Highlights

MINI UK is proud to announce British racing driver, Charlie Butler-Henderson, 37, as a new brand ambassador. 2016 will represent the first time Butler-Henderson competes as a MINI ambassador but he is in no way new to the track. He has driven in the British Touring Car Championship, MINI CHALLENGE 2015, Ginetta G50 Cup and the Trofeo Abarth 500 Great Britain. Butler-Henderson has racing in his blood, coming from a long line of motorsport heritage. His father, Guy, was a member of the British karting team; his Grandfather, Lionel, raced cars for racing legend Fraser Nash, and his sister Vicki, TV presenter on 5th gear and Top Gear, is known as the first woman to win a Maserati race at age 30 in the Maserati Trofeo support race at the British F1 GP in 2002. Butler-Henderson joins the MINI racing […]

Aston Martin and Quintessence Yachts are today celebrating the upcoming launch of the new AM37 powerboat by showcasing its innovative design during the prestigious Milan Design Week, Salone del Mobile. Now in its 55th year, Salone del Mobile is a city-wide design festival, welcoming over 400,000 guests from the international creative community, looking for the latest trends. The exhibition that will be held at Larusmiani Concept Boutique on Via Monte Napoleone from 12 to 18 April will focus on the unique design elements of the AM37. At an exclusive evening event on 13 April, Quintessence Yachts will hold the worldwide preview of the AM37, a powerboat created to capture the performance, handling, comfort and style synonymous with Aston Martin.

XKs Unlimited is one of the world’s oldest and well respected classic Jaguar specialist. What’s more, they have more work than they can handle so they are hiring. That’s right, XKs Unlimited is looking for an experienced tech that knows classic Jaguars and classic British sports cars and does very high-quality work, in keeping with their standards. The person in question should be able to cover it all from tune-ups to full restorations, engine building to vintage racing. XKs Unlimited is offering food working conditions and benefits and a great place to live. If you or someone you know is interested in the position, check out what XKs Unlimited does at www.xksmotorsport.com and then send a resume to Jason Len at [email protected].

The McLaren 650S GT3 began its 2016 European campaign in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup opener at Misano, Italy with a double points finish. Despite tricky conditions throughout, Factory Drivers Rob Bell and Alvaro Parente scored valuable points in both races of the weekend and showed impressive pace during qualifying in the #58 McLaren 650S GT3, run by new customer team Garage 59. Bell and Parente were consistently quick throughout the two free practice sessions on Friday and this form continued into qualifying. The pair steered the car into the Q3 shootout session before Parente set a 1m 33.277s lap to place his McLaren 650S GT3 second on the grid; just 0.015s off the pole-sitter. The hour-long Qualifying Race – run under floodlights on Saturday evening – was held with the track damp at the start following a downpour […]

Jaguar Land Rover has launched InMotion, a new technology business that builds apps and on-demand services to overcome modern travel and transport challenges.  Next month InMotion will begin real-world testing of a number of different services such as car sharing and car ownership solutions, across North America, Europe, and Asia in the coming months. Adrian Hallmark, Group Strategy Director, Jaguar Land Rover said: With the development of new apps and on-demand services, InMotion provides us with an opportunity to provide engaging and invaluable experiences to both new and existing customers globally. As a start-up business, InMotion combines the flexibility and pace needed to compete in the ever-changing mobility sector. It allows us to react quickly to new tech and ever-changing customer demands. With technology changing the way people travel and providing access to vehicles at the swipe of a screen, […]

Bentley Motorsport’s works team made its Blancpain Sprint Series Cup debut at Misano, this weekend, and won the first race of the event, putting the #8 Bentley Team M-Sport Continental GT3 on pole for Sunday’s main competition. Andy Soucek (ES) and Maxime Soulet (BE) chose to start Saturday’s one-hour night race on slick tyres, while all but one of the other 38 competitors started on wets, a decision that ultimately won Bentley Team M-Sport its debut Sprint Series Cup race. The victory secured pole position for the main race and handed Bentley eight valuable points towards the Blancpain GT Series and Blancpain Sprint Series Cup titles. Sunday’s main race was not so fortuitous for the British team. Running in third place, the #8 Continental GT3 of Soulet was tapped from behind and sent spinning. An hour later, following a valiant […]

