Articles by Staff

Jaguar is celebrating an excellent team performance in the 2015 Mille Miglia with all nine cars finishing the grueling 1,000-mile endurance rally across Italy, with two cars inside the top 200 finishers. In the year that Jaguar celebrates its 80th anniversary, Jaguar Heritage headed to the start in Brescia with three C-types, three D-types, two XK120s and an XK140 driven by famous faces from the world of motorsport, TV and music. In total, well over 400 cars took part in the punishing four-day event, which started in Brescia, headed to Rimini on the east coast, before dropping down to Rome, back up to Parma – taking in historic Siena and Pisa on the way – before finishing back in Brescia. Supported by an expert crew of Jaguar Heritage technicians, the nine Jaguar entries never missed a beat allowing each driver […]

Lotus Cars is delighted to announce the prices of the new Evora 400. The latest supercar from Lotus combines high performance with the legendary Lotus benchmark handling and is lighter, more efficient and dynamically better than ever, providing a purer driving experience. UK prices will start from £72,000 (for other markets, see table below). For this price the car benefits from a high level of standard specification including 370 mm composite two piece brake discs from AP Racing, a Limited Slip Differential, automatic air-conditioning and infotainment system including satellite navigation. In addition to this, the options list includes automatic transmission at £2,000, Alcantara or Leather trim upgrades at £2,500 and metallic paint at £900. A “Black Pack” option, available at £1,250, provides a distinctive look, with selected exterior panels including the roof, sills and centre section of the three-element rear […]

This weekend, Bentley Motorsport has experienced the toughest and most challenging 24 hour race in the world at Germany’s Nürburgring. After a very positive start that saw all three Continental GT3s entered in the race running in the top ten after two hours, the fortunes of the team changed. First, the #85 car of Guy Smith, Andy Meyrick and Steven Kane was hit and spun off the track, costing a total of five hours of recovery and repair time and dropping the team out of contention. However, after repairs, the car was one of the quickest on track for the rest of the race, climbing 72 places before the chequered flag to finish P74. After consistently running in the top ten for the first eight hours of the race, at midnight the #84 car of Lance David Arnold, Jeroen Bleekemolen […]

Aston Martin celebrated ten years of competing at the world-famous Nürburgring this weekend (16/17 May) and, in fitting tribute, the #49 Vantage N430, donning the same livery as the brand’s debut entry in 2006, crossed the line in first place in the SP8 class. The weekend marked a decade since the Aston Martin engineering team entered a race-prepared V8 Vantage road car into the Nürburgring 24-hour race. The car, affectionately named Rose, marked the birth of a new generation of Vantage-based sports cars and paved the way for Aston Martin Racing’s Vantage GT4. To mark the occasion, the Aston Martin Vantage N430 – running in the close-to-production-specification SP8 class – was adorned in Rose’s yellow livery and, at 1600hrs CET today, it crossed the line in first place with Aston Martin’s non-executive Chairman Dr Ulrich Bez behind the wheel. “Watching […]

Chinese automotive conglomerate SAIC Motor Corp Ltd and local commercial vehicle distributor Weststar Maxus Sdn Bhd have signed an assembly and distribution deal worth up to RM1 billion in a move that could see the return of the MG brand in Malaysia, according to The Star. The report from the English language daily, citing sources close to the deal, states that SAIC is looking to take up a 49% stake in Weststar Maxus and will provide the distribution rights for its wide range of vehicles, including cars from the MG brand, passenger vans and pick-up trucks. These will add to SAIC’s Maxus brand of commercial vehicles that Weststar already sells. In addition, SAIC will also join forces with Weststar Maxus to set up an assembly plant here – Weststar currently builds Maxus vehicles at its facility in Port Klang, so […]

A unique collection of classic British cars will be on display at the 20th annual Red Mill British Car Day, to be held on the grounds of the historic Red Mill Museum Village at 56 Main Street in Clinton, on Sunday, June 7, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit the Red Mill to see more than one hundred of the most beautiful automobiles ever designed and produced in the British Isles, including MG, Triumph, Austin, Healey, Jaguar, Morgan, Rolls-Royce, Daimler, Lotus and Bentley. The show has been organized as a regional event of the M.G. Drivers Club of North America to benefit the Red Mill Museum Village and is sponsored by William Thomas Roadsters, Performance Garage Club and Chubb Collector Car Insurance. The car show will be held rain or shine and is open to all British cars and […]

