Highlights

This just in from the BBC, AutoNews, FT, and numerous other UK news sources, British sports car maker Lotus is being bought by China’s Geely. A statement was put out by the Hangzhou-based company. There is no notice as of yet from Lotus themselves. The purchase is part of a deal by Geely to buy a 49.9% stake in Malaysian carmaker Proton, which owns Lotus. Geely, which also owns the London Taxi Company and Sweden’s Volvo Car Group, will take a 51% stake in Lotus.

The Bentley Bentayga Diesel has received the Star Award at the 2017 Autocar Awards, an accolade which celebrates the cars that have managed to achieve a five-star rating during the publication’s rigorous road test. Wolfgang Dürheimer, Chairman and CEO for Bentley Motors, comments: “The Bentayga Diesel embodies the finest craftsmanship and detail, while also demonstrating immense power and presence. Only Bentley can build a car this way, and this award is a testament to our talented and dedicated workforce in Crewe.”

Our video this week comes via our friends at Morgan. World War 1 fighter pilot and Morgan owner Albert Ball once remarked that his pre-war Morgan Three Wheeler was “the closest thing to flying without leaving the ground.” – Since that time, Morgan sports cars have been thrilling drivers around the world with their unique and exhilarating driving experience, be it on 3 wheels, 4 wheels or with the Aero. Their use, however, has never extended to a “race” between a Morgan and a plane, until now! Morgan’s latest video pits their fastest model, the Aero 8, against a Pitts S2S muscle biplane in a head-to-head airfield drag race.

Bentley Motorsport will return to Nürburgring 24 Hours for the third consecutive year this week as it aims for podium success with its three Continental GT3s. Working with European racing partners Bentley Team ABT, a division of well-known ABT Sportsline, Bentley is aiming for its strongest performance at the legendary “Green Hell”. To signal the team’s participation in one of the world’s greatest racing events, Bentley is unveiling the Continental 24 – a limited edition series of 24 bespoke models for Europe based on the Continental Supersports.

Known as the Dalai Lama of the Sacred Octagon, Ken Smith is the Editor Emeritus of The MG Driver and was known for his numerous appearances at British car events across the country on behalf of Moss Motors. Ken will be inducted, along with 22 other worthy motorheads, into the British Sportscar Hall of Fame on June 2nd.

Panasonic Jaguar Racing made it a hat-trick of points-scoring races in the center of the French capital today. Drivers Mitch Evans and Adam Carroll finished in P9 and P15 respectively, scoring two championship points in the Qatar Airways Paris ePrix. These valuable points mean the British team leaps to P8 in the team standings at the halfway point of their debut season, with six FIA Formula E races remaining.

Graham Robson is a distinguished motoring historian whose working life has always been connected with fine cars and advanced engines. After starting his career at Jaguar, then running the ‘works’ motorsport team at Triumph, he developed a passion for motoring heritage and for classic cars. He has been an independent writer, historian and motoring consultant for many years, and has written more than 130 books. Robson will be inducted into the British Sports Car Hall of Fame this June. In fact, we are pleased that he will also be MC of the event.

Sir Stirling Moss has ben described as the greatest Formula One driver to never win a World Championship. He competed in open wheel racing, sports cars, and land speed record vehicles, highlighted by a victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia, considered by many experts to be the greatest one day drive in history. He will be inducted into the British Sports Car Hall of Fame in Petersburg, Virginia on June 2nd.

Jaguar has teamed up with former British tennis number one, Tim Henman to help one Scottish tennis fan answer a question from the world’s number one tennis player, Andy Murray aided by the new XF Sportbrake. When Susan MacCormick, from Edinburgh, tweeted Andy Murray suggesting the remote Bunabhainneadar Tennis Court on the Scottish island of North Harris feature on the ATP World Tour, she didn’t expect to get a reply. But the tennis ace and Jaguar brand ambassador couldn’t believe his eyes and responded by asking: ‘Is that even real?’ 

