Archive

In a press release, London Morgan announces the celebration of their first anniversary.   Symbolising the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Britain’s automotive legacy, London Morgan, the official London dealership of the country’s last independent family-owned car manufacturer, The Morgan Motor Company, is celebrating its first anniversary since opening its doors 12 months ago. Located in Astwood Mews in the heart of South Kensington, a cobbled oasis recently awarded honorary Garden Square status on account of its resident’s horticultural presentations, London Morgan launched in May 2013, neighbouring its sister company Monaco VW (incidentally, Britain’s oldest Volkswagen dealership established in 1948 by a Polish immigrant settling in London following WW11). Speaking about the establishment of London Morgan, Anthony Barrell, Dealer Principal of London Morgan says: “Since launching one year ago, we have had a phenomenal response from  customers across London, the UK and internationally. This is testament to an intense appetite for all […]

News Release From Jaguar Land Rover about the new, beyond drool-worthy, lightweight E-Type coupe. I don’t even want to begin to think about how much these are going to cost. Or how long the line will be to get one. Jaguar has revealed the prototype of its ‘new’ Lightweight E-type – a further six of which will be built and sold. Jaguar announced in May 2014 that it would recreate six new Lightweights, each built by Jaguar Heritage, part of Jaguar Land Rover’s new Special Operations division. Each of the six cars will be built to a specification originated from the last Lightweight E-type produced in 1964 and will be hand-crafted at the original home of the E-type, Jaguar’s Browns Lane plant in Coventry, England. The cars will be sold as period competition vehicles and all will be suitable for […]

For our video this week we have the second installment in Michael Austin’s “Allegories In The Garage” series. I first stumbled on Michael and his videos via the forums over on The MG Experience. If you haven’t hit that site, and are a fan of MGs, you owe it to yourself to do so. The video itself is a wonderful exploration of relevance and why we might chose to drive an MGB in this modern world. What can an old car, of antiquated design, without computers, without GPS, with a need for personal maintenance, provide for us in this day and age of automation and hands-off motoring? To quote Michael on this, “This is a very personal and unusual series that I have decided to do. It is a reflection on life as viewed through the projects in my garage. […]

MG is working on a new two-seater, according to Auto Express, one which will pick up where the MG TF left off just a few years ago. The MG brand has been slowly rebuilding following the Rover Group’s financial calamities a decade ago and a subsequent buyout by Nanjing Automobile, which was later absorbed into Shanghai’s SAIC, and the company is planning to return to its roots by offering a roadster in the future. Auto Express, citing an insider, reports that MG is currently working on two new vehicle architectures, one of which is aimed at accommodating a roadster bodystyle. Both new platforms, which are still in the works, are designed to offer as much flexibility as Volkswagen’s lauded MQB platform, which is currently underpinning a wide variety of small cars including the new Golf. The two new platforms are […]

Elemental has revealed its new RP-1 road-legal track car ahead of a public debut at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. According to the Surrey-based start-up, this open top, mid-engined two-seater will arrive early next summer and previews a “new generation of world class British sports cars”. The design centres on an exposed lightweight carbon-composite and aluminium tub, surrounded by front and rear body panels “shrink-wrapped” to cover the wheels and mechanical underpinnings. Power comes from a Ford-sourced 2.0-litre Ecoboost engine, tuned to 280bhp and paired to a six-speed sequential paddle shift gearbox. Customers with racing in mind can opt for a limited slip diff and alternative gear sets, although a reduced-weight track-focused model, featuring 999cc Honda Fireblade unit, is also available. Read more at: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/goodwood-festival-of-speed-2014/87543/elemental-rp1-new-british-sports-car-revealed

All of our recent weekly videos have been of the more educational and historic nature, but now for something completely different. This week’s VotW (Video of the Week) is a review from a few years ago of the Aston Martin DBS by the fine folks at Top Gear. Don’t know Top Gear? You call yourself a British car fan? If you don’t know them yet, you will after watching this video. Oh, and we of course mean the UK version produced by the BBC, not the rather lame US version. In this review from the BBC series, Jeremy Clarkson test drives the flashy Aston Martin DBS in his unmistakable style, before Top Gear’s tame racing driver, the Stig, takes it out for a spin round the track. And as with all Top Gear segments, be careful about watching this at work. […]

