Month: April 2018

Jaguar Land Rover, the UK’s biggest auto manufacturer, is cutting 1,000 jobs in the UK as the diesel scandal and slumping sales hit the beloved British brand. Now owned by India’s Tata Motors, JLR employs about 40,000 workers in the UK who produce over 500,000 vehicles a year. The company is cutting the jobs at the Birmingham factory that manufactures the Jaguar F-Pace, Land Rover Discovery, and various Range Rover models. Demand for Jaguar Land Rover cars has fallen in Europe due to fallout from the VW led diesel emissions scandal. Jaguar Land Rover pointed out that “the huge drop in demand in diesels” led to its decision not to renew the contracts of 1,000 workers. Partially behind the decision is also said to be a sharp decline in British car sales that seems to be caused by a loss […]

The new Bentley Bentayga V8 headlines a trio of models for the luxury British brand at the 2018 Beijing Auto Show. Powered by a 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged petrol engine, the latest version of Bentley’s exquisite SUV combines limousine-like refinement with exceptional performance and sporting character and will be showcased in China for the first time. Alongside it will be the all-new Continental GT, a car that sets new standards in luxury Grand Touring. Also making its Beijing show debut, it is designed, engineered and handcrafted in Britain, and features the highest levels of attention to detail, artistry and cutting-edge technology.

The Williamsburg British Car Club held it 19th annual British and European Car Show on April 14, 2018. It was a beautiful, 80 degree spring day with a constant breeze. This year our featured marque was the Daimler since The Daimler and Lanchester Owners Club of North America was celebrating their 40th anniversary in Williamsburg. This year’s show was held at the Shops at High Street which provided a large paved area for the cars and an ample grassy area adjacent to the field. This was a particularly nice venue for the owners of yellow cars who are constantly plagued by bugs on grassy fields.  Six restaurants are within easy walking distance and were extremely generous allowing the use of all of their facilities. We hosted 21 classes with 155  beautifully restored and maintained cars. Best in show was awarded […]

One of the latest additions to the MG Car Club’s comprehensive archive is a 1/4-scale MG Magnette ‘styling’ model, and the Club is now appealing for more information about this remarkable discovery. The model appeared, quite unexpectedly, in a Bonhams auction catalog last December, where it was wrongly described there as a ZA model from 1953. Particular thanks are due to Peter Cadman who saw the catalog and alerted the Magnette Register. Chairman Paul Batho then investigated to establish its provenance, and MGCC management quickly agreed that the Club should try to acquire the model for its archives. Finally, board member Dave Saunders was able to successfully bid for it at Bonhams on 6th December.

Following significant investment in its Longbridge Training Venue, MG Motor UK has announced that the Cecil Kimber College has now been accredited by the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI). This highly-coveted industry recognition signifies that MG has the capacity and high-standard infrastructure to deliver technical training to repairers across the MG dealer network. MG has invested significantly in developing its courses, training equipment, and infrastructure earlier this year. Including some development of the parts warehouse, the company has invested £0.5 million on adding new features such as workshop space for up to 10 vehicles, twin fully equipped classrooms to accommodate up to 20 delegates, two post hoists to allow for raised vehicle work and insulated flooring to accommodate electric and hybrid vehicle training.

McLaren Automotive, the British manufacturer of luxury sports and supercars, and Pfaff Automotive Partners, the distributor for McLaren automobiles in Canada, have partnered to create five very special 570S Spiders that celebrate McLaren’s racing and road-car history in Canada. Developed using the bespoke service available from McLaren Special Operations (MSO), which offers almost limitless design possibilities, the 570S Spiders are designated ‘Canada Commission’ and feature a number of unique design elements that pay tribute to McLaren’s Canadian history.

Aston Martin will return to the ADAC Zurich 24-Hour race, staged on the world famous Nürburgring Nordschleife (May 10-13), with a two-car entry featuring all six of its 2018/19 FIA World Endurance Championship factory GTE Pro drivers. The British manufacturer will enter a V12 Vantage GT3 in the SP9 category for Maxime Martin (B), Marco Sõrensen (DK) and 2017 SP8 class winners Darren Turner (GB) and Nicki Thiim (DN). In addition, the factory will defend its SP8 victory with a GT4-specification Aston Martin V8 Vantage driven by an all-British team of Alex Lynn, Jonny Adam, Peter Cate and Jamie Chadwick – the first woman to race a factory Aston Martin in a 24-hour race.

Beaulieu will be celebrating 70 years of the nation’s favorite 4×4 with Simply Land Rover on Sunday June 24th, featuring a Land Rover-themed autojumble, off-road Forest Drive and hundreds of Land Rovers on show. For the first time, the rally will feature Simply Rummage, a one-stop shop for every Land Rover enthusiast where essential and hard-to-find spare parts and accessories will be bought, sold and swapped. Following in the footsteps of Land Rover Rummage, a well-established trading corner of Beaulieu’s Spring Autojumble, Simply Rummage will become a bargain-filled extra feature of Simply Land Rover marking the anniversary year.

Morgan Motor Company has activated their first ever billboard campaign in and around London with two sites situated along prominent arterial routes. The Malvern-based company has seen a strong start to 2018 with record financial results of 19 percent revenue growth, pre-tax profits up by over 200 percent and global exports up by 10 percent. This year also saw two successful new model launches at the Geneva Motor Show and the reacquisition of the land on which the Morgan factory is built.