British motorsports-engineering company PERRINN has announced that it has received the first order for a brace of its new LMP1 car to race the 2018 FIA World Endurance Championship.  With the design work already completed alongside preliminary digital and crash test simulations, the as yet unnamed car is expected to be revealed in late November before testing starts in December.  With the program already at such an advanced stage, PERRINN has confirmed it is capable of supplying further cars for the 2018 season. The first two cars sold will be run by a European race team with its identity and engine details to be released shortly. Priced competitively at £1.2m for the rolling chassis, the car will rely on torsion bar front suspension with coil springs over dampers at the rear and is expected to weigh ‘significantly under’ the mandated […]

MINI is further enhancing the appeal of its model line-up in summer 2017 with a range of new design, functionality and infotainment improvements. From July 2017, all new MINI models will feature an enhanced cockpit instrument with a new night design and a fuel level display that offers greater precision. Operation of MINI Driving Modes and MINI Head-Up Display will also be revised. In a brand first, MINI Clubman and MINI Countryman will offer Apple CarPlay and an alertness assistant will be introduced on MINI 3-door Hatch, MINI 5-door Hatch and MINI Convertible models.

Jaguar XK 120: The Remarkable History of JWK 651, second in the publisher’s “Exceptional Car” series, is one of those books that is hard to classify. On the one hand, authors Chas Paker and Philip Porter have done such an amazing job detailing the story of this one particular Jaguar that the book is definitely a history book. On the other hand, this is documentation – documentation of one car, its provenance, and its current state. On on a third hand (we all have three hands right?), this is an art book. The photographs rival any automotive coffee table book on the market today. Regardless, however you classify it, this book is a delight that you can sit and read or just flip through and marvel at the images. The Remarkable History of JWK 651 tells the story of one of the six […]

Our video this week is a bit different, a spot of fun, and a bit odd. The video is an advertisement for the new MG GS out of Australia. Fun, yes. But just how much bum slapping can go on in one commercial?

Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) is continuing to take the world by storm, as the maker of the One-of-a-Kind Mono supercar has joined forces with leading Canada dealer group Pfaff Automotive Partners – famed for its dealings in motorsport and high-performance vehicles. Pfaff deals with some of the biggest marques in the world from its Vaughan, Ontario, base – just north of Toronto – including McLaren, Porsche, BMW, Audi, Pagani and Singer Vehicle Design. And it’s now added BAC to its armory on a limited-run deal, with intense interest from automobile and racetrack enthusiasts expected.

The 18th annual Aston Martin Sale, held at Aston Martin Works in Newport Pagnell and hosted by international auction house Bonhams, achieved over £5 Million last weekend. One of the surprise stars of the show was a 1996 Aston Martin V8 Sportsman Estate Car, one of only three created, originally converted to its shooting brake format at Aston Martin Works. The rather unique and bespoke Aston Martin sold for an incredible £337,500.

Giovanni Michelotti was a prolific designer, who styled cars for Ferrari, Maserati, BMW and Triumph, designing some of the latter’s most successful cars in the postwar era. When you look at a Triumph TR4, Spitfire, Stag or Herald, you are looking at Michelotti’s work. Giovanni Michelotti will be inducted into the British Sports Car Hall of Fame on June 2, 2017.

The story of the British car will be told in 50 objects in a major new exhibition opening at The British Motor Museum in Gaydon this Friday. British Motoring Treasures will celebrate the rich history of an industry that has dominated the economic and social history of the West Midlands region for more than a century.

Sir William Lyons was the founder, director, chairman and guiding force of Jaguar. That seems like such a short and simple sentence to convey the importance of the man known as “Mister Jaguar”. For over 40 years Lyons led the car company through its many iterations and shaped both the cars and the culture through personal determination. For those many years, Lyons simply was Jaguar. He will be inducted into the British Sports Car Hall of Fame in just over two weeks.