Octane Magazine is reporting that Jaguar Land Rover is to expand its Heritage division in what senior executives are referring to as a ‘complete change of mindset’ within the group, clearly aiming to emulate the success of Aston Martin Works and Ferrari Classiche. The revamped division will be based at Jaguar’s spiritual home, the Browns Lane factory site in Coventry, where production was based until 2005, when it moved to Castle Bromwich. The first of six ‘continuation’ Lightweight E-types is currently in build there, as revealed by Octane in May, but the buildings are now being equipped with service and restoration bays. These will allow owners of classic Jaguars to have their cars serviced, repaired and restored at Browns Lane. All classic Jaguars will be catered for, not just the traditional XKs and E-types, and there will be particular emphasis on […]

Billed as the largest British car gathering west of the Mississippi, the Portland All-British Field Meet regularly draws well over 800 cars for the weekend long event. This year the meet will be held Friday, August 29 through Sunday, August 31, 2014. The weekend kicks off with the Friday Welcome Party, followed by the Saturday car show, which includes a BBQ, a slalom competition, People’s Choice balloting, a Funkhana, a huge photo concours, a Best in Show designation and a Land Rover Adventure Ride sponsored  by the Pacific Coast Rover Club. Sunday’s activities include a Rallye, a swap meet and an off road excursion for registered Land Rovers. In conjunction with the event, SOVREN will be holding the Columbia River Classic vintage races. SOVREN, the Society Of Vintage Racing ENthusiasts, is a Seattle based non-profit racing organization with members throughout Washington, Oregon, […]

Just received the latest e-newsletter from Charles Runyan of The Roadster Factory. In it there is an interesting bit about the value of classic British cars and the effect that the parts used in repairing and restoring them can have on those values. Of course Runyan has a vested interest in this because of his business, but I really do agree with him. With the value of all British cars rising, I believe that enthusiasts should buy parts based on quality rather than on low price. In fact, a letter was received from British Motor Heritage this week deploring the practice of selling Heritage products at discounted prices. John Yea, Director of BMH, believes that this lowers the value of the cars over time, and this writer agrees. There is a trend in the U.S. to sell lower-quality parts at lower […]

The week we have a video documentary which traces the rise and fall of a great British brand that is largely unknown in the US, Rover. And no, we don’t mean Range Rover. Well, not totally. In the days when Britain’s car industry was the envy of the world, Rover epitomized everything to which the driver of taste aspired, but in 2005 it reached the end of the road. The film explores how Rover cars went from defining their eras to becoming victims of their times, telling the story behind the key models to the controversial joint ventures with Japanese and Indian manufacturers in later years.

The best New spy shot so far of the MG CS SUV, showing the side and the real all-naked for the first time. Sporty lines and a sleek profile, but tires look awfully small. Debut of the MG CS is expected for the Chengdu Auto Show in September. Price will start around 120.000 yuan and end around 160.000 yuan ($19.000 – 26.000). Production cars stays close to the MG CS Concept that debuted on the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show. Engine chat: still a confusing picture here with many conflicting reports. Early on we heard the MG CS would be available with a 135hp 1.5 turbo and a 204hp 2.0 turbo, both mated to a 6-speed DCT. Recent reports in Chinese media revealed a much larger line of engines: 1.3, 1.4 turbo (developed with GM), 1.5, and the 1.5 turbo. The […]

An unregistered 1980 MG Midget with just 162 miles on the clock, fetched over £11,000 when it went under the hammer at Anglia Car Auctions on Saturday. The Vermillion red car sold for £11,025 well ahead of expectations that it might fetch between £7,000 to £9,000. “It was a very good sale – an exceptional price,” said Simon Whitmore, of Anglia Car Auctions (ACA), based at Beveridge Way, Hardwick Narrows Estate. “It had no reserve on it and the vehicle has never been registered.” Also up for auction the same day, but which failed to sell, was a 2001 Mercedes Benz S500L, purchased new by former England captain David Beckham and originally registered as Y3 DVB in June 2001. The car was up for sale with all manuals, service book and the original V5 bearing David Beckham’s name, with 117,000 […]