Bicester Heritage is now the perfect platform to sell your classic car, with the launch of the Motor Market at the latest Sunday Scramble taking place at the 348-acre site in Oxfordshire. Motor Market allows owners to put their car in front of thousands of like-minded motoring enthusiasts and buyers, and does so in an environment perfect for showcasing classic vehicles. This is a truly unique way for buyers and sellers to come together in a relaxed and non-pressured environment. With thousands of car enthusiasts attending the Sunday Scramble, sellers will be able to present their treasured classic in ideal surroundings to lots of potential buyers.

The opportunity has arisen following the retirement of Steve Kite, who’s been working with Gaydon’s exhibits for more than 25 years, and the subsequent promotion of former apprentice Martin Brown to be the museum’s head mechanic. The Warwickshire museum, which reopened in February following a £1.1m refurbishment, says it’s looking for a skilled mechanic with a background of historic car restoration. For information about the new mechanic role visit the current vacancies page on the museum’s website. ‘This is a rare opportunity for a skilled mechanic with a sound background in historic car restoration and vehicle maintenance to join our workshop team,’ says workshop team leader Paul Gilder. ‘We look after more than 300 historic British cars dating back to the 1900s, so it is a varied role with plenty of marques and models to work on.’ Department: British Motor […]

A new and updated edition of the great reference work Jaguar – All the Cars by Nigel Thorley has been published by Veloce Press and should be hitting the streets as you read this. This 4th edition covers the complete SS and Jaguar model story from 1931 to 2015 Jaguar – All the Cars meets the needs of not only the Jaguar aficionado, but also enthusiasts who don’t have a detailed knowledge of the wide range of Jaguar models produced over the years. Illustrated in colour throughout, this significantly updated and expanded Fourth Edition comprehensively covers every single Jaguar production vehicle up to the present day, including the XE. The development of Jaguar production cars is charted, with a brief history of each model range, along with a detailed guide to exterior and interior differences, with accompanying pictures, production numbers, and […]

Zenos Cars has reported that growing numbers of orders for its E10 range have led to a rapidly filling order book for the coming months. The introduction of the E10 R at the turn of the year and continuing high demand for E10 and E10 S models means the Zenos factory in Wymondham, Norfolk, UK is currently operating at full capacity to meet demand and ensure the timely fulfilment of existing and new orders. The increasing popularity of the E10 series of high-performance, lightweight sports cars has also led Zenos to expand its UK retail network, with the appointment of two new full-service dealers. The new appointments join the four existing Zenos service agents, giving the brand greatly improved geographical coverage within the UK.

This just in from Eric Gibeaut on the Columbia British Classics X show this past weekend and all the Sunbeams in attendance. Unfortunately, I fell ill and was unable to attend, but I have been told the weather turned out beautiful and it was a great show. As at previous events, Sunbeam owners from 5 different states – including Ohio and Florida- got together a few days before the show to drive their cars and socialize in the host hotel’s hospitality suite – which also had a swap meet area that had many rare and interesting parts for sale. The plan was for everyone to participate in the group drive around Lake Murray on Friday afternoon but then the rain started coming down pretty hard. A few brave souls did complete the trip around the lake but some came back […]

Bob Frampton, who lives in Abingdon, is fishing for memories from past workers at the town’s historic MG manufacturer. Frampton has dedicated his retirement to his town’s history is tracking down anecdotes about an iconic car plant. The Oxford Mail has published this story about Bob Frampton and the book he hopes to write. Peachcroft resident Mr Frampton, 69, said: “I wanted to capture the memories that are not recorded. What people recall.”

