Highlights

Often described as the “mother of all rally races” the Dakar Rally is, without doubt, the most arduous and demanding automotive race in the world of motorsport. Participation in the Dakar Rally involves months of planning by the teams, the very best of drivers, co-drivers and support crews and, of course, their weapons of choice – with the MINI ALL4 Racing it is a proven, reliable performer that has claimed four consecutive Dakar wins (2012-2015) and four consecutive FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup titles (2012-2015). Lady luck, experience and respect for the terrain the competitors will cover are also major players on the final outcome of this two-week off-road racing spectacle. MINI and its motorsport partner X-raid are pleased to reveal eight crews to participate in the 2017 Dakar Rally at the controls of MINI rally cars. Three of […]

For our Video of the Week this go round I want to go back to something that gives folks a lot of headaches – tuning a dual S.U. carburetor setup. We are also going back to an old friend for this, John Twist of University Motors. While this video specifically addresses the HIF4 carbs of the MGB, the same basic principals of tuning and balancing apply to all dual SU setups. We covered the basic theory and operation of the S.U. side drafts in the past, but this video is more specific to their actual tuning. [Corrected, see below] By the way, do you know what the “I” in the “HIF” stands for?  It means “integrated”, as in the float bowl is in-line with the carburetor itself, in this case directly under it. If the float bowl is to the side […]

Jaguar has won Germany’s top car award, the Golden Steering Wheel. The Jaguar XF was voted ‘Best Saloon’ in the Mid-Full-size category, ahead of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Volvo S90. Jaguar had further reason to celebrate in the Large SUV category, with the F-PACE taking second place.

Chinese-Thai joint venture SAIC Motor-CP, which produces and markets MG cars in Thailand, has broken ground on its second assembly plant in the Kingdom, the Bangkok Post reports. The factory is located at the Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate 2 in Chon Buri province. In May, the company announced plans to build a second 700,000 sqm plant that will handle MG vehicle production processes such as body assembly, vehicle assembly, and painting under one roof. The total investment in this second plant was not disclosed, but the report estimates around 30 to 40 billion baht.

From sweltering Hong Kong to the labyrinthine souks of Marrakesh – Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s second race in the 2016/17 FIA Formula E Championship will offer a striking contrast thanks to the heady flavours of Morocco, as both the all-electric Jaguar I-TYPE and the series make their first appearances on the African continent on November 12. The British manufacturer made a solid start to its motorsport return in October, but is hoping to use the lessons learned on the Hong Kong harbour-front street circuit for its second race. Britain’s Adam Carroll finished 12th in a hectic, safety-car interrupted race, while New Zealander Mitch Evans was forced into retirement by a technical issue.

Speeds of 96mph, 75 percent gradients and a 7,119 ft. descent, the Range Rover Sport has conquered it all on an Alpine ski course that has been the downfall of many skiers (1). The Range Rover Sport is the first-ever production vehicle to attempt the fearsome ski run. Piloted by renowned race and stunt driver Ben Collins, the all-terrain super-SUV tackled the treacherous terrain on the 9.25 mile downhill route at Mürren in Switzerland, completing it in 21min 36sec. During the 7,119 ft descent, the Range Rover Sport followed the route used by skiers on the tough Inferno Mürren, one of the oldest and most challenging downhill races. It tackled snow, ice, loose rock, mud, broken asphalt, grass and gravel, helped by Land Rover Terrain Response ® technology (2). Introduced in 2013, Range Rover Sport is a genuine Land Rover […]

Following the most successful season in GT racing to-date for McLaren, with the 650S GT3 enjoying success across all continents on which it has competed, the customer racing team line-up has been further strengthened by Strakka Racing. The British-based team will field a minimum of four examples of the 650S GT3 in the full 10-round Blancpain GT Series throughout 2017, including the world-famous Total 24 Hours of Spa. The announcement marks the start of a long-term partnership with Strakka Racing, focusing on talent development. As part of the programme, McLaren GT Academy Drivers will complete the driver line-up in one car, while Strakka Racing founder and driver Nick Leventis has also been confirmed. The remaining seats will be filled during an extensive testing programme over the coming months with the full line-ups to be confirmed ahead of the first Blancpain […]

The MG Vintage Racers Newsletter is celebrating its 35th anniversary this December 2016. It has been around longer than many vintage racing organizations! The newsletter was founded in December 1981 by MGTD racer Greg Prehodka, with 40 MG vintage racers, as a way for them to stay in touch with each other and to share information. Today its ranks include over 250 MG racers in North America. It is a grassroots newsletter, sans advertising, just for MG racers. It was awarded Moss Motors “Journalism Award” in 1995. In July of this year, MGVR celebrated its 35th anniversary at the Waterford Hills Historic Races in Michigan, where MGVR also celebrated its 20th anniversary “Focus Event”.

Land Rover BAR is preparing to unveil Britain’s latest America’s Cup racing boat, which uses industry-first aerodynamic testing by Land Rover engineers to exploit and explore new areas of performance gains to make the boat faster through water and the air. Land Rover’s engineers have worked on the boat’s giant 77ft high wingsail using their understanding of aerodynamics and the computer technology gained on developing cars, including the all-new Discovery. The team has created sophisticated software to explore the detailed and dynamic performance of the wingsail, analysing 80 million computational cells in each test, which will seek definitive results to help further performance gains.

Jaguar has picked up two Scottish Car of the Year Awards, with the F-PACE named ‘SUV of the Year’ and the XF crowned ‘Luxury Car of the Year’. The accolades mark a decade of success for Jaguar at the annual awards, with the brand collecting 15 wins since 2006, and every new Jaguar winning an award since 1999. These awards are the latest in a line of major UK industry honours for the XF and F-PACE, with the British-built saloon having won seven accolades since its launch just over a year ago, and the F-PACE named Auto Express ‘Car of the Year’ and ‘Best Premium SUV’ by Telegraph Cars since its April introduction.

Aston Martin Racing has secured a third consecutive GTE Am victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship, as the team’s #98 V8 Vantage GTE stormed to the chequered flag at the 6 Hours of Shanghai. After securing pole position in yesterday’s qualifying session, the trio of Paul Dalla Lana (C), Pedro Lamy (P) and Mathias Lauda (A) performed yet another faultless display to take their fifth victory of the season.

Strong sales across Europe helped Jaguar Land Rover achieve its strongest global October sales to date, selling 46,325 vehicles, up 12% year on year. The month’s performance was driven by improved sales of the Land Rover Discovery Sport, the Range Rover Evoque and the Jaguar F-PACE. Jaguar Land Rover sold 480,349 vehicles in the first ten months of 2016, up 23% on the same period in the prior year. Jaguar Land Rover delivered solid retail sales growth across all key regions year on year: Europe up 33%, China up 29%, North America up 25%, UK up 22% and other overseas markets up 4%.

Bentley Motors has launched the company’s 2017 trainee recruitment campaign with 60 positions available for apprentices, undergraduates and graduates to start in autumn 2017. Applications are now open at www.bentleycareers.com until November 27th, with vacancies covering commercial areas including Sales and Marketing, Human Resources, Finance and Purchasing, as well as the traditional Engineering and Manufacturing opportunities.

Plans to demolish warehouses once used by the Abingdon factory to manufacture MG cars have been defended for plans to build almost 100 homes on the site. Tony Lawson, of XLB Property, said companies using the units would have the option of moving to neighboring Abingdon Business Park after concerns were raised that jobs could be lost. And he added that he was “happy to consider” incorporating a memorial to the MG car company in the plans for the 93 flats and houses on the site of the eight warehouses off Colwell Drive – behind a McDonald’s restaurant on Marcham Road.

The launch of the new generation MINI Connected app takes the intelligent link-up between the vehicle and driver beyond in-car infotainment functions which are already familiar to many MINI drivers. Based on a flexible platform – the Open Mobility Cloud – the upgraded MINI Connected technology now includes a personal mobility assistant which can help with journey planning and traffic alerts on the driver’s Apple iPhone. Android-based smartphone compatibility is in development for the future. MINI Connected, which is available as a free download from the Apple App Store, maintains a seamless connection between the driver’s MINI and their iPhone via either a Bluetooth or USB connection, making it easy, convenient and safe to enjoy stress free driving. The new MINI Connected app, which has been launched alongside the unveiling of the new MINI Countryman, sees the personal mobility assistant […]

Leading luxury car dealership Knowl Hill Performance & Luxury has welcomed one of the rarest cars in the world to its Berkshire showroom, the Aston Martin Vulcan. Penned by Aston’s Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichmann, the Vulcan is the most exclusive car ever made by the British brand, with just 24 examples being crafted upon its 2015 release. And Knowl Hill is one of the only locations around where you can come and sample the scintillating supercar in all its glory by taking a look in and around the display model.

Brian Redman: Daring Drivers, Deadly Tracks, by Redman himself and Jim Mullen, has won the Royal Automobile Club’s 2016 Motoring Book of the Year Award. It was presented at an annual ceremony held at the Club’s Pall Mall clubhouse, attended by authors, leading publishers and discerning book collectors. It’s just the latest example of Redman – who evolved from boy racer in a Morris Minor Traveller to winning the Targa Florio road race and being three-times Formula 5000 champion – beating off stiff competition.

The Royal Automobile Club (RAC)  is proud to announce the recipients of the Dewar Trophy and Simms Medal for 2016 are Gordon Murray Design and Riversimple. Arguably among the most prestigious honours in recognition of home grown British automotive engineering talent, the Dewar Trophy and Simms Medal are only awarded in years when the Royal Automobile Club’s Dewar Technical Committee deems there have been contenders of sufficient merit.  This is one such year.