Month: November 2017

The UK’s top-selling convertible has today received the ‘Best Convertible 2018’ award judged by industry experts at Carbuyer. The award was presented to MINI this morning at the Carbuyer Best Car Awards in London, with judges praising the car’s unique character, trademark handling, interior and value for money. Winners in each category at the annual Carbuyer Awards are chosen by members of the dedicated Carbuyer road-test team, who evaluate each vehicle on running costs, comfort, practicality, reliability, and safety, as well as performance, efficiency, price, value for money and optional extras.

Jaguar’s SVO-developed XE SV Project 8 is now the world’s fastest four-door car, following a production-intent prototype’s record lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The incredible time of 7min 21.23sec is nearly 11 seconds quicker than the previous fastest sedan around the legendary 12.9-mile German circuit and puts the 600PS Project 8 ahead of some of the world’s fastest two-door coupés and supercars.

Jaguar Racing announced the first Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY race team for its new global electric racing series. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, led by Team Principal Bobby Rahal – three-time IndyCar Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner – will join the grid in the world’s first production-based electric vehicle race series, starting in December 2018. The Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY is a support series to the FIA Formula E Championship and the first to be based on a street-legal production battery electric vehicle. Races will take place the same weekend, and on the same city street circuits, throughout the 2018-19 season. The series, which will exclusively feature 20 Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY race cars, offers teams the chance to showcase driving talent and electric performance while competing on the world stage in zero-emissions motorsport.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom has earned BBC Top Gear Magazine’s coveted ‘Luxury Car of the Year’, just weeks after its global media launch on the banks of Lake Lucerne in Vitznau, Switzerland. Referred to by the cognoscenti as ‘the best car in the world’, the eighth generation Phantom continues to earn plaudits from the world’s most prestigious and discerning critics. This accolade follows statements that Phantom “Is the pinnacle, the epitome, of motoring luxury” (Autocar), “Is an all-new version of the finest car in the world” (The Independent), “Utterly defines luxury” (PistonHeads) and “Has changed what a car can be” (GQ).

The luxury SUV has a new benchmark thanks to the introduction of the Range Rover SVAutobiography. The new model delivers a combination of craftsmanship and technology, epitomising the pinnacle of luxury travel whether driver or passenger. Available exclusively in long wheelbase, the Range Rover SVAutobiography combines advanced new convenience features, including rear doors that close at the touch of a button, to create a sanctuary for relaxation that doubles as a mobile technology hub.

Panasonic Jaguar Racing are heading to Hong Kong for the start of their second season in the FIA Formula E Championship. The season opener takes place on 2 – 3 December in Asia’s first ever double-header race weekend and will be the first-time drivers Nelson Piquet Jr. and Mitch Evans line up on the grid together in the new British team. At the Hong Kong E-Prix drivers will complete 45 laps of the 1.86km street race circuit in the new Jaguar I-TYPE 2 on city’s iconic Harbor front. With ten turns and two hairpin bends, Panasonic Jaguar Racing are ready to electrify the city’s streets.

The new Bentley Continental GT has been named ‘GT of the Year’ by BBC TopGear Magazine, in the publication’s annual new car awards issue. The new Continental GT was praised for its depth of engineering, with the publication describing it as “simply one of the most complete GT cars on the planet.” Particular praise was given to the car’s composure on road, making it “easier than ever to thread through the tricky bits.”

As an update to our story last week on the sale of Jaguar parts retailer XK’s Unlimited to Moss Motors, we would like to announce and make clear that Jason Len, proprietor of XKs Unlimited, has only sold the parts department. Jason’s has retained the restoration department which is now known as XKs Motorsport. Jason and XKs have been in business for 45 years offering classic Jaguar and British car restoration and expertise. To quote Jason: XKs Motorsport is dedicated to quality repairs and restorations on all classic British and European cars. We have restored an amazing variety of cars for collectors all over the world. We have also been racing these cars for over 45 years. Unlike other so-called restoration shops, we do most all aspects of the restoration in-house. We have our own machine shop, engine building room, […]

Jaguar Land Rover’s top technicians from around the world gathered at the company’s Learning Academy last week putting their skills to the test in the annual Global Technician of The Year event, and Jan Olivier landed on top. The best of the best from retailers in 27 countries were put through a grueling three-day challenge to see who could demonstrate the best technical knowledge, skill and customer service.