Announcing the 2014 Southeast British Car Festival in Dillard Georgia, hosted by the Peachtree MG Registry in Atlanta. This biannual event, started in the early 1990’s, has grown in importance and stature over the past few years as it has shifted from an all MG event to an all British Car show. After the Peachtree MG Registry hosted the NAMGBR National Show in 2012, the Southeast Festival has been expanded to build on everyone’s great experiences and this year is sanctioned by both NAMGBR and NAMGAR. This event will take place, at the award winning Dillard House from September 18 to 21, when the Georgia weather is perfect for stimulating drives on some of the most beautiful roads in America- including the challenging 11 mile, 318 turn Tail of the Dragon. The show will continue to feature MG’s along with […]

The Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival & Concours d’Elegance, one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing automotive and motorsports enthusiast event weeks, has selected Jaguar as the Honored Marque for the 2014 Festival. With nearly 80 years since the SS Jaguar name first appeared, the marque has far-reaching appeal and a wide breadth of history to feature at this year’s Festival, to be held October 24 – November 2. Both Motoring Festival venues will honor the contributions Jaguar has made to the automotive industry: Hutchinson Island’s The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa (Savannah Speed Classic) and Hilton Head Island’s Port Royal Golf Club (Concours d’Elegance, Motoring Midway and Car Club Jamboree). “With a display of Jaguar racecars planned for this year’s Savannah Speed Classic and three classes of Jaguars to be displayed at this year’s Concours d’Elegance as […]

Our video this week is entitled, “Morgan Motor Company: The Most Honest Car Factory in the World”. As you might guess, the video focuses on the Morgan Motor Company in Malvern, England where happy designers, craftsmen and women lovingly create cars for enthusiasts by hand every day. Perhaps this brief history of the Morgan car is best summed up by its inventor, H.F.S. Morgan, who said of his life’s work shortly before he died in 1959, “looking back through the years, seeing both the errors and the triumphs in their correct perspective, I feel I have enjoyed it all. The motor trade has been, so far as I’m concerned, a most interesting business.” Peter Morgan maintained the passion and today, the Morgan Motor Company enjoys continued success, with inspired new designs under the direction of Charles Morgan.

A bit surprising considering the competition maybe, but Autocar magazine readers voted the classic Mini ahead of McLaren F1, Jaguar E-type and the Range Rover. And there is nary an MG, Triumph or Austin Healey to be found on the list. The poll also named Norfolk-based Lotus as the most popular British manufacturer, with seven of its models making the 100 best British cars list. Autocar brand editor Chas Hallett said: “It comes as little surprise that the original Mini has topped the list of all-time British greats. “It’s such an iconic vehicle and represents a lot more than the British car industry; the Mini is associated with Great Britain around the world and, in many ways, it was ahead of its time.” He went on: “Everyone loved and still loves an original Mini. It ensured a fabulous drive every time, […]

We are starting a new feature this week. We have always put a nice little YouTube video over there in the sidebar for your enjoyment, but a lot of folks either didn’t realize it was there, didn’t realize they could blow it up to a larger size to watch, or just generally ignored it because … well, I don’t know. Maybe they thought it was an advertisement or something. Anyway, from now one we are going to feature the video in a post each time we change it, and this should be every week. Hopefully every Wednesday. Why Wednesday? Because it is a pretty boring day in general and we could all use a little something to brighten it up. Maybe a nice little video about some aspect of the British car fascination will do this. Hopefully it will give […]

Set to celebrate its 90th birthday annivarsary, The MG Car Company was founded in 1924 and got its name from Morris Garages, a dealer of Morris cars in Oxford which began producing its own customised versions to the designs of Cecil Kimber. The first cars, re-bodied Morris models, used coachwork from Carbodies of Coventry and were built in premises in Alfred Lane, Oxford. On May 1, 1924, the Octagon was registered as an MG trademark. The marque has come a long way since those early days, with the famous octagonal emblem recognised and celebrated around the globe. After several moves in Oxford, due to a growing demand for more cars to be produced, the MG moved to Abingdon and ever since the town has been the home of the MG. Arguably Britain’s favourite classic sports car reaches its 90th anniversary […]