Marques

An impressive 282 Jaguars of every shape and size purred into Beaulieu for the second Simply Jaguar rally which attracted as many as 634 participants. The graceful ‘big cats’ gathered in the grounds of the National Motor Museum to join the display which ranged from post-war classics to the latest models of the legendary British motoring marque.

Rover V8 – the Story of the Engine by James Taylor tells the fascinating story of the engine that created a legend in its own lifetime. Starting life as a General Motors design in 1961, but withdrawn three years later in favor of cheaper technology, it reached Rover by chance in the mid-1960s. Few other British companies then had V8 engines in production, and Rover immediately gained a special status when the V8 entered UK production during 1967. This was an extraordinarily compact design and also extraordinarily light, thanks to its all-aluminum alloy construction. It was not a temperamental high-performance engine, but had a well-proven and simple architecture that made it both reliable and easy to work on. Small wonder, then, that the Rover V8 was bought by sports car makers who needed a light, compact and powerful engine. Small wonder […]

Aston Martin’s Red Bull Soapbox team “24 Seconds of Le Ally Pally” has taken second at the 2017 Red Bull Soapbox Race at Alexandra Palace, after a dramatic performance in front of 22,000 strong crowds. With an extensive ten-minute testing program for the GTE racer complete, the team headed to Alexandra Palace in the knowledge that at the very least, they’d deliver an entertaining run.

JD Classics – one of the world’s leading classic car racing and restoration businesses –  has launched its very own five-speed all-synchromesh gearbox for classic Jaguars. Designed by a team of JD Classics’ expert technicians and a well-respected motorsport engineering company, the gearbox is available to order now. Engineered with synchromesh on all ratios, helical cut gears and a reinforced aluminium cast casing, it is capable of handling up to 400hp and 350 ft/lb of torque.

Ahead of the Range Rover Velar arriving in showrooms, retail sales for Jaguar Land Rover reached 51,591 vehicles this month, up 11.0% on June 2016. Retail sales for the quarter totaled 137,463 vehicles, up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Retail sales for June were up year-on-year in China (65.3%), the UK (3.8%), Europe (3.7%) and North America (3.2%) whilst sales in Overseas markets were down 8.5%, due to challenging conditions in emerging markets such as Brazil, the Middle East and Russia.

British sports car manufacturer, Caterham, celebrated 60 years of its revered Seven by bringing together some of the most esteemed examples in its history. Powering around the twists and turns of the Longcross test track was the original Lotus Seven Series 1. Reaching a top speed of 78mph and featuring a Ford 100E engine and aluminum bodywork, the Series 1 was the ideal, lightweight sports car when it was launched by Colin Chapman in 1957.

Making its global dynamic debut among the most powerful and extreme performance cars in the world at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the new Jaguar XE SV Project 8 claimed the hotly-contested Michelin Supercar Paddock Showstopper Trophy – just four days after the car was officially unveiled. As the only four-door car in the Michelin Supercar Run, the Jaguar vehicle faced formidable competition in the 50-car paddock, but voters in an online poll hosted by Michelin UK singled out Project 8 as one of the six most popular cars of the weekend, qualifying it for the overall Showstopper final on Sunday afternoon. 

From the freezing Arctic Circle to the dust and heat of Dubai, the Jaguar  E-PACE has been subjected to a diverse testing programs, ensuring it is not only a driver’s car but a dynamic and entertaining performance SUV too. Jaguar unleashed hell* and high water** to ensure that E-PACE worked on all surfaces and in all weathers. More than 150 prototypes were built during a grueling 25-month test program which took place across four continents to ensure not only extreme durability but that the vehicle lives up to the Art of Performance philosophy.

Our Video of the Week this go round is a fun one.  It comes from the folks at MINI, but focusses more on the love of the classic Mini. Plant Oxford employee Mike Darley’s passion for MINI started as a child. Learn about his Classic Mini restoration project and how working at MINI is a lifestyle.

