Highlights

The Jaguar XE has added to its already impressive trophy cabinet with major wins at two prestigious award ceremonies in November. The XE was crowned ‘Best Executive’ in the Scottish Car of the Year awards. Alisdair Suttie, President of the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers, said: “With its fine lines penned by Scotsman Ian Callum, the Jaguar XE is as good looking as executive saloons come. It has abilities to match its looks, with first rate ride, refinement, driving dynamics and efficiency.”

Land Rover Ambassador and polar explorer, Ben Saunders, swapped his snowshoes for winter tyres to put the Range Rover Sport SVR through its paces at a unique yet familiar test track near the Arctic Circle. A new film released by Land Rover charts the world famous adventurer’s journey from ice driving novice to experienced veteran in Arjeplog, Sweden, on a full-scale replica of the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit carved in the snow on Lake Udjaur.

The very first production Bentley Bentayga, the catalyst for one of the biggest investment programmes in the company’s history, Friday left the assembly line at Bentley’s iconic headquarters in Crewe, UK. Four years on from the initial concept stage, during which time over 1,500 UK jobs have been created, the car – part of an £840 million investment programme – will now enter full production, with deliveries to customers starting in January 2016. 

The McLaren Production Centre (MPC), the world-class McLaren Automotive production facility in Woking, England, won the 2015 Manufacturing In Action Award at The Manufacturer MX Awards, 11/26/2015. The award, in association with the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, is presented in conjunction with the editorial team of The Manufacturer magazine. The Manufacturing In Action Award is presented to the company that best demonstrates an efficient, modern and profitable business with examples of product excellence, innovation and customer satisfaction. It also focuses on the investment of the company in people, training, effective management and efforts to become more sustainable in both process and products. The McLaren Production Centre triumphed over other shortlisted companies such as Brandauer, Brompton Bicycles, Naylor Industries, SPI Lasers and Torin Sifan.

The Jaguar Heritage Challenge will return for a second season in 2016 as Jaguar Heritage confirms next year’s race calendar along with the driver award winners from the inaugural 2015 season. The 2016 Jaguar Heritage Challenge will take place over four race weekends between April and August and drivers will have the opportunity to race on renowned circuits in the UK and Germany – plus one more special race date due to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Caterham Cars will attend the popular male lifestyle show, Salon de l’Homme, in Paris on 27-29 November, exhibiting a selection of its iconic British road and track focused Seven models. The stylish men’s lifestyle event is in its second year, and is hosted at the illustrious Carrousel du Louvre with crowds in excess of 20,000 expected throughout the three-day show.

The Lotus Driving Academy is initiating a franchising programme to create a global network of Lotus Driving Academies in which to offer its training packages to driving enthusiasts around the world. Currently catering for over 2,000 visitors a year out of its base at Lotus’ HQ, Hethel, the franchising programme aims to increase this number several fold with the introduction of new international sites throughout 2016. Jean-Marc Gales, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lotus plc, stated: “The Lotus Driving Academy was originally established in 1999, offering a comprehensive range of driver training and experience packages for customers to relish the benchmark handling and pure driving experience of Lotus cars. The driver training packages have been developed and fine-tuned over the years to keep pace with the progression and increased performance of Lotus cars, while staying true toLotus philosophies. I am […]

The 14th Annual Kastner Cup will be hosted by Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) as a part of the David Love Memorial Races, April 1-3, 2016 at Sonoma Raceway. All Triumph-powered racecars with a current racing log book are eligible. The Kastner Cup race honors the legendary, R.W. “Kas” Kastner, a championship winning driver and team manager who led the U.S. Triumph racing program to countless victories through the 60’s and 70’s. Kas himself will present the cup to the racer he selects to receive this coveted award. Sonoma wine country is filled with activities, great food, and unrivaled natural beauty. If you are a Triumph owner or British car fanatic, don’t miss this event! The CSRG David Love Memorial Races is a very popular and well-attended event. Typically more than 175 race cars participate, divided into eight run groups […]

The famed C-Type Jaguar XKC 011 driven by Sir Stirling Moss at Le Mans, the Goodwood 9 Hours, the Mille Miglia and the British Empire Trophy Race on the Isle of Man will go up for auction next year. In addition to it being a memorable occasion when such an iconic car goes up for auction, this event will likely mark a milestone for prices paid as the car is expected by many estimates to reach the £5,000,000 mark, which is about $7.55 million at today’s exchange rate. After being sold by Jaguar into private hands and club raced, C-Type XKC011 went into the current owner’s family in 1963. It has remained there ever since, over 50 years, and his been maintained in original condition.

Goodwood has announced the theme for the 2016 Festival of Speed along with the dates and the subject for the Revival driver tribute. The theme for the 2016 Festival of Speed, which is planned to take place on June 23-26, will be ‘Full Throttle – The Endless Pursuit of Power’, celebrating the most powerful competition cars and motorcycles from the history of motor sport, and the heroic drivers and riders who tamed them. Alongside this central theme, the 2016 Festival of Speed will celebrate the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, mark 50 years since the inaugural Can-Am Series for ultra-powerful sports prototypes, and pay tribute to James Hunt on the 40th anniversary of his Formula 1 World Championship success with McLaren in 1976.

