Events

Our Video of the Week this week is of the TR Drivers Club Bullet Run, which we featured yesterday. The video itself comes by way of our friend John Clancy at TriumphDVD. June 2016 saw the inaugural Bullet Run hosted by the TR Drivers Club. The event commemorated the life of Tony Lee (Standard-Triumph’s Chief Development Engineer) who sadly died in September 2015. The Bullet Run re-traced the old Standard-Triumph test route which saw all the new and forthcoming models taken down to Bwlch y Groes in Wales. Gordon Birtwistle worked for Tony for over 20 years at Triumph as High-Speed Development Engineer and did an extensive interview with me in front of an audience of about 60 after the Saturday dinner. This video is the opening ten minutes.

The TR Drivers Club hosted the Bullet Run on the weekend of 17th to 19th June to commemorate the passing of Standard-Triumph’s Chief Development Engineer, Tony Lee, who sadly died in September last year.  The famous TR7 prototype photos with Tony at Bwlch y Groes in Wales were the inspiration for this event and although these are the only known photos of Triumph development vehicles at the location it was a test route used regularly by management and senior staff.  Known at the Canley factory as “Ride & Drive” it was a fairly thorough test with up to 300 miles along varied roads that culminated at the scenic Bwlch y Groes location.  The TR Drivers Club organizers sought to reproduce the “Ride & Drive” route and invited owners of all Triumph models to take part.     The host hotel […]

Aston Martin is celebrating another fabulous Festival of Speed after four days at glorious Goodwood, where a sell-out crowd witnessed the very best that the luxury British sports car brand has to offer. Billed as the world’s largest automotive garden party, the Goodwood Festival of Speed began in 1993 in the grounds of Goodwood House in West Sussex and has since become the automotive highlight of the British summer season.

The 54th National Austin 7 Rally takes place at Beaulieu on Sunday 3rd July and holds one of the longest unbroken runs for a one-marque club using the same venue for its annual event. For one enthusiast the event will mark a particularly significant milestone. Bertie Fowler, who bought his first Austin 7 in 1966, will be attending his 50th rally. He purchased the 1936 ‘Nippy’ (one of the relatively few production sports models that Austin made) at the age of 19, negotiating the £90 deal in darkness by the Derby Grandstand at Epsom racecourse. It was, he says, ‘the best buy I ever made’. Years of happy motoring followed, even in the face of what Bertie describes as ‘the usual Nippyisms’ of the doors flying open when negotiating fast corners. The car came off the road in 1976 and […]

The primary purposes of this road trip were (are? I am still on it) to see my friend Gene Gillenwater in Ohio, to attend the MG national meet in Louisville, KY, and to simply get out and drive and see some countryside. I have done all of those, and I am still on the road! The first leg of the road trip took me from Charleston, SC, over some of the worst roads I have ever seen, through North Carolina and a bit of Tennessee up into Virginia. Seriously, the roads in my own home state are the worst I have seen and are in dangerously bad shape. We should be ashamed of ourselves. The second leg of the trip was from Bristol, VA, through Abingdon, VA, because no self-respecting British car fan could pass up going to Abingdon, and […]

McLaren Automotive will return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this summer celebrating race wins and titles spanning more than five decades. McLaren will honour the drivers and championships where the team has claimed the top step of the podium, in the ultimate expression of ‘Full Throttle – The Endless Pursuit of Power’. McLaren House will once again return to the lawns of the Goodwood Estate, with iconic racers displayed alongside the full range of modern-day McLaren models in the Sports Series, Super Series and Ultimate Series. The broad selection of models, spanning more than 50 years of the McLaren name, will be the most extensive display of McLaren models ever showcased, including the new 570GT. As in previous years, McLaren will also be present in the Supercar Paddock with models from each of the three tier range. The recently announced […]

Over half of the world’s Minis are boys, with the most popular name being Marvin, according to the world’s first ever Mini Census. The survey, carried out by the organisers of Mini World Live, which takes place at Rockingham Motor Speedway, Northants, on July 10, 2016, received responses from Mini owners all over the globe, including places as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Malta and the USA. The results show that in total, 51% of the world’s Mini population is male, 35% are female and 14% are neither – although anyone who’s ever owned a Mini knows it’s more than just a car.

The Concours of Elegance began in 2012, showcasing sixty of the world’s finest cars at Windsor Castle to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Since then it has moved to St James’s Palace and Hampton Court Palace, before heading to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh in 2015. This year’s fifth edition of the Concours returns to Windsor Castle as part of a celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday. The Main Concours Sixty of the world’s rarest cars will gather in the exclusive Quadrangle at Windsor Castle this September – the full list of which is revealed by the Concours Steering Committee today.  A 1900 Daimler 6hp owned by Her Majesty The Queen represents one of the earliest cars in attendance, first bought by King Edward VII as the first Royal motorcar.