With the 2017 18-day, 4000-mile ‘Jaguar XK Club Round Britain Coastal Tour, supporting Prostate Cancer UK’ completed, the 100+ classic XKs involved and their crews can now take a rest and reflect on a very successful event. The main aim of this unique event was to raise funds and awareness of this cancer which kills a man in the UK every 45 minutes. The fund-raising target was £50,000 and this has now been exceeded.

It has been described as ‘the most important Aston Martin ever produced’. And in August this 1956 DBR1 could also become the most expensive British car ever when it goes under the hammer at one of the year’s biggest auctions. It will be sold at RM Sotheby’s flagship Monterey sale taking place on August 18 and 19 during the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance motoring week in the US.

BMW will decide whether to build its new electric Mini car in Britain or elsewhere by the end of September, its board member for sales told Reuters, in a test of the country’s ability to continue to attract investment as it leaves the EU. Mini makes around 70 percent of its approximately 360,000 compact cars at its Oxford plant in southern England but the car industry is concerned about the effect any loss of unfettered access to the EU, its largest export market, could have on plants after Brexit.

At the Geneva Motor Show in March 2016, Rolls-Royce presented a truly transformative moment on the luxury landscape – the introduction of a permanent Bespoke family of motor cars called Black Badge, designed in response to the differing lifestyle requirements of a younger, more dynamic patron of luxury. Since its introduction, Black Badge has done much to attract a new generation of Rolls-Royce customers to the marque. As a result of overwhelmingly positive customer demand for Ghost Black Badge and Wraith Black Badge, the time is now right to add a new chapter to the Black Badge story.

Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) has revealed the most powerful, agile and extreme performance Jaguar road car ever – the 200mph, 600PS XE SV Project 8 sedan. The second Collector’s Edition by SVO, following the successful F-TYPE Project 7 of 2014, Project 8 is a hand-built four-door sedan with supercar performance – designed to thrill driving enthusiasts, with an extraordinary combination of explosive power, dynamic agility, and all-wheel-drive traction. To ensure exclusivity, no more than 300 examples will be created, each assembled at SVO’s Technical Centre in Coventry.

British sports car and supercar manufacturer, McLaren Automotive, today announces yet another record-breaking year in respect of vehicle sales, profitability, and financial performance. Profit before tax of £9.2M from an annual sales revenue of £649.8M in 2016 gave McLaren Automotive a fourth consecutive year of profitability in only six years, since the start of sales in 2011.  This was an increase in profitability before tax of 70% compared to the £5.4M reported in 2015.

Aston Martin’s wildest-ever car – the track-only Aston Martin Vulcan – has been taken to breathtaking new extremes with a performance upgrade package developed by the luxury marque’s new performance brand, AMR. Making its public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Aston Martin Vulcan AMR Pro sports extensive aerodynamic enhancements and shortened gearing to produce increased downforce, greater responsiveness and reduced lap times – improvements that underline its status as one of the world’s most extreme and exclusive track cars. Built in a strictly limited run of just 24 cars and delivered to customers throughout 2016, the 820BHP Aston Martin Vulcan was conceived and engineered to deliver the excitement and exceed the performance of Aston Martin’s Le Mans-winning race cars. Over the last two years, Aston Martin Vulcan owners have received step-by-step driver training by Aston Martin’s expert […]

UK automotive magazine Auto Express is the latest publication to recognize the new Land Rover Discovery, awarding it the coveted ‘Car of the Year’ title at its awards ceremony in London last night. Recognized for its unique blend of practicality, versatility, refinement and off-road credentials, this latest accolade celebrates the evolution of the Discovery lineage. Jeremy Hicks, Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover, said: The latest Land Rover Discovery is a real step up in terms of technology, design and capability from its predecessor. It’s the ultimate expression of Land Rover’s blend of ability, luxury and practicality, and we are thrilled that it is getting the recognition it deserves with this ‘Car of the Year’ title.

The Jaguar XE has picked up its 60th major global award, winning the prestigious Auto Express Compact Executive Car of the Year title for the third year running. Before the XE’s arrival, the last time a non-German manufacturer won Auto Express’ Compact Executive title was more than a decade ago. Jaguar’s disruptive all-electric I-PACE, arriving in 2018, also picked up the Design Award, voted for by Auto Express readers.