Mille Miglia Reflections – Jaguar Team on Film

May 29, 2015 Staff Comments Off

Following a hugely successful Mille Miglia in 2015, Jaguar Heritage has released a film of this year’s rally, giving viewers an in-depth look at an event once described as ‘The most beautiful race in the world’. In the year that Jaguar celebrates its 80th anniversary, the official Jaguar Heritage team headed to the start in Brescia with three C-types, three D-types, two XK120s and an XK140 driven by famous faces from the world of motorsport, TV and music. Following the Jaguar Heritage cavalcade were a group of media guests driving various examples of new Jaguar XE and latest generation of F-TYPE sports cars. Supported by an expert crew of Jaguar Heritage technicians, the nine Jaguar entries ran smoothly throughout the gruelling four-day event. Driven by the likes of supermodel David Gandy, model and TV presenter Jodie Kidd, and musician Elliot […]

British Transportation Museum in Ohio

May 4, 2015 Staff Comments Off

Are you aware of the British Transportation Museum‘s efforts to raise funds to buy and refurbish a building? The British Transportation Museum was founded in 1998 by Dick Smith, Mike Edgerton, and Mike Smith as they began to sketch out a museum concept for the education and preservation of British Transportation in America. The Museum is celebrating its 17th Anniversary in 2015. The British Transportation Museum is an all volunteer non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable educational institution established to collect, preserve, and interpret through exhibits the heritage of British built transportation vehicles utilized in the United States. The focus is to foster learning, appreciation, insight and a useful understanding of the role of British transportation vehicles in American life. This involves the collection and preservation of vehicles, parts, photographs, memorabilia, books and any and all articles that illustrate British modes of transportation […]

Australia MG Club Driving From Argentina to Alaska

May 2, 2015 Staff Comments Off

There is a very good story over the King 5 News site out of Seattle, Washington, about the MG Club of Victoria, Australia. The group now consisting of five of the British built sports cars is on its way to Canada next, then Alaska. “Four months in this car is the best way to go,” said Sue Slater, the group’s blogger. Having first shipped their 40- to 50-year- old cars by container ship from Australia to Chile, the group’s been on an incredible driving tour from the tip of South America to finally ending in Skagway in the next few weeks. Their trip started on January 5. The oldest car was built in 1961, the newest in 1978. Considering the 20,000-mile long trip, repairs have been necessary and ranged from the expected electrical glitches to blown head gaskets to bad […]

Jaguar Announces Line-up for Mille Miglia 2015

May 1, 2015 Staff Comments Off

British sports and luxury car manufacturer Jaguar has assembled a team of high profile stars from the worlds of music, entertainment, fashion, design and motorsport as it prepares to compete in the legendary Mille Miglia celebratory tour from 14-17 May this year in Italy. The exciting line-up of drivers for the Jaguar Heritage Mille Miglia team features household names including Example (aka Elliot Gleave), David Gandy, Jodie Kidd, James Martin and Charley Boorman. The Jaguar Heritage team will cover more than 1,000 miles from Brescia-Rome-Brescia in nine of the marque’s most celebrated models. These iconic Jaguar cars will be put through their paces on the gruelling route, which takes place over four punishing but unforgettable days starting in Brescia, heading to Rimini, Rome, Parma and then back to Brescia. Crowds lining the Mille Miglia route will get to see examples […]

Jaguar’s Ian Callum Wins Designerati Award

April 25, 2015 Staff Comments Off

Ian Callum, Jaguar’s Director of Design, has won the Designer of the Year Award after taking the number one position in The Drum’s second annual Designerati – a list celebrating the top 100 most influential individuals in UK design. The expert panel of judges decided Ian is this year’s most influential UK designer finishing top ahead of Maggie Hodgetts, Head of Graphic Design at Waitrose and Christopher Bailey, Chief Creative Officer at Burberry in second and third place respectively. Stephen Lepitak, editor of The Drum, said: “Ian Callum is a visionary of British design. From his roots at Ford in the 1970s, to his craftsmanship on Aston Martin, his influence on car design is legendary. “His beautifully simple designs, including the 2013 Jaguar F-TYPE and the new XF, unveiled last month, have ushered in a new era for Jaguar, breathing […]

Best Year for Lotus Cars’ Sales Since FY 2008/9

April 7, 2015 Staff Comments Off

Today, Lotus is pleased to announce a 55% rise in its global sports car sales at the conclusion of the 2014/15 financial year. For the full year, the company has increased its sales volume to an excellent 2015 units, contrasted with 1,296 units in the year 2013/14. This is the best result achieved by Lotus since FY 2008/09. Key global markets showing the renaissance experienced by Lotus are in China (+186%), France (+177%) and Germany (+130%), while Japan (+103%) remains the company’s largest export market. Sales in the UK have more than doubled to 346 units (+102%). The USA market, which sells the Evora range as a road car and the Elise and Exige ranges for track use only, has increased by 24%. Leading the excellent performance is the Elise range, with a 80% increase in volume to 729 cars. […]