In an anniversary year, Jean-Marc Gales, CEO, Group Lotus has personally delivered the keys to one of Lotus’ most advanced cars to Clive Chapman, son of Lotus founder Colin Chapman. The stunning new Evora GT410 Sport in Empire Green will travel the UK and Europe with Clive, Director of Classic Team Lotus. Preserving and promoting the history of the famous motorsport team, Clive and the squad run historic Lotus race cars that appear at international motoring events and meets around the world.

MINI is proud to announce their support non-profit Best Friends in its mission to save animal lives. To date, MINI has loaned four MINIs to help Best Friends transport animals to vet appointments, pick up supplies for the clinics, even drive once homeless pets to their new homes. In 2017, MINI USA donated four fully leased MINI Countryman cars for use in the Best Friends program cities of Los Angeles, New York, Salt Lake City and Atlanta. Since the day the cars arrived in the respective cities, they’ve been turning heads and safely getting pets from point A to point B. In Atlanta, the MINI might get a dog or cat to a vet appointment one day, and to a television appearance the next. It’s also a quick and efficient ride for staff to run errands or travel to a […]

In the early days of the BBC’s Top Gear show, aired every Thursday evening on BBC 2, presenter Chris Goffey was a very influential voice in UK car culture. And on one such Thursday evening in 1986, he was among the first to drive the recently-launched diesel-powered Range Rover. It did not go well. On film, Goffey made his feelings for the 2.4-litre VM-powered diesel Range Rover quite clear. Range Rover had built its success on the performance and refinement of its 3.5-litre petrol V8, and the less refined diesel engine alternative took some time to catch on – partly down to Top Gear’s unfavorable review. The interesting backstory however, is that the Range Rover delivered to Top Gear never went through a PDI (pre-delivery inspection), let alone a detailed preparation by Land Rover’s famed press garage and vehicle operations team. For […]

For our video of the week this time, we have an MG factory publicity video that comes to us via Pathé.  This film, Sports Car of the Year 1955-56, focuses on the newly introduced MGA. Starting with competition films from Le Mans, the Alpine Rally, and the Mille Miglia. The MGA, as most readers know, replaced the MG TF 1500 and represented a complete styling break from MG’s earlier sports cars – that styling having been developed for racing and records cars. Announced on September 26, 1955, the car was officially launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show. A total of 101,081 units were sold through the end of production in July 1962, the vast majority of which were exported. Only 5869 cars were sold on the home market, the lowest percentage of any British car. While now what one would call “impartial”, […]

International auctioneers Coys are back in town with 50 classic and sports cars worth millions going under the hammer at their long-established Spring Classics auction on April 24th at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London. The barn find 1963 Bentley Continental Mulliner Park Ward S3 is one of the highlights of the auction and, although it is being offered at no reserve, it could fetch £40,000 on the hammer. Chris Routledge, CEO of Coys, said: Our Spring Classics auction has for decades been a prelude to motoring season which is now very much upon us. This year we have a stunning selection 50 fine historic and classic motor cars looking for a new owner, ranging from three original-bodied pre-war Rolls Royces through to a genuine barn find 1960s Bentley S3 Continental Coupe by Mulliner.

Jaguar Land Rover has a new mission with James Bond – a three-year partnership at the state-of-the-art interactive experience, 007 ELEMENTS in Sölden, Austria. Fittingly Jaguar Land Rover, whose cars have featured in Bond films since 1983, is now an official partner to 007 ELEMENTS located at the top of the 3,050m Gaislachkogl peak.

For the sixth year running, the parent company of MG has launched the SAIC Design Challenge for automotive design students. Following the competition’s success in China, a European based competition has been launched now running for its second year. This year, students are being challenged to develop a flagship electric vehicle for the iconic MG Motor brand that will meet 2025 transport requirements. The technical level of entries that students are required to produce is very demanding, with future automotive designers producing fully-developed concepts. Last year, two European finalists were sent to China to present final designs at SAIC Motor’s global headquarters to the board and international members of the press.

Panasonic Jaguar Racing has unveiled the concept livery for the Jaguar I-TYPE 3, their Gen 2 race car for season five of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship. As the British team continues their mission ‘Race to Innovate’, this marks another historic moment in Jaguar Land Rover’s electrification strategy. The Gen 2 race car is a bold, futuristic and dynamic design and a big step forward in speed and performance.  Maximum power increases to 250kW (the equivalent of 335bhp) available during qualifying and 200kW available during the race. An improved battery has allowed teams to move to one race car per driver and drop the mandatory car-swap demonstrating the rapid technological development in battery electric vehicles. The Jaguar I-TYPE 3 will also feature an LED Halo after the FIA implemented new safety regulations earlier this year.

Bentley Motors today announces that construction has started on the UK’s largest ever solar-powered carport at Bentley’s factory headquarters in Crewe, UK. The installation of 10,000 solar panels, which has a capacity of 2.7MW, will take approximately six months to complete. Once completed, the carport – which covers Bentley’s colleague car park – will take Bentley’s energy system to 30,815 solar panels. This includes the 20,815-panel rooftop installation completed in 2013.