Archive

A detailed electronic service and repair manual known as the MG TF RAVE disc is now available to MG TF owners from all XPart AutoService centres and wholesalers. MG TF owners can now access valuable service and maintenance information for their cars with an electronic workshop manual, available from all XPart AutoServices centres and wholesalers. The first disc of its kind to go on sale to motorists, it offers extensive technical advice for owners of MG TFs manufactured by MG Rover between 2002 and 2005. It contains a greater depth of technical detail than can be found in paper manuals, together with comprehensive search and cross-referencing functions, and the option to enlarge diagrams and print pages of interest. “Modern cars have a great deal more complex mechanical and electronic features than cars built even ten years ago,” explains Barry Smith, […]

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), China’s number-one automaker, has just launched its MG6 in China. The new model faces off against the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Volkswagen Sagitar in the highly competitive mid-class auto segment in China. The MG6 hatchback, equipped with a 1.8-liter turbo engine, will be produced by SAIC Co at its Lingang plant. SAIC will also start production of the MG6 in a plant in the United Kingdom next year as it tries to revive the 85-year history of the British icon globally. The company said the MG6, which was unveiled at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show last April, is specifically designed for Asian and European markets. In China, “There will be market potential for the MG6 if SAIC prices the car competitively,” said Ye Sheng, an auto analyst at automotive consulting firm B. Thinking Management […]

There was a lot of eye rolling and worried looks when Ford sold Jaguar to India’s Tata. But based on the latest December figures, maybe there wasn’t reason to worry. Jaguar sold 1,246 cars in December in the U.S., a 24% increase from last year. Land Rover sold 3,595 of its rugged SUVs, a 37% boost from a year ago. For the full year, combined sales of both brands dipped 14%, not bad considering how the overall auto industry saw sales plunge even more. Needless to say, execs are happy: “Three consecutive months of Jaguar and Land Rover growth is a great way to end 2009, and a sign of better times to come,” said Jaguar-Land Rover North America President Gary Temple. “We start 2010 with sales momentum, strong product lineups for both brands, and the launch of the 2011 […]

The Heritage Motor Centre, home to the world’s largest collection of British cars and the annual Mini Festival, is to host a special Historic Rally Car Register Open Day on Saturday 16 January from 9:30am – 4:30pm. The HRCR Club was designed for those interested in historic rallying, the branch of motorsport dedicated to cars that were rallied from the 1950s through to the 1980s. 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally. A number of original cars that took part will be on display plus visitors can find out all they need to know about historic rallying. Visitors will be able to see the launch of the 2010 Stage & Road HRCR Championship season plus special scenic tours and the chance to see 100 series start up rallies. One highlight of the event […]

There’s something charming about a bright red restored 1970 MGB cruising down Airport Road on a sunny summer day with the top down. And there’s even more charm in a dozen or more similar cars, MGs, Triumphs, Jaguars and Austin Healeys, all manner of colors making the same trip. British car enthusiasts gathered more than a dozen times in 2009 in the first year of events for the new Headwaters British Car Club. Club vice president Tom Hodgson said the club is based in Orangeville but has members from all over, including one from Alliston. “We opened it up to all older British cars,” Hodgson said. “We go out for a couple of hours, have a run, enjoy the countryside. It’s beautiful here.” While Airport Road is a joy to drive, Hodgson said, Hockley Road “with all the bends” is […]

When reading ‘Type 72′, the die hard Formula 1 fans will inevitably think about Lotus most successful F1 car of all time that made furore with twenty Grand Prix wins between 1970 and 1975. To honor these achievements Lotus has released the Exige S Type 72 Special Edition. The British car maker will be producing twenty units for the UK, a further twenty units for the European mainland and a limited run of cars in Japan and selected markets around the world. To draw even more attention, the colour scheme of the Exige S Type 72 equals the famous and easily recognizable black and gold livery and is finished by the same person who painted racing cars for Team Lotus. With a total weight of just 935kg (2061lbs) and a Type 72’s supercharged engine producing 240bhp a sprint from standstill […]

Imagine you’re the successful your mom always wanted. You have cash to burn, successful career on autopilot and the mansion is finally mortgage-free, you’re in the market for a new car, one that speaks to your success and station in the community. But, you’re also in full mid-life crisis, sentimental for the tearaway youthfulness you now regret suppressing every time you open that second bottle of Chateau Lafite. Indeed, in your last act of impetuousness before children and creeping maturity reared their ugly heads, you owned an Aston Martin. Not one of these new namby-pamby ones, what with their button-down engineering and sophisticated electronics, but a real he-man-of-yesteryear Vantage with eight thundering pistons, a rock-crunching transmission and coil springs stiff enough to suspend the Golden Gate Bridge. So, you head down to your friendly neighborhood British luxury car dealership only […]

Aston Martin stunned the world last June by revealing the Cygnet super-mini concept that is based on the Toyota iQ. Then the British sports car maker that is fondly associated with mouth watering sports cars announced that the Cygnet will go into production and that the development of the super-mini will continue into 2010. Slated for a market launch late this year or by early 2011, the Cygnet is expected to be sold to owners of Aston Martin’s full-sized sports cars and only 2,000 units are planned.

Please be respectful of both yourself and others this holiday season – drive carefully! Sure I am worried about you, the loyal reader, but I am also worried about the rest of us and our prized cars. Even if no one is injured, repairing cars can be expensive. Of course it is always cheaper to fix the damage with used car parts, but this can still be costly as well as time and aggravation. Plus damage can often leave deep psychological scars – at least it can with me. Two cases in point that don’t involve injuries at all. First is my sister and her fairly new Mitsubishi Eclipse. She arrived home to visit for this holiday season with a favor to ask of me. She needs me to help her replace the passenger side mirror on her car. Seems […]

From all of us to all of you, we wish you the best in this holiday season. And throughout the year! The Work of Christmas When the song of angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and the princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to make music in the heart. — Howard Thurman

According to Nanjing Automobile, it bought the rights to the MG trademarks and logos when it bought the assets of the firm from administrators. It told High Court judge Sir William Blackburne that MG Sports and Racing Europe, based in Tenbury Wells, was using the famous octagonal logo and name on its MG X POWER supercar. Nanjing is now seeking an order to stop the company. Iain Purvis QC, who is representing the company, told the judge that Nanjing “have made great strides” in reviving the MG brand in the UK, with the Longbridge plant manufacturing again and a major new car launch planned for next year. He added that the British company admitted this was likely to cause confusion but claimed they are entitled to use the mark because they had bought the rights to it from liquidators of […]

The maverick but multi-award winning British car designer and engineer who left his eponymously named company in Leicestershire after a new owner took over is to build a new supercar prototype in South Africa. Lee Noble, whose work in recent years is said to have defined the British low volume sports car market has set up a new company, Fenix Automotive, and today (19 November) announced the launch of “one of the most dramatic supercars of the century” next year. With production cars like the Noble M12 and M400 to his credit, Noble says he is now delivering a lightweight, ultra-powerful mid-engined V8 supercar to market by the end of 2010. The as yet unnamed car, which will cost from under £75,000, “will trounce all previous Lee Noble-built Nobles for performance with a 0-100mph time of under seven seconds”, and […]

MINI, iconic small car maker, will produce a luxury version with help from its corporate cousin Rolls Royce.

The first all-new MG for 14 years has gone on show in China and by the end of next year the new car will be built on a production line at Longbridge, it was revealed today. Based on the Chinese-made Roewe 550 – which itself is based on a shortened version of the old Rover 75 – it will be called the MG6 when production starts in Birmingham. The new model will be produced in saloon and hatchback form and will complement the two-seater MGTF being built at Longbridge. Early production models have been revealed at the Guangzhou Auto Show which opened yesterday. The launch in China, the world’s largest automotive market, begins the international roll out of sales of the MG6 which includes the UK. Sales in China will begin in January and plans for the UK and other […]

Ever since the halcyon days of Jaguar’s formative years the British car maker has had a happy knack of delivering some eye catching icons. As those early days of the 1940s and 1950s bore witness to the company’s founding father Sir William Lyons’ aim to produce cars boasting ‘grace, space and pace’ so the legendary big cats have continued to attract attention. The latest is the Jaguar XKR which has unreservedly set its sights on supercar status, proving in many people’s eyes, to be perhaps the best looking mainstream Jaguar model to date. There is very much a luxurious character to the XK and XKR body style, whether in hard-top coupe guise or the cloth cocooned convertible which is driven here. This is truly a sophisticated grand tourer with the power to move the sports car experience on to a […]

British engineers are gearing up for an attempt on the world land speed record with a vehicle they believe will be capable of 1,000mph. The design for the Bloodhound SSC – SuperSonic Car – is now complete. Built from aerospace-grade aluminium, it is based on a 14-foot hybrid rocket and a jet engine from the Eurofighter Typhoon. A third engine pumps fuel through to the rocket. The designers claim it should achieve 135,000 horsepower – equivalent to the power of 180 Formula One cars -British car aims for 1,000mph record and is expected to accelerate to 1,050mph in just 40 seconds. The original design featured a much smaller rocket, positioned above a rather heavier engine. But this created too much drag. Increasing the size of the rocket threatened the stability of the vehicle, and the decision was made to effectively […]

British super-luxury car manufacturer, Rolls Royce, unveiled an all-new, four-door, premium saloon model called the Ghost. It will be available in the second quarter of 2010. The company hopes to sell 50 to 60 Ghosts in the domestic market each year. Since Rolls Royce cars are made to order, and exclusively manufactured in the company’s UK facility, the time taken for delivery is between two to three months after a booking. The Ghost, earlier code-named RR4 and popularly tagged as ‘Baby Rolls Royce’, is smaller in dimensions than the company’s current Phantom model and is aimed at widening the appeal of the brand. “Ghost is a more informal design that broadens the appeal of Rolls Royce cars,” said Colin Kelly, Asia Pacific Regional Director. Rolls Royce sold 1,212 units of the super-luxury cars last year, in which India accounted for […]

Directors Peter Beale and John Edwards of the vilified Phoenix Four are in line for a massive multi-million pound Christmas bonus from the remnants of the Longbridge empire, it was revealed today. The two former Longbridge bosses, who with fellow directors John Towers and Nick Stephenson have already enriched themselves to the tune of around £9 million each, will be entitled to another huge cash windfall next month.