently joined by the new Range Rover Velar. The Jaguar I-PACE Concept electric performance SUV brought more success to Britain’s biggest car manufacturer, winning the Concept Car category award. The awards, held at the Turin Motor Show by Auto & Design magazine, celebrate brands and models that have contributed significantly to the evolution of automotive design. An international panel of journalists chooses winners in three categories: Concept Cars, Production Cars and Brand Design Language (new for 2017).

MINI USA today announced that Randy Clements will assume the role of Department Head for Product Planning & Aftersales, replacing Patrick McKenna, effective June 1. Last month, MINI USA announced McKenna had assumed the role of Department Head, MINI Brand Communications, and that Tom Salkowsky had assumed the role of Department Head, Sales. Clements’ appointment as the new head of Product Planning & Aftersales, as well as the appointment earlier this year of Laura Towey as the new Department Head, Business Development & Strategy, completes a number of changes made by the company to bolster the executive management team under Thomas Felbermair, Vice President, MINI Region Americas.

Note: We published an announcement of this A Life in Car Design – Jaguar, Lotus, TVR by Oliver Winterbottom last month, and now our friend John Clancy has contributed this review. In my opinion, the wedge era of the 1970s and 80s was the high point of automotive styling.  In particular, it was the sports cars from that period that really cut the mustard.  Among the British entries into the market, there was one man who was behind more sports car styles than anyone else, Oliver Winterbottom.  This is the autobiography of his career.  From his apprenticeship with William Lyons’ Jaguar in 1961, working for Colin Chapman at Lotus, TVR, General Motors and his period as a consultant in China, this book gives an insight into what it took to get his designs into production [or not] with an authority that can only be relayed […]

Back to the more modern works! Our video this week comes via Aston Martin and, although really an advertising piece, is a stylish depiction of beauty as seen through the eyes of Aston Martin and their designers. If you like the Aston Martin Valkyrie or the Zagato then you will love this video. The Vulcan, launched in 2015 as a track-only limited edition car, was designed by Aston Martin’s creative officer Marek Reichman. The car is limited to 24 examples worldwide. The Zagato was unveiled in 2011 and awarded the “Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes” at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este where it made its debut. The car was designed at the Aston Martin Design Studios in Gaydon. The beautiful Zagato was produced in collaboration with Zagato to celebrate a fifty-year partnership between the two companies.

MINI USA has released the listing of 2018 model year pricing and equipment updates. Following are the equipment updates and pricing by model.

MG has issued the following in regards to the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) … Following the statements from both Triple Eight Racing and Daniel Lloyd yesterday, MG UK would like to acknowledge the contribution that Daniel has made since joining that MG RCiB Insurance racing team this year and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. It has been clear that, so far in 2017, the on-track results have not reached the level to which MG or any of our partners aspire and we support the efforts that the Triple Eight team is making to remedy this situation, starting this weekend as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship heads to the Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire.

This Friday sees the second running of the TR Drivers Club’s ‘Bullet Run’.  A weekend of leisurely organized driving through some of the most picturesque locations undertaken by Triumph test drivers and engineers when the cars were being developed.  This year will re-trace the route through the beautiful Peak District.  The whole event is based around the high-quality Jury’s Inn Hinckley Island Hotel near Nuneaton.

Jaguar Land Rover and ClimateCare today announce a partnership to bring clean solar technology to off-grid communities in Kenya. This innovative social impact program, called ’Lighting up Lives’ supports children like 14-year old Franklin Kishsta, a pupil at Kasooni School, Kalawa, Kenya. Franklin is just one of more than one million people living in isolated or off-grid communities who will benefit from the program. “I finish all of my homework now” said the boy who dreams of becoming an engineer one day, “before I could not do it at home when it was dark. I know my parents are much happier now, and so am I.” Using kerosene light creates hazardous indoor pollutants, one of the biggest causes of premature death in Africa. Jaguar Land Rover believes that renewable solar technology offers an affordable alternative. Education improves as children like […]

TVR, the iconic British sports car maker, has announced that it will be unveiling its long awaited new sports car to the public at the Goodwood Revival on 8-10 September 2017. Created in conjunction with Gordon Murray Design, the 1200 kg car promises incredible 200mph performance and 0-60mph in less than 4 seconds. With the special launch edition car being offered at under £90,000, anticipation and demand for the 400BHP per ton, five-litre, Cosworth developed V8-powered car is already at fever-pitch.

Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC today reported May 2017 U.S. sales: Jaguar sales were 3,113 units, a 44 percent increase from 2,164 units in May 2016; Land Rover sales increased slightly to 4,993 units; Jaguar Land Rover May U.S. sales for both brands hit 8,106 units, a 14 percent increase from 7,114 units in May 2016. Year to date, Jaguar Land Rover is up 22 percent in the United States. We are very pleased to see the continued sales growth for both the Jaguar and Land Rover brands. The Jaguar brand continues its sales momentum driven by the strong performances of the XE and F-PACE and the Land Rover brand with the Range Rover Sport, Discovery Sport and the arrival of the new Discovery, which is in showrooms now. — Joe Eberhardt, President and CEO, Jaguar Land Rover North America, […]

At the end of July, ‘The Great Eight Phantoms’, a Rolls-Royce Exhibition, will gather together the greatest Phantoms from the last 92 years in Mayfair, London. The Exhibition will welcome the next generation of this most celebrated luxury item. Over the next eight weeks, Rolls-Royce will announce which great Phantoms will journey to London from around the world, telling the stories of these motor cars and the historical events they witnessed. From its debut in 1925, a Rolls-Royce Phantom has stood as witness to history’s most defining moments, from treaty signings to occasions of state and the events that have defined the world we live in today.

Punching well above its weight, the new Lotus Elise Cup 250 offers a scintillating blend of purity of purpose with performance at the apex of the recently revised Elise range. Supercharged, lightweight and distilled from Lotus’ extensive motorsport know-how, the new model packs 243 hp into a chassis designed to deliver the benchmark in responsive handling and haptic feedback. The car’s enhanced aerodynamics come from a number of additions including a new lightweight rear wing, front splitter, bargeboards, and rear diffuser contributing to 125 kg of downforce at 140 mph.

JD Classics – one of the world’s leading classic car specialists – secured a race victory at Brands Hatch over the weekend, to continue its winning streak three events into the season. The team’s legendary Costin Lister was victorious in the Stirling Moss Trophy, with an XK120 supported by JD Classics finishing second-in-class in the Woodcote Trophy. The Costin first took to the track late on Saturday morning for its 30-minute qualifying session. The hard work of JD Classics’ Competition Department, both back at their Maldon HQ and trackside, shone through as Chris Ward drove the Lister to a blistering 1:43.065 time just five laps in. The time proved to unbeatable, with the nearest competitor – a Lotus 15 – still more than two seconds off the pace.