Archive

Panasonic Jaguar Racing brought their debut season in FIA Formula E to a close today in Montréal with both Jaguar I-TYPEs racing hard but ultimately missing out on further points.  Mitch Evans lined up P17 and Adam Carroll P19 after a difficult qualifying session with track temperatures noticeably warmer than yesterday. Following a strong seventh place finish on Saturday for the Kiwi, Mitch battled throughout the race to finish just outside the points in P12. Adam drove a faultless race and brought his Jaguar I-TYPE home in P14 and completed a full set of race finishes for the British driver. Both drivers made up five places during the race despite having to manage their energy carefully over 37 laps.

Our video this week is fun and purely for the thrill of it all. This video is a spoof of those airline safety instructions we know all too well and is entitled Welcome to Caterham Airways. Thanks to Darryl Beech of Charleston Import Automotive for pointing it out to me. If you don’t want one of these cars after watching the video, there is something seriously dead in your automotive soul. A lot of you already know the history of Caterham and its Lotus heritage, but I am going to steal a bit from Wikipedia here anyway, just to give some background. If you want to know more, don’t just rely on the Wikipedia article, but check out the excellent book Caterham Sevens: The Official Story of a Unique British Sportscar from Conception to CSR by Chris Rees. Caterham Cars is a […]

Bentley Motors has announced full details of the new Bentley Flying Spur V8 S Black Edition – the car of choice for customers seeking a luxury performance saloon with a more dynamic aesthetic. The suite of striking exterior and interior features have been created by the British brand’s designers to reflect the car’s sporting character. Black gloss brightware, dark tint lights, gloss black window surrounds and door mirrors, and new wheels provide a more dynamic, contemporary commentary for the mighty power output of the V8 S engine.

Aston Martin has announced the appointment of Joerg Ross as Chief Engineer, Powertrain. Joerg will be responsible for the development of Aston Martin’s engines, transmissions, and electrification, reporting to Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, Max Szwaj and will be based at the company’s headquarters at Gaydon, Warwickshire. Born in Remscheid, Germany, Joerg Ross holds a degree and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the RWTH Aachen University, Germany. He speaks several languages including German, English, and Italian. Commenting on the new appointment: Max Szwaj said: We are delighted to welcome Joerg to the Aston Martin team. His considerable experience and knowledge will prove invaluable for the Engineering team as we prepare the business for the next generation of Aston Martin products. On his appointment, Joerg Ross said: I’m delighted to be joining Aston Martin at what is an exciting […]

MINI USA announced today that the all-new 2017 MINI Countryman, the biggest, most adventurous MINI ever, has earned a TOP SAFETY PICK award by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The Countryman earns this designation when equipped with the optional front crash prevention system, which earned an advanced rating from the independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization. The 2017 MINI Countryman earned the designation thanks to good crash-worthiness ratings across the board, including the small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. The MINI Countryman also benefits from an optional advanced-rated front crash prevention system, which in IIHS track tests at 12 and 25 mph, the system mitigated a collision, reducing the impact speed by 7 mph in both tests.

Burlen Ltd, the world’s only manufacturer of genuine SU (Skinner’s Union), AMAL and Zenith carburetors, is celebrating a hugely successful promotion of the flagship race of the 2017 Brands Hatch Mini Festival. Earlier in July, the Salisbury-based company promoted the Historic Mini Races – named ‘The SU Carburetters Cup for Pre-66 Minis’ – and pulled out all the stops to create an event that will live long in the memory.

More than 40XJ220 Jaguars came together at the Silverstone Classic Saturday (29 July), in a record-breaking reunion to mark the 25th birthday of what was once the fastest production car in the world. The dramatically-styled, mid-engined, two-seater supercar was introduced in 1992, with its top speed of 212.3mph making it Jaguar’s quickest road-going car – an accolade it still holds to this day.

Bentley Motorsport has finished in second place in the largest GT3 race in the world, the 24 Hours of Spa, with its #8 Continental GT3 and drivers Maxime Soulet (BE), Andy Soucek (ES) and Vince Abril (MC). With a carefully pre-determined race strategy, the Bentley Team M-Sport crew ran out-of-sync with many of the leading GT3 competitors for most of the race but the long-term gains came to fruition in the final stages of the 24-hour endurance event.

The Bentley Team M-Sport #8 Continental GT3 marked a milestone in Bentley’s history books yesterday as it took the model’s 500th race start at the largest GT3 endurance race in the world, the 24 Hours of Spa. The third chapter of Bentley’s motorsport story began with the unveiling of the first Continental GT3 concept at the Paris Motor Show in 2012, followed by the first public running of the first test car at Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2013. Since then the Continental GT3 has celebrated series and race wins around the globe, with the most recent victories in the past month in Blancpain GT Series at Paul Ricard 1000kms, Pirelli World Challenge at Road America and British GT at Spa Francorchamps.