His Highness Sheikh Suroor bin Mohammed al Nahyan today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Aston Martin CEO Dr Andy Palmer for a new Aston Martin showroom in Abu Dhabi, based in Etihad Towers. Richard Foulds, Head of Property Management at Etihad Towers said, “We are thrilled to be able to share this exciting news. Aston Martin opening in Abu Dhabi is good news for us all, and we are especially pleased to be hosting their beautiful new showroom here.”

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is delighted to confirm the Zagame Automotive Group as its newly appointed dealer for Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. “I am very pleased to welcome Zagame Automotive as our authorised partner,” said Asia Pacific Regional Director, Paul Harris. “Bobby Zagame has established a luxury automotive company with an excellent track record and is highly regarded in Melbourne’s business community through the Group’s hospitality, property and investment portfolio. His passion for the automotive business and service philosophy is truly in alignment with the standards expected by Rolls-Royce customers.”

Jaguar Land Rover today announced that it is to double the size of its Engine Manufacturing Centre (EMC) as part of a £450m expansion programme. This latest news from the UK’s leading manufacturing investor is a clear signal of the company’s long-term commitment to Britain. Total investment in the site, which opened a year ago, now stands at £1bn making it the most significant new automotive manufacturing facility to be built in the UK in the last decade. The EMC is home to the high technology, low emission Ingenium engine – Jaguar Land Rover’s first venture into in-house engine manufacturing in a generation. In just twelve months, the Midland based facility has moved from prototype production to full-scale manufacture with more than 50,000 engines coming off the production line.

Our Video of the Week (VotW) this time around is a brand new marketing video from Lotus for the Evora 400. As they say, “The most powerful production Lotus ever – the new Lotus Evora 400 is a superior machine to the previous model in every aspect.” Over two thirds of the Lotus Evora 400 is new, including its supercharged and charge-cooled mid-mounted 3.5-litre V6 engine. Power has been increased from 345 hp (350 PS; 257.3 kW) to 400 hp (406 PS; 298.3 kW) at 7,000rpm. Torque has also been increased to 302 lbs ft (410 Nm) achieved between 3,500 to 6,500 rpm. 42 kg lighter than the previous model, with a completely new aluminium chassis and significantly revised lightweight composite body front and rear. The new Evora 400 is also ergonomically more refined, with easier cabin exit and entry, […]

Bentley Motorsport has announced that Team Parker Racing will run two Bentley Continental GT3s in the British GT Championship and Blancpain Endurance Series in 2016. Well known for its championship-winning successes across Europe’s top racing series, Team Parker Racing has selected the Continental GT3 after witnessing its Blancpain Sprint Series and GT Asia Championship wins, and second place finish in Blancpain Endurance Series in 2015. “We’re extremely excited to have Team Parker Racing in the Bentley Motorsport fold,” commented Bentley’s Director of Motorsport Brian Gush. “It’s important that we partner up with teams that have proven they have what it takes to run race- and championship-winning cars and we are confident that, together, we can have success.

Jaguar Land Rover North America announced that both brands have been honored as ‘2015 Most Popular’ on Edmunds.com. The Jaguar F-TYPE has been named a 2015 Most Popular Premium Sports Car and the 2015 Range Rover a 2015 Most Popular Premium Luxury SUV. “The well-established Jaguar and Land Rover brands have a lot of appeal to those shopping in the premium luxury segments on our site,” said Edmunds.com CEO Avi Steinlauf. “These awards reflect significant interest in some very compelling new vehicles.”

The Defender Challenge 2015 reached its climax at The Scottish Hill Rallies Club’s ‘Borders’ rally at Forrest Estate, Castle Douglas, Scotland this weekend. 11 teams lined up on Saturday morning anxiously awaiting the start of the final fixture of the 2015 season. The Borders rally is reputed as the toughest round of the challenge due to the mix of extreme conditions and the skill and determination required to conquer it. Combining the speed of stage rallies, roughness of hill rallies, extreme conditions of a Scottish winter and set over two days, the challenge is one of endurance as much as skill, and to top it off, one of the most gruelling of the 13 stages is set at night. It is a mammoth battle of man against nature and the weapon of choice, the humble Land Rover Defender.

Nick Chester looks ahead to Abu Dhabi, the last race of the season and reviews the team’s performance in Interlagos. What are the challenges of Abu Dhabi? The first sector is generally medium speed with a couple of high speed corners and not too technically challenging; a reasonable level of downforce works fine here. The second sector is more power hungry with two good straights and two low speed corners – a low speed hairpin and a low speed chicane so it’s important to manage these well. The final sector is quite technical with a number of low and medium speed corners where the car needs to be well balanced and work well to achieve a good lap time. Putting all that together is key – you need a car that works well in low speed corners and be good […]