OK, so I am a day or two late, but … let’s get on with it.  This is British Car Week!! Get out there and drive those cars and let the world know we are still on the road. I will just quote from Scott Helms here to tell you about British Car Week. Scott has the “official” British Car Week site, and is the keeper of this flame, so here goes … The idea came about during the early spring of 1997 after reading an article written by Road & Track columnist, Peter Egan (Side Glances), in the March, 1997 issue of Road & Track Magazine, titled “Seldom seen cars.” Peter writes in his article about his trip to the Dentist’s office, which spawned a conversation about cars. While sitting in the Dentist chair with his mouth full of […]

‘Mr Motor Racing’, Sir Stirling Moss OBE, has confirmed his attendance at Flywheel 2016. The British legend, who won 212 of the 527 races he entered between 1948 and 1962, attends with his wife Susie and will be signing autographs for festival-goers throughout the weekend, as well as being reunited with a number of his race-winning cars. Stirling said: “Susie and I are thrilled to be making our first visit to Flywheel. It should be an action-packed weekend, full of fun for all the family. We look forward to seeing you there!” Historic aircraft and competition cars, classic road cars and military machines will converge on Bicester Heritage in Oxfordshire for the weekend of July 2nd and 3rd 2016, when Flywheel returns to the UK’s best-preserved Second World War bomber station. Joining Stirling at Flywheel will be the Lotus 18 […]

The organisers of the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show have revealed that this year’s show theme is Heroes and Heroines. Held from Friday 11th to Sunday 13th November, clubs and exhibitors are invited to pay tribute to the people and motors that are their inspiration. Dan Nwaokolo, Show Director, explains: “Everyone has a hero, something or somebody that inspires and encourages them, and with the timing of this year’s show, being Remembrance weekend, we simply had to recognise the brave men and women who have served their country, so this theme was the perfect choice.” The 250 exhibiting clubs are encouraged to get creative with their displays and to interpret the theme in their own unique way.

On Thursday 19 May, the Royal Automobile Club hosted ‘A Salute to Women in Motor Sport’ dinner, celebrating the achievements of women across the whole spectrum of the sport and the motor sport industry. The evening was hosted by Louise Goodman, award-winning TV presenter and journalist with over 20 years in the motor sport industry who went around the room and spoke to 15 different women involved in the motor sport business. Some of the inspiring special guests and attendees included Claire Williams, who brought along nine members of the Williams Martini Racing Formula 1 team, from technical, engineering and other areas of the business. Sir Stirling and Lady Susie Moss came to show their support, along with the Secretary of the BRDC, Gillian Carr. Keeping it all in the family, there were two pairs of sisters in attendance; historic […]

According to the iconic TV advert, Minis have feelings too… But then that’s hardly surprising, as the Mini, be it modern or classic, has one of the biggest personalities on the road. And to find out just how much character owners apply to their four-wheeled friends, the organisers of the UK’s biggest and best Mini shows are carrying out the world’s first Mini Census ahead of Mini World Live, which takes place on Sunday, July 10 at Rockingham Motor Speedway, Northants.   The census aims to find out the gender split between Minis – whether they’re male or female, where they live, the average age of their owners and, most importantly, what the top 10 names for Britain’s Minis are. So whether yours is Mickey or Minnie, old or new, Mini World Live is calling for you to help build up a […]

Visitors to Concours of Elegance 2016 – held at Windsor Castle from 2-4 September –  will have the unique opportunity to see four of the remaining 1926 British Grand Prix cars in one place. In a celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday, the historic racing cars will be joined by a revolutionary British car from each decade of Her Majesty’s life. Organised by the Royal Automobile Club, the very first British Grand Prix took place at Brooklands Motor Circuit, Surrey, in the year of Her Majesty The Queen’s birth, 1926. A total of 11 cars took part, with just three finishing the race, and Concours of Elegance 2016 will mark the first time that this many competitors have gathered since the race 90 years ago.

An innovative historic vehicle restoration course and apprenticeship scheme is moving to Bicester Heritage, the centre for automotive excellence based in Oxfordshire. The course, run by Active Learning and Banbury and Bicester College, equips students with the skills they need to go on to a career in the historic motoring industry. The move to Bicester Heritage means that they will be able to study in a supportive environment surrounded by businesses and experts practising the skills that they are looking to emulate.

More than 180 cars are due to attend the Fawley Hill Concours d’Elegance for the Total Trophy, presented by international auctioneers COYS at this year’s steam and vintage weekend, which takes place between Friday 20th May and Sunday 22nd May. On all three days over the weekend, COYS alongside their corporate partners leading International oil and gas company Total, will be providing a fabulous hand-picked selection of very high-quality classic cars, which will all be competing for the People’s Choice award, the Total trophy.

This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed (June 23-26) will host the global debut of the first design model of the current generation of MINIs, MINI Seven. Taking its name from the very first Mini, the 1959 Austin Seven, MINI Seven has been designed to fuse the brand’s classic heritage with modern design and technology. MINI Seven joins the current MINI Hatch range in 5-door or 3-door form and features specially designed exterior and interior looks unseen before on this generation’s model line-up.

British Motor Heritage (BMH) has been a strong supporter of MGLIVE! and this year’s meeting at Silverstone on June 4/5 will mark its most comprehensive presence at ‘the world’s largest MG event’ to date. The company’s stand will feature a range of vehicles built from BMH replacement body shells and a large sample of other parts for classic MGs. Complementing this quality hardware will be a major selection of motoring products available via the company’s ever-growing online brand, Motoring Classics. They will include: MG-branded leather cases, travel bags, driving gloves and key rings MG-branded leisurewear by Auto Club Racing Moto-Lita steering wheels EBC brakes Tex original equipment wash/wipe and mirror products Other items by such respected brands as: Samco Revotec Zircotec Visitors to the stand are assured of a warm welcome, where BMH’s comprehensive and illustrated 2016 parts catalogue, the […]