Jaguar Land Rover was today honored to welcome The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to its Solihull manufacturing plant. The Royal visitors witnessed first-hand the £2.5bn invested in the site which has seen production and employment more than double since 2008.

Warwickshire-based auction house, Classic Car Auctions (CCA), will present 160 classic cars spanning 72 years of motoring history at its festive December Sale at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre on Saturday 2nd December. Bidders will be spoilt for choice with the huge variety of quality ‘everyman’ classics on offer, including 17 BMWs, 14 Fords, 12 Mercedes-Benz, 11 Jaguars, eight Volkswagens, seven Triumphs and even a Porsche tractor.

The AMOC Racing team, sponsors, supporters and competitors gathered at the Mercure Noke Hotel in St Albans on Saturday night to crown the season’s winners. Duncan Wiltshire, Race Director of AMOC Racing, hosted the evening thanking sponsors and competitors for their support throughout the season before handing out the prizes.

McLaren Automotive, the British creator of luxury sports cars and supercars, is to expand its race-winning activities in GT racing with a number of new initiatives. Headlining these is the announcement that a new 720S GT3 race car will join the successful 570S GT4, and this new model will begin testing next year for launch with customer teams in 2019. To serve customers engaging with the sport in the best possible way, McLaren Automotive is appointing a network of specialist motorsport retailers who will retail road and track products alongside each other. Also from next year, owners will be able to compete in a one-make GT series. Finally, the company will be helping to nurture young motorsport talent with the launch of a Driver Development Programme.

An evocative name for a magnificent bloodline of thoroughbred sports cars. For seven decades the heartbeat of Aston Martin’s purest models, the Vantage nameplate has been worn by some true icons. First used in 1951 on a high-output engine option for the DB2, Vantage was quickly established as a model in its own right. Highlights include the William Towns-designed V8 Vantage, spectacular twin-supercharged V600 Le Mans and the much-loved V8 Vantage. Today this formidable sporting dynasty is poised to hit new heights with the introduction of the new Vantage. A spectacular new Aston Martin sports car demands a bold and distinctive design language. Pure, sculptural forms create an athletic, predatory stance, while the minimal front and rear overhangs, muscular flanks and broad haunches express the agility and dynamism inherent within the car. New head and tail lights form dramatic new […]

Aston Martin Racing clinched the GTE Am drivers’ and teams’ titles in the final round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship at Bahrain on Saturday. Capping an astonishing season that included seven pole positions and four victories for the crew of the #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE, Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda and Pedro Lamy covered themselves in glory on the series’ final visit to the Bahrain International Circuit. Having started from pole position, the #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE delivered a storming drive to take an emphatic victory of the season in the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain, securing a dream result for everyone in the team and those back at the factory in the UK.

Jaguar Land Rover is taking part in the UK’s first road tests for autonomous and connected vehicles. Real-world testing takes Jaguar Land Rover another step closer to bringing an intelligent vehicle to reality. As part of the £20m UK Autodrive project, Jaguar Land Rover is testing a range of research technologies that will allow cars to talk to each other as well as roadside infrastructure, such as traffic lights on the roads of Coventry. The trials will explore how future connected and autonomous vehicles can replicate human behavior and reactions when driving.

Did you ever think about the vintage of the cars you collect? Do they fall into a particular time frame? I was thinking about this today as I was cursing a job that I have done innumerable times before on different cars – refitting the plastic steering cowl. […]

Jaguar Land Rover has unveiled the Jaguar XE Long-wheelbase (XEL), the second Jaguar vehicle to be manufactured in China, at the Guangzhou Auto Show. As part of its RMB 10.9 billion joint venture with Chery Automobile Ltd, the Jaguar XEL will be manufactured at the state-of-the-art Changshu factory. Developed solely for the Chinese market the Jaguar is the fourth vehicle to be built at the company’s joint venture, in less than three years.