And then … more Lotus news from London. The newly refitted Lotus Brand Centre in Piccadilly, London, introduces an opportunity to learn more about Lotus and get closer to the company’s pure and lightweight sports cars in central London. Two of the company’s best-selling models are currently central to the showroom presence. The Elise 220 Cup and the Exige S take centre-stage. The new Lotus Evora 400, the fastest production Lotus ever, will be displayed later in the summer. The main area of the new Lotus store is dedicated to a fully interactive Lotus sports car configurator where customers can chose the specifications of their new Lotus, take a look at examples of the latest range of Lotus cars, the iconic Elise and stunning Exige. Customers are then referred to their nearest dealer – of which there are 179 around […]

Lotus Cars is delighted to welcome Hexagon Lotus as its new brand representative in prestigious South Kensington, London. Hexagon is not new to Lotus having been a Lotus dealer from 1964 to 1976. Their reintroduction offers customers two Lotus dealerships in London, from their Headquarters in East Finchley as well as South Kensington. Jean-Marc Gales, CEO, Group Lotus plc, stated: “We are pleased to welcome Hexagon back to Lotus. This is a perfect partnership for us and the opening of Hexagon Lotus brings to an end a six year period where we have not had a Lotus dealership in London.” Paul Michaels, Chairman of Hexagon Classics said, “We decided to rejoin Lotus after nearly 40 years as we can see a very exciting future for Lotus and we want to be part of it. Many of our customers already appreciate […]

Often maligned, but seriously undervalued these days, the subject of our Video of the Week this week is the Triumph TR7. What we have here is a look back at the TR7 via an early episode of Top Gear. So while this is a contemporary view of the wedge, it is not a strictly historical one either. The Triumph TR7 is a sports car manufactured from September 1974 to October 1981 by the Triumph Motor Company (which was part of British Leyland) in the United Kingdom. It was initially produced at the Speke, Liverpool factory, but production moved to Canley, Coventry in 1978 and then finally to the Rover Solihull plant in 1980. The car was launched in the United States in January 1975, with its UK home market debut in May 1976. The UK launch was delayed at least […]

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars today announced the name of its forthcoming new car. The new model, an exciting and sensuous drophead, will be known as Rolls-Royce Dawn. The car was unveiled to representatives of the marque’s 130-strong global dealer network at the 2015 Rolls-Royce World Dealer Conference in Los Angeles, California today. “Our new Rolls-Royce Dawn promises a striking, seductive encounter like no other Rolls-Royce to date,” said Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes, Chief Executive Officer. “Dawn is a beautiful new open-top motor car with a name that suggests the fresh opportunities that every new day holds – an awakening, an opening up of one’s senses and a burst of sunshine. It will be the most social of super-luxury motor cars for those beautiful people who wish to bathe in the sunlight of the world’s social hotspots.” Rolls-Royce Dawn is the next step in […]

The Aston Martin Owners Club (AMOC) held its annual Spring Concours event – the blue riband of competitions for Aston Martin owners – on Sunday 10 May, with support from Aston Martin Works. The annual Spring gathering of Aston Martin owners from across the UK and further afield, was this year staged in the elegant grounds of Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, just a few miles from the historic home of Aston Martin in Newport Pagnell. This year’s Concours was the largest to date with around 350 cars on show and was attended by Aston Martin CEO Dr Andy Palmer. For the first time, the Concours included a special class dedicated to the limited edition Aston Martin Works 60th Anniversary Vanquish. Five of the six Anniversary Vanquish models were entered in the event, with Aston Martin Works’ Commercial Director Paul Spires […]

In 1930, ‘Bentley Boy’ Tim Birkin claimed his aborted attempt on the Mille Miglia in his legendary Blower was due to a lack of “due preparation”. 85 years on, Bentley has ensured all plans are in place for a successful Blower run in the 2015 event. ‘Bentley Boys’ the Hon. Sir Henry (Tim) Birkin and Bentley Chairman Woolf Barnato were to be the first British drivers to attempt the thousand-mile Italian test of endurance, in a supercharged ‘Bentley Blower’ known as the No. 2 ‘Birkin Blower’. According to contemporary media reports, however, ‘much disappointment was felt at the news of the Bentley withdrawal from the Brescia Thousand Miles Race’. This year, Bentley’s original 1930 4½-litre supercharged Blower is aiming to finish what its sibling never started, taking on the world-renowned cross-country route between 14 and 17 May. Director of Royal […]