Outwoods Primary School year six pupil, Deya Kidder from Burton upon Trent, has been announced as the winner of MG dealership TL Darby’s ‘Up on the Roof’ competition. The contest, which received more than 80 entries from eight schools within the area, asked pupils to come up with a design that would be featured on the roof of the MG GS. Deya, who has just finished her final year at Outwoods Primary School, visited TL Darby to see her winning design in the flesh, adorning the roof of the car which now sits pride of place in the showroom. 

This is the annual convention of the North American MGB Register NAMGBR which is being hosted by The MGs of Baltimore, Ltd. Car club from Sunday June 17, 2018 to Friday June 22, 2018. We have a fantastic event planned for everyone and you’ll hopefully find all the information you need here on the website. On the event site you will find registration, hotel information and the schedule of events, more about the event, and a brief introduction to Gettysburg.

Update: The contest is now closed! We would like to congratulate Ray Whitley on his win which was determined at random from all entries received. We would also like to thank all of those who entered the contest. Entertaining stuff! I bet you didn’t know that July is my birthday month – well it is. But, I am going to give you the present. Aren’t I generous? We Leo’s are like that!  Since this book is proving to be so popular, I thought you might like another contest chance to win a copy of Robert Morey’s Philosophy and Psychology of British Car Restoration. This is a great little book, and a fun read for any fan of old British cars. So, you might be asking yourself how you enter the contest. I gave a lot of thought to that and decided that […]

Celebrating the MG T-series, all MGs (and other British cars) are welcome. There will be a first timers show, a main event car show by the lake, a barbecue, banquet, tech talks, auction, movie night, rally, tours of the area, valve cover racing and much much more. The event will also be the annual gathering of the North American Triple M register, for MG Midgets, Magnas, and Magnettes from before the second world war. All events except the tours and rallies will be held on the scenic ground of the Lake Lawn Resort, a family resort with a renowned spa.  

Rolls-Royce believes a new benchmark will be set as the New Phantom – the eighth generation of this great nameplate – arrives. Not satisfied with simply launching a motor car that is a wholly contemporary design interpretation of Phantom DNA and a technological tour de force, Rolls-Royce has revolutionized the luxury car industry itself by shifting away from the status quo of shared platforms to an entirely new luxury business model. From the moment Sir Henry Royce introduced the Rolls-Royce Phantom in 1925 it was judged ‘The Best Car in the World’ by the cognoscenti. As a result, it has conveyed some of the world’s most influential and powerful men and women to the most defining historical moments over the last 92 years. Every new Phantom that has subsequently appeared has successfully retained the title of ‘Best Car in the […]

The most extreme road car in McLaren’s history is set to make its debut later this year. Codenamed P15 and said to feature an 800PS engine with a stripped-out interior and overall weight of less than 1,300kg, the new model will be the second in McLaren’s Ultimate Series range after the hybrid P1. Designed to be the most extreme, track-ready but still road legal car in the line-up, McLaren’s engineers have reportedly been given the freedom to prioritize performance over everything else and the P15 is said to be faster on a racing circuit than any McLaren, bar the track-only P1 GTR.

One of the first 500 E-Types produced by Jaguar has been found in pieces in France and is to be brought back to life by world-class restorers Classic Motor Cars of Bridgnorth (CMC). Chassis No. 875256 is one of the very early 3.8 left-hand drive, open two seater, outside bonnet lock models with all matching numbers. It was delivered new to the Belgium Motor Company dealership in Brussels in July 1961 and was subsequently sold to ‘Societe de Civel Immeubles en Afrique.’ It resurfaced in France in 2015 and records indicate that it was imported from Luxembourg in 1975.

The best-selling lots at Barons Connoisseurs Classic Car Collection sale at Sandown Park on July 18th were two pieces of classic British motoring heritage, both of which exceeded the top estimate. The bright red 1970 Jaguar E-type Series 2 FHC achieved £51,700 while the handsome 1964 Jensen CV8 sold for just under £49,000. Queen guitarist Brian May raised over £6,300 for the animal charity Save Me when the 1952 Jowett Javelin he bought for his father 35 years ago went under the hammer at the sale. Enthusiastic bidding and strong pre-sale publicity meant that the car went for over top estimate, with the lucky new owner acquiring a charismatic family classic car previously owned by rock royalty.

Our video of this week this time comes by way of Ohio. Well, it comes from the MG Cars Channel actually. The video is a wrap-up of the recent MG Gathering of the Faithful (GOF) that took place last week in Akron. Although the weather turned rainy, it sounds like a good time was had none-the-less. You can see more details of the event at the GOF Central website. Make sure to check out all of the cars winning awards on the awards page. The 2018 GoF Central will be held at Lake Delavan, Wisconsin, beginning on June 27th. More info is available at the official site.