Carroll Shelby’s MGTC Goes Home Again

April 3, 2015 Staff Comments Off

Carroll Shelby‘s son Patrick and grandson Aaron made the winning $539,000 bid at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction in January to return Carroll’s first race car to the family home in Dallas, making the diminutive but singular 1949 MG TC the world’s most expensive MG for a long time to come. Per the description on the Barrett-Jackson website: The first car that Carroll Shelby drove in a road race. The car that started his racing career. In May of 1952, his good friend Ed Wilkins let Carroll Shelby drive this MG TC in a road race at Norman, Oklahoma. It was Shelby’s first sport car race. He won it, and the second race, too, easily outrunning the Jaguar XK120’s. That race and this car changed the course of his life as he went on to achieve immortality as creator of the Shelby […]

Spectator Dies at Nurburgring

March 29, 2015 Staff Comments Off

Young British sportscar driver Jann Mardenborough has been involved in a crash in a race in Germany which has resulted in the death of a spectator. Mardenborough was competing in the VLN1 event at the Nurburgring Nordschliefe when his Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 flipped up in the air as it crested a rise in the circuit. With the nose of the car pointing up in the air, it soared for around 30 metres before landing on its tail and bouncing over the catch-fencing into a crowd of people. A VLN statement read: ‘The opening round of the VLN Endurance Championship at the Nurburgring was marred by an accident on Saturday which injured several spectators. ‘One of the spectators died, despite the immediate actions of the rescue crew in the medical centre at the circuit. The other injured spectators have been taken […]

MG Using Benedict Cumberbatch in Thailand

March 19, 2015 Staff Comments Off

MG is using Benedict Cumberbatch in a series of very ‘Sherlockian’ ads for their launch of the MG3 in Thailand. All those sightings of Benedict in London filming a few days ago can now be officially confirmed that he was indeed filming an advert for the 2015 MG GS crossover car. You can view some of the videos here with even the music echoing to the famous detective. More of these videos and Benedict in Thailand – http://events.youku.com/2015/mggs/

VotW – Top Gear in the Beginning

March 11, 2015 Staff 1

Most automobile enthusiasts love the BBC program Top Gear. Actually, a lot of people who don’t care a wit about cars enjoy the program as well. At least the version of the show from the UK as created by the BBC. We won’t talk about the US version. In fact, let’s forget I brought it up at all. The British version, the real version, of Top Gear is a phenomenon. By many accounts it is the most watched factual, meaning not drama or fiction, program in the world. Though originally a regional program hosted by Angela Rippon, one of the main reasons for the current popularity is host Jeremy Clarkson. Clarkson hosts along with co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond. Not only is Clarkson humor, entertaining, and a good driver, he is loud, rude, and prone to get into trouble […]

Veteran Receives Restored MG at Show

March 2, 2015 Staff Comments Off

According to the New Orleans Picayune, while tailgating at a New Orleans Saints game, Kim and Matt Cole were introduced to veteran Robert Phillips. It was an auspicious meeting, as Kim Cole was looking for someone to fix a 1972 MG, originally a gift from her mother to her father, that she inherited. Matt was supposed to be the caretaker of the car, but due to injuries sustained in 2005 during a tour of duty as a Marine in Afghanistan, he is in a wheelchair, and could not keep up with it. Kim and Phillips said he would do it at no cost, as a thank-you for Matt’s service to our country. Soon, other members of the club found out and 20 volunteered to work on it, beginning on Jan. 3, 2015, at no cost to the Coles. What started […]

Carmen Jordá Closer to Lotus F1 Team Goal

February 27, 2015 Staff Comments Off

Carmen Jordá is one step closer to her goal of racing in Formula 1 today, as it was announced she would be joining the Lotus F1 Team family for the year as a Development Driver. With her sights firmly set on driving the E23 Hybrid before the year is out, Carmen will work closely with the team on an intensive simulator programme in Enstone, while being put through her paces thanks to a comprehensive fitness regime to prepare for the opportunity. Combined with attending Grands Prix and tests for Lotus F1 Team, Carmen’s role will focus on assessing the latest developments of the team’s 2015 challenger. With racing experience in both Europe and America, Carmen’s distinctive perspective will serve to further enhance the E23’s evolvement curve. Daughter of ex-driver Jose Miguel Jorda, Carmen Jordá has been racing professionally since 2001 […]

Lister Car Founder Brian Lister Passes at 88 Years Old

December 19, 2014 Staff Comments Off

The founders of most automakers aren’t still with us. Enzo Ferrari, Ettore Bugatti, Henry Ford, Louis Chevrolet, Kiichiro Toyoda, Soichiro Honda and so many others have long since left this world. Those who are still with us – like Christian von Koenigsegg, Horacio Pagani and Elon Musk – got into the game much later. Brian Lister hit the scene a long time ago, but until just the other day, he was still with us. But now his time on the racing circuit has come to an end. The founder of Lister Cars, one of Britain’s most legendary racing constructors, was born on July 12, 1926, the scion of a proud family of engineers. After training as an engineer himself, he joined the Royal Air Force just after the end of the Second World War, and soon after started trading up […]