Bentley Motorsport is making final preparations for its toughest challenge since the start of its Continental GT3 programme, the ADAC Zurich 24-Hour Race, held on the most famous racetrack in the world – Germany’s Nürburgring Nordschleife. A pair of Works Bentleys will contest the race, joined by a third car entered by Bentley’s European Works-Supported operation, Bentley Team HTP. To perform against the extreme and unique demands of the world’s hardest endurance race, some highly experienced Nürburgring experts join the 2015 Bentley Boys. The first Works car will carry number 85, and feature a special and distinctive green livery based on that of the Bentley Speed 8 that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2003. The #85 car will be driven by the three British Bentley Boys – Guy Smith, Andy Meyrick and Steven Kane – all of […]

In its 60th anniversary year Aston Martin Works played host to another hugely busy Bonhams Aston Martin Sale on Saturday, 9 May 2015, with £10.3m worth of rare and prized sports cars changing hands. The historic home of the great British luxury brand was the venue for the 16th annual Bonhams Aston Martin Sale, which saw around 50 classic Aston Martins sold. The annual sale is recognised as a globally-significant occasion for Aston Martin collectors and enthusiasts around the world. The 2015 event was the biggest to date, setting a sales total of £10,280,275 and witnessing a fascinating and diverse collection of Aston Martin-related automobilia go under the hammer in several hours of exciting and highly-charged bidding. Highlights of the day included the 1962 DB4 Series IV Vantage Convertible – originally the property of Sir Peter Ustinov – which sold […]

Luxury British sports car maker Aston Martin, along with its race team Aston Martin Racing, announced an ambitious five-car assault on the 2015 ADAC Zurich N24 endurance race at Germany’s infamous Nürburgring. Aston Martin Racing heads to the world-renowned endurance event on 16/17 May with a pair of works V12 Vantage GT3s, and has its sights set firmly on the outright race win in the top SP9 class. While Aston Martin has been racing at the annual Nordschleife event for a decade, 2015 is only the third time that its works race team has entered the top SP9 class for GT3 cars. In 2013, with the car running in the iconic blue and yellow livery of Aston Martin’s technical partner Bilstein for the first time, the team finished tenth after leading the gruelling race for more than half the running […]

General Motors has become the first car manufacturer in the world to produce 500 million vehicles, as Vauxhall in the UK – GM’s fourth largest market – celebrates 90 years of ownership by the US company. Commenting on the milestone achievement, Mary Barra, GM’s CEO, said: “During 2015, we expect to sell more than 1,000 new vehicles per hour, 24 hours per day. This adds up to nearly ten million vehicles, the most in our history. I look at this extraordinary volume as ten million opportunities to prove what kind of company we are and to say thank you.’ The landmark figure came 90 years after General Motors purchased Vauxhall in 1925 in what was the American company’s first overseas acquisition. Luton-based Vauxhall, which is Britain’s oldest surviving car manufacturer, quickly repaid GM’s investment and to date has sold nearly […]

It is Spring, a time of rebirth and renewal, and time to revive a venerable classic, the MGB. The Video Of The Week for this first Wednesday in May is from the series “Classic Car Rescue”. Classic Car Rescue, a series produced by Blink Films, has entrepreneur and car specialist Mario Pacione teaming up with automotive manager and technical engineer Bernie Fineman to restore six iconic cars, including a Jaguar, Porsche, Mini Cooper and Mustang. In each episode, Pacione and Fineman search scrapyards, wastelands and backyards for broken-down rust-buckets with potential. The pair go to work to bring each car back to its former classic car glory. With a deadline and a tight budget, they work tirelessly in order to impress an expert valuer for a glittering price tag at the official presentation. In this episode, the 3rd in the […]

Are you aware of the British Transportation Museum‘s efforts to raise funds to buy and refurbish a building?  The British Transportation Museum was founded in 1998 by Dick Smith, Mike Edgerton, and Mike Smith as they began to sketch out a museum concept for the education and preservation of British Transportation in America. The Museum is celebrating its 17th Anniversary in 2015. The British Transportation Museum is an all volunteer non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable educational institution established to collect, preserve, and interpret through exhibits the heritage of British built transportation vehicles utilized in the United States. The focus is to foster learning, appreciation, insight and a useful understanding of the role of British transportation vehicles in American life. This involves the collection and preservation of vehicles, parts, photographs, memorabilia, books and any and all articles that illustrate British modes of transportation […]