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From time to time Aston Martin, using their Lagonda brand, launched a four-door saloons. In 1961 they brought back the Lagonda name again with the Rapide saloon which was based on the then current Aston Martin DB4 but was the first car to use the new dual overhead cam 4-liter inline six which produced 236 bhp, at 5500 RPM and 288-foot-pounds of torque at a relatively high 3850 RPM. With this power unit, the car was reported to achieve 0-60 in 9.0 seconds, quite fast for the era, and a top speed of a very impressive 130 MPH. This was, however, the last Lagonda to use a six-cylinder engine although this engine was standard fitment in the DB5.

Well, it looks like the MG E-Motion concept we talked about last week is one step to making it into production as a rival to the Tesla Model S. Following the reveal of the concept car at the Shanghai Motor show, MG UK’s sales and marketing boss Matthew Cheyne confirmed that he expects the E-Motion to make production around 2020 and be priced from under £30,000. With a purported 250+ mile range on a charge and a zero to sixty time in the 4-second range, the E-Motion could be a very attractive package. Of course, this will probably be another MG model that will never reach US shores. Although, at least there would be little to know emissions regulations holding things back since this vehicle will be electric. Sadly, with SAIC looking to pull all manufacturing out of Britain, this […]

The McLaren 570S GT4 has scored its first win of the season in the opening round of the 2017 British GT Championship at Oulton Park, UK. Customer team track-club, with drivers Adam Balon and Adam MacKay, took overall GT4 victory during the first of two races over the Bank Holiday weekend, as all six examples of the latest GT racing model from McLaren showed pace and reliability. From the outset of the weekend’s racing activities, the pace of the 570S GT4 looked strong. Building on the year of experience at the wheel of the track-honed McLaren Sports Series model, GT Driver Academy pairing of Ciaran Haggerty and Sandy Mitchell in the #100 Black Bull Garage 59 car secured pole position for the first race and would line up in P2 for the start of the second.

Our Video of the Week this go-round features a car that is the favorite of James Bond and man other people. What we are talking here is, of course, the Aston Martin. This video is from the recent Simply Aston Martin gathering and show and is courtesy of the folks at the Beaulieu National Motor Museum. Every generation of DB model was on at the show, helping to make this one of the biggest gatherings of Aston Martins in the south of England.

Jaguar Land Rover’s £1bn Engine Manufacturing Centre (EMC) today celebrated production of its first Ingenium petrol engine, which will debut in vehicles later in the summer. The inaugural petrol engines mark the completion of the first phase of the EMC; a fully flexible, state-of-the-art manufacturing plant that now serves Jaguar Land Rover’s three UK vehicle plants. Hailed as the most significant new automotive manufacturing facility in the UK in the last decade. Production of the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol Ingenium engine, adds to its line-up, which also includes the ultra-low emission 2.0-litre 150PS, 163PS and 240PS four-cylinder diesel engines. 

In many ways, Michael Cook is responsible for the vision that most Americans have of the sporting, carefree lifestyle of the British sports car owner. He, along with 22 other remarkable individuals, will be inducted into the British Sports Car Hall of Fame on June 2, 2017. For more than 30 years, Mike Cook’s job was to publicize and promote British cars in America. From the height of the sports car craze in the late ’50s to the end of the era when Jaguar ownership passed to Ford, Cook helped create the image of the marques, generate media buzz, launch new models, and publicize racing successes.

McLaren Automotive, the creator of luxury sports and super cars from Surrey, England, has appointed Dr. Jens Ludmann as Chief Operating Officer (COO) effective from May 2, 2017. He will report to Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mike Flewitt. Dr. Ludmann joins McLaren in the second year of its Track22 business plan to focus on further developing internal working processes, relationships, and disciplines. His departmental responsibilities will include Product Development, Purchasing, Supplier Quality Assurance and Manufacturing, overseeing the launch of a further 14 new models or derivatives during the next five years. Previous roles include Chief Engineer Product Development at Ford Motor Company, Chief Technical Officer at Qoros Auto, and most recently Executive Vice President of the global engineering service provider FEV GmbH. 

Gerry Coker was a designer for the Donald Healey Motor Company, he was responsible for the design of the Austin-Healey 100 and Sprite, later joining Chrysler and the Ford Motor Company, where he invented the 3-postion tailgate. Gerry will be inducted into the Britsh Sports Car Hall of Fame on June 2, 2017.