Land Rover Classic is underscoring its commitment to providing the very best cars, services, parts and experiences to passionate Land Rover customers with the launch of the ‘Reborn’ initiative for the iconic Series I at Techno-Classica in Essen, Germany. Reborn offers 25 prospective customers the unique opportunity to purchase an original and highly collectable Land Rover Series I directly from Land Rover Classic. Land Rover Classic’s expert team has drawn on decades of experience to hand-pick 25 Series I chassis from Land Rover’s global network. Each model will undergo a complete restoration according to the brand’s original 1948 factory specification and using Land Rover Classic Parts to preserve authenticity. This includes the choice of five period finishes including Light Green, Bronze Green, RAF Blue, Dove Grey and Poppy Red. Customers will be able to select their preferred base vehicle with […]

Underlining its commitment to building exceptional sports cars that appeal to the most discerning enthusiasts, Aston Martin has ushered in its 17MY range by offering the sensational V12 Vantage S with a manual transmission. True icons of pure performance blessed with exceptional agility, each V12 Vantage S transmission option delivers its own unique character and dynamic emphasis; the manual unashamedly championing classic tradition and total driver engagement, while the Sportshift™ III transmission offers a more contemporary driving experience. Both exude the unrivaled sporting qualities for which the V12 Vantage S is renowned.

The name Tom Cotter may not be tip-of-the-tongue familiar to a lot of you, but it should be. Tom Cotter wrote the book on barn finds. Literally. He is the author of The Cobra in the Barn, The Hemi in the Barn, 50 Shades of Rust, and many other of similarly amusing titles and drool worthy contents. And don’t let those titles fool you, there are plenty of non-American cars in these books – yup, good old British barn find.  To that end, our Video of the Week (VotW) is the first in a new series of videos titled “Barn Find Hunter”. This series starts Tom Cotter and is produced by Hagerty, the insurance guys. There are a good number of things that appeal with this video, not the least of which is that it was filmed around Savannah, Georgia. […]

Jaguar is proud to announce that the F-TYPE was awarded the 2016 Vincentric Best Value in America award for the Luxury Sports Car segment. This marks the third year the F-TYPE has received the honor. The Vincentric Best Value in America awards, now in its 12th year, are model specific honors that determine the best value in each segment. Value is determined using a statistical analysis that incorporates the total cost of ownership of all vehicles for the 2016 model year along with the current market price of those vehicles. Since its introduction in 2014, the Jaguar F-TYPE range has expanded from three models to six. The 2017 lineup will consist of the F-TYPE, F-TYPE S, and the recently announced range-topping F-TYPE SVR. A new entry model F-TYPE will feature a supercharged 340-hp 3.0L V6 mated to the 6-speed manual […]

Bentley unveils today the revised Continental GT Speed, raising the bar even further in terms of exclusivity and performance. The fastest production Bentley ever, with a top speed of 206 mph (331 km/h), now delivers even more power and torque, and a striking new Black Edition model joins the Speed family. Engineers at Bentley in Crewe have developed even more muscle from the Continental’s iconic 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged W12 engine. The GT Speed now produces 642 PS – up from 635 PS – and 20 Nm of extra torque, bringing its total to a forceful 840 Nm. This additional torque is applied through the entire rev range via careful reoptimisation of boost control, raising the Grand Tourer’s renowned “torque plateau” of continuous maximum torque delivery from 2,000-5,000 rpm, and bringing even greater acceleration performance. As a result, the 0-60 mph sprint […]

The Queen’s Bentley Mulsanne limousine has gone on sale for just under £200,000 on Auto Trader in the UK. This rolling piece of history was reserved for exclusive use by the Monarch during a two-year period from 2012 to 2014 when the Bentley was retired from Royal duties. The Mulsanne was pressed into service by the Queen during her Diamond Jubilee celebrations and for a unique visit to 10 Downing Street where she attended her first-ever cabinet meeting with Prime Minister, David Cameron, who greeted her on her arrival. The limousine was first prepared and registered by Bentley in Crewe at its headquarters for exclusive use by the Queen. The Royal wheels features several upgrades including walnut burr veneered picnic tables, door panels and rear quarter vanity mirrors. There are embroidered Bentley emblems to all seats and the car runs […]