Passing of Al Moss

October 7, 2012 Staff Comments Off

Al Moss, the founder and spirit of Moss Motors, passed away Tuesday night, September 25, 2012. Moss Motors writes, “Here in our building and in our catalogs, Al’s presence is still palpable and will be, we hope, as long as we are in business. We are better because of it.” Moss Motors didn’t start out to be a restoration parts business at all, and if E. Alan Moss had bought a Ford instead of an MG TC things might have turned out very differently indeed! Al was then a young man living in the emerging Los Angeles powerhouse, and the lure of the TC, known as “The Sports Car America Loved First,” was irresistible. After reading about the successful road rallies being held on the East Coast, Al decided to organize one of the first West Coast rallies, this being the summer […]

Robbie Williams Can’t Drive

June 21, 2011 Staff Comments Off

Robbie Williams has admitted he still can’t drive a car at the age of 37. The British singer struggles to get around Los Angeles, where he lives with wife Ayda Field, because he has never passed his driving test. He said: “I don’t have a driver’s licence. In London you just don’t drive because the traffic is terrible, so you get cabs to go everywhere, which has left me being 37 and still without a driver’s licence in Los Angeles.” Although he can’t drive, the Take That star – who has teamed up with country music star Bob Paisley to record ‘Collision of Worlds’ for the forthcoming ‘Cars 2’ movie – is fascinated by cars and loves watching motor racing on television. In an interview organised by Disney and posted on Robbie’s official website, he said: “We have Formula 1 […]

Sad Day – Stirling Moss Retires

June 16, 2011 Staff Comments Off

Racing legend Sir Stirling Moss OBE has retired from racing, closing the door on a competitive racing career that has spanned more than 60 years. During qualifying for the Le Mans Legends race at the wheel of his Porsche RS 61, Moss made the decision to retire from the sport he loves. On his retirement Stirling said, “This afternoon I scared myself and I have always said that if I felt I was not up to it or that I was getting in the way of fellow competitors, then I would retire.” Moss leaves motor racing as one of the most recognised racing drivers in the world, having raced from the age of 18, winning the British Grand Prix twice, the Monaco Grand Prix three times, the Mille Miglia, the Targa Florio and the Tourist Trophy, as well as countless […]

British Motorists Lose Their Cars

June 7, 2011 Staff Comments Off

More than half (56 per cent) of British motorists have at some point forgotten where they parked, according to a poll. And three per cent of these forgetful motorists have called their breakdown service to help them find their car, the survey by Confused.com found. Women appear to have more memory lapses than men, with 63 per cent of female drivers forgetting where they parked compared with 43 per cent of males. The survey did not report on whether or not the women misplaced their cars, and perhaps the associated male drivers, on purpose. One has to wonder!

You Car as Fellow Traveller

June 5, 2011 Staff Comments Off

On a recent Saturday, Blaine Benson sifted through a folder of documents, the remains of a road trip taken 40 years ago. Among the ephemera were Pan Am airline tickets, ferry receipts, invoices for car repairs and a mileage log, handwritten on white notepad pages. “It’s the family story,” Mr. Benson, a computer systems engineer, said of the archive. It is the chronicle of a continent-crossing journey, stretching nearly equator to pole, that his parents once made in a 1962 MGB roadster. “My dad had a thing for sports cars,” Mr. Benson, 41, said. “He had a Triumph TR3. He was a bit of a car freak.” Mr. Benson’s father, Skip, bought the MGB in 1967 for about $1,000 in Puerto Rico, where he and his wife, Barbara, were training Peace Corps volunteers. When their work contract expired later that […]

Phil Hill to Be Celebrated at Monza

June 3, 2011 Staff 1

The 59th Coppa InterEurope Storica Event, round four of the FIA Historic Formula One Championship Series at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, will add another piece of history to its racing weekend June 3-5, while honoring a special moment in American motor racing history. Scuderia del Portello, together with Lawrence Auriana, will hold a race for 1.5-liter Grand Prix cars, titled “The Phil Hill Trophy,” celebrating the 50th anniversary of Phil’s victory at Monza and subsequent World Championship Title. Alma Hill, Phil’s widow, and son Derek, will present the trophy and honor America’s first Formula 1 Champion who succumbed to Parkinson’s disease in 2008, at the age of 81. At Monza in September 1961, Phil Hill clinched the 1961 Formula 1 World Championship at the wheel of a Ferrari 156. The quiet, unassuming, Santa Monica-resident, led the way to Europe for a […]

Passing of Tony Barnhill

January 27, 2010 Staff 1

I just got this message and thought it appropriate to post it. Dear BCF Member, Most of you who frequent the British Car Forum know our MG forum moderator, Tony Barnhill. Some of you already know this, but for those who don’t it is with great sadness that I much inform the members of BCF that Tony was killed in a head-on collision near his home in Gurley, Alabama on Monday, 25 Jan 2010. His wife was seriously injured as well and remains in ICU. The accident occurred Monday morning, 25