Featured car this year is the Mini, both classic and new. Registration is $15 before July 1, 2017 and $20 after June 30, 2017. General admission is $5 (kids free) General admission is $5 (kids free) ● DOOR PRIZES ● SNO-CONES ● COFFEE/DONUTS ● DJ MUSIC ● FOOD/DRINKS ● VENDORS ● SPLIT THE POT ● OVER 70 AWARDS

MG, which is now owned by SAIC, has launched the new MG 360 in the Middle East. The brand chose to first launch the model in the Middle East as it is a key market. The model is notable for its striking design, intelligent features and the space and flexibility of the seating options in the interior. The MG 360 exemplifies MG’s ambitious and exciting new approach, offering motorists here the option of driving a stylish, well-equipped, modern sedan which is available at a highly competitive price.

According to the Autocar website, the MG E-Motion supercar concept looks set to take the company back to its sports car roots, albeit with an electric powertrain, upon its debut at the Shanghai motor show. Despite new images having been released of the full design of the dramatically styled coupé, no further information has been given away. The images do show upward-opening doors, which reveal four seats inside when opened.

On the eve of the opening British GT Championship round at Oulton Park, McLaren Automotive has confirmed the extension of the official Safety Car partnership with the SRO-managed series. Throughout the season, a variety of models from the McLaren Sports Series will manage on-track safety and coordination of the bumper grid of GT cars, which will include six examples of the 570S GT4. The debut outing for the 2017 season will see the 540C Coupé lead the grid. The Safety Car role is truly fitting for a McLaren. As with every model produced for road or track since 1981, safety is a key attribute with a carbon fibre chassis at the heart of each Sports Series model. The 540C Coupé, 570S Coupé, 570GT and the 570S GT4 share the lightweight MonoCell II, providing the highest levels of occupant safety. 

Sir John Black was Chairman of Standard-Triumph, helped support Morgan, Swallow and Jaguar production, and responsible for the creation of the TR range. Sir John Black will be inducted into the British Sports Car Hall of Fame in June. Black was born in Kingston upon Thames in 1895. He studied law at the University of London before joining the military during the First World War. He eventually achieved the rank of Captain the  Royal Tank Regiment. After the war, he left both the military and law when he joined the barely 10 years old Hillman Motor Company as sales manager in 1918. He was appointed a director in 1919.

The Jaguar F-PACE is officially the best and most beautiful car in the world after double success at the 2017 World Car Awards, scooping the prestigious World Car of Year and World Car Design of the Year titles. The performance SUV is the fastest selling model Jaguar has produced and is only the second vehicle to claim the historic double in the 13-year history of the World Car Awards. To win the pair of trophies, the F-PACE saw off the competition in a vote of 75 influential motoring journalists from 24 countries.

Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) is set to employ a new wave of talented staff as part of its massive expansion plans, with a number of desirable roles going up for grabs with the manufacturer of the One-of-a-Kind Mono supercar. A true British success story, BAC has achieved worldwide acclaim and success for the brilliance of its driver-focused Mono and has exported into 30 territories around the globe so far.

Clyno Engineering, originally based in Wolverhampton, engineered and manufactured both cars and motorcycles during the early part of the last century and was, at the time, the third largest UK vehicle producer after Austin and Morris. And yet today, the make is relatively unknown. Studio434/1 has arguably the largest collection of Clyno cars and motorcycles in the UK celebrating the engineering quality of these unique and superbly engineered vehicles. The earliest Clyno vehicles in the Studio434 collection are two of the company’s original motorcycles. Both are fine examples produced in 1921, both 269cc bikes are representative of the 15,000 motorcycles produced by the company. The heyday for Clyno motorcycle production was the First World War period when the company produced a motorcycle combination with a machine gun attachment, manufactured for the Motor Cycle Gun Service, which is said to have […]

The new Range Rover Velar made a spectacular US debut with an exclusive live online performance from Ellie Goulding. The chart-topping singer’s New York show precedes a charity auction of the hotly anticipated new mid-size SUV at the East Side House Settlement Annual Gala later this week. Goulding brought a touch of British glamour to the Velar’s US launch party when she arrived in Manhattan – the Metropolitan home of Range Rover – to be the first person to drive the new Velar and to sing for a global online audience. Her performance of ‘Love Me Like You Do’ opened the reveal event and was shown live on her Facebook page.

Tony Adamowicz was born in New York on May 2, 1941. Although he won enduring fame for winning championships in Trans Am and Formula 5000, he also competed at Le Mans and Daytona. What brings him to the British Sports Car Hall of Fame, however, is his start as one of the first racers employed by Group 44. During his career racing, in what many deem to be the golden age of sports car racing, Tony drove with the likes of John Morton, Sam Posey, Chuck Parsons, and of course, Group 44 head and fellow Hall of Fame inductee, Bob Tullius. His illustrious professional career spanned more than two decades, from 1966 through 1989.