Highlights

The McLaren 570S Coupé has been named Motor Trend’s Best Driver’s Car for 2016, beating 12 competitors during vigorous testing over the leading US media brand’s Best Driver’s Car Week.  This is the 10th major award that the car has received, and from titles across the world. Since 2009, Motor Trend, with championship-winning race car driver Randy Pobst, has gathered for Best Driver’s Car Week to thoroughly test, review, and film the year’s top sports saloons, coupés, hatchbacks, and convertibles. The 570S went through the standard battery of instrumented tests, a closed-course hillclimb on one of California’s best mountain roads, as well as hot lapping at the legendary Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Jaguar North America, headquartered in Mahwah, New Jersey, is excited to welcome the FIA Formula E Championship, the world’s first fully-electric racing series, to New York City. At a press conference today in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E, announced next year’s New York City ePrix double-header will be the first FIA-sanctioned open-wheel race to take place within the five boroughs of New York City in modern history.

Marking the anniversary of its landmark lap times when testing at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, two new videos of the Lotus 3-Eleven in full flight have been released, allowing enthusiasts to experience the car’s visceral, white-knuckle ride around the “Green Hell” for themselves. Offering never-seen-before views, the 60 second videos provide a car’s eye view of the facinating track, as it’s piloted by Nordschleife expert and professional racer Marc Basseng, during its Nürburgring testing and development programme. The videos not only show the car’s blistering straight-line speed, but also how fast and composed it is when cornering, thanks it to its advanced aerodynamics. At 150 mph (240 km/h) the Road version produces 150 kg of downforce, while Race version with its twin front canards and adjustable rear wing produces 215 kg. Since the car’s appearance at the Nürburgring, deliveries of the […]

Brand Events, the company behind a raft of successful motoring events including CarFest, Top Gear Live and the recent IGNITION Festival of Motoring has developed a dynamic new international Conference and Exhibition in London to champion and celebrate historic motorsport. Reflecting the UK’s leading role in the world of historic motorsport and rallying, Historic Motorsport International will be a platform for engineering and preparation experts, event organisers, promoters and suppliers.

Our video of the week this go-round features  a couple fast Minis at Jay Leno’s Garage. Well, I should say a fast Mini and an outrageously fast oh-my-lord-what-was-that Mini.  The show is presented, with Jay Leno, by Graham Reid of the Heritage Garage garage out in California. Graham Reid takes Jay for a ride in his vintage Mini Cooper. I you are into Minis, or any of the derivatives, you owe it to yourself to check out Heritage Garage. They carry a great supply of Mini parts and pieces – including racing and tuning trinkets that are quite hard to come by. Plus they really seem to know their stuff. For those of you who are not familiar with Jay Leno’s Garage, here is the official blurb… ‘After retiring from his perch atop the late-night TV ratings in 2014, comedian […]

The new MINI John Cooper Works Clubman offers all the style, practicality and fresh-thinking of the Clubman, combined with the high performance and sporting dynamics of the John Cooper Works range. The result is a unique and exclusive proposition that combines the John Cooper Works-specification engine and corresponding modifications with MINI’s ALL4 all-wheel drive system. In creating this potent model, able to take full advantage of the maximum possible traction in all conditions, MINI has created a powerful but practical vehicle that’s fun to drive in the true spirit of a MINI.

Jaguar Land Rover, North America, the Mahwah-based arm of British premium automaker Jaguar Land Rover Limited, announced today it has received Mahwah Township Planning Board approval to begin customizing and expanding an office complex on Rt. 17 North in Mahwah, within Bergen County, to be the site of its new North American headquarters. Construction on the existing facility will begin this year, with design by Gensler Architecture/Design Inc. The move to the new facility from the current headquarters in Mahwah is slated for early 2018. Jaguar Land Rover is in the midst of multi-year growth streak with expanding product lineups for both its Jaguar and Land Rover brands. Through the first eight months of 2016, the company’s U.S. sales have increased 46 percent and Canadian sales have increased 33 percent.

Aston Martin Racing has cooled down to the taste of champagne, after winning both GTE Pro and Am classes in a scorching 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. After clinching the GTE Pro pole yesterday, Nicki Thiim (DN) and Marco Sørensen (DN) continued their strong form to bring their #95 V8 Vantage GTE home first at the six-hour mark. Aside from the pit-stop windows, the duo led the GTE Pro field for the entirety of the race with both single stinting throughout.

Triumph Motorcycles has confirmed that the current stage of its land speed record attempt has been postponed due to the course conditions at Bonneville. Rain at the start of the week has continued to affect the team’s running during the last seven days. While track inspections have shown that conditions improved, it has not been possible to create the constancy across the full eleven-mile course required for the Triumph Infor Rocket Streamliner to safely conduct a Land Speed Record attempt. Triumph Infor Rocket Streamliner designer Matt Markstaller said: I know people will be disappointed at this news, but the safety of the rider, Guy Martin, and the wider team supporting the Triumph Infor Rocket Streamliner has to be our prime consideration. The course conditions on the salt flats have forced us to wait for another window of opportunity. The team […]

On Thursday 15 September Sir Stirling Moss OBE officially opened a new seafood restaurant and cocktail bar at the Royal Automobile Club’s Woodcote Park clubhouse in Epsom. Leading a cavalcade of classic Jaguars, Sir Stirling made a spectacular entrance down the Captain’s Drive to the delight of members and guests. Sir Stirling led the procession in a Jaguar XK120, the same model he drove on the eve of his 21st birthday, when he won the Royal Automobile Club International Tourist Trophy on the Dundrod circuit in Northern Ireland. During 1951 and 1961 Stirling won the race a further six times. Also taking part in the parade was the Jaguar C-type commemorating his win in 1951 and the famous long-nose D-type which won the 12-hour race at Reims in 1956.

Staff from MG’s Technical Centre, SMTC, which is based at the company’s Longbridge site in Birmingham, recently hosted a vehicle showcase event to profile the team’s engineering expertise and show off their ‘pet projects’, all in aid of charity and having a good time! “Their love of the job doesn’t just stop at the end of the day.” From classic cars and hot rods to a variety of motorbikes, the Vehicles of Interest Day saw a number of projects displayed – each lovingly customised and restored by staff at the SMTC in their spare time. Each owner completed an overview fact sheet to share key details about their beloved vehicle, as well as explaining engineering modifications and performance upgrades. Following the showcase, vehicles were taken to the Curborough Sprint Course in Lichfield for an ‘out-of-hours’ race club. As well as taking […]

Zenos Cars is reporting ongoing sales success, just days after the owners of the 100th Zenos model to be built took home their new car. Demand for the company’s high-performance, lightweight sports cars means that all build slots for 2016 are now accounted for, while few are left for the first quarter of 2017. Since production of the naturally-aspirated Zenos E10 and turbocharged Zenos E10 S began in early 2015, the range has been expanded with the 350 bhp Zenos E10 R and a 280 bhp upgrade kit for the best-selling E10 S. The sales network has also expanded, with the Zenos E10 series now sold in 10 markets encompassing Europe, Asia and North America.

Caterham has today unveiled a brand new model which features a rather different build process to its usual run of 500 cars a year – the brand’s very first immortalisation in LEGO form. Technicians from the legendary British sportscar manufacturer have downed their tools and picked up the plastic, teaming up with the equally iconic toymaker to create the first ever LEGO Caterham, due to hit the shelves this October.

I am beat from over eight hours of driving today to get here to Stowe for the British Invasion but feel I need to give you at least a few pictures from the fantastic street party this evening. The street was closed off, there was food, live music, and lots of dancing children. While all of the cars I have seen so far are great, a few really stood out. How about three Singer roadsters? You rarely see on of those, much less three at the same event. The Bristol pictured above was beautiful and drawing a crowd at every turn. And then there are the Healeys and the MGs and the Triumphs and the … well, you get the picture. And you will indeed get the picture because I will be posting more pictures reports as the show goes on. […]

It’s back to the future as the latest MG dealership opens in the brand’s historic birthplace. Lodge Hill Garage in Abingdon is just a stone’s throw away from the site of the original MG factory where cars were built from 1929 to 1980. Now the latest MG3 and MG GS models are proudly displayed in the showroom of the UK’s latest MG dealership. The Abingdon dealership joins one of the fastest growing brands in Britain and new MGs in the Oxford and Abingdon area have created a wave of interest. Lodge Hill’s Principal, Nigel Murrin, said: “We’ve had a huge response from people wishing us well and saying how glad they are to see the MG name back. It’s just a reminder how much passion there is for the brand.

At the London Design Festival 2016, MINI is collaborating with Asif Khan, whose installation MINI LIVING “Forests” explores three interpretations of these “spaces between spaces”. Munich/London. In cities like London and New York, affordable places to live are in short supply. House/flat shares or one-bedroom apartments that fall within a reasonable budget offer barely enough room for our everyday needs. At the same time, the world of work is also undergoing a period of change as workplaces go mobile and self-employment blooms. These developments have led to “third places” – those that lie between work and home – growing in importance. At the London Design Festival 2016, MINI is collaborating with Asif Khan, whose installation MINI LIVING “Forests” explores three interpretations of these “spaces between spaces”. They are each designed to encourage specific uses: relaxation, getting together or productivity. The […]

What are your car club meetings like? Could they be better? You BET! But just HOW? British car enthusiast Greg Prehodka was challenged with this situation when he “volunteered” to run the monthly meetings of the MG Car Club – Central Jersey Centre (in NJ) a number of years ago. After he joined the club, he found their monthly meetings boring and lacking substance. They would hold a simple business meeting and then everyone went home. So he stepped up to the plate and “volunteered” to run the monthly meetings to improve them. Greg has been involved with British cars since the 60’s and had many years of experience in helping to run other MG and British car club activities, including vintage racing, and would draw from his experiences. He also applied his planning engineering background to lay out a […]

In order to create the world’s most capable family SUV you must first understand the needs of the world’s most capable families. That’s why the Land Rover Discovery’s designers and engineers take their work home with them. Throughout the thousands of hours of development that go into making an all-new Land Rover, there’s a team of children testing, challenging and representing the needs of the modern family every day. And the toughest thing of all? Keeping everything their mums and dads do a secret right up until the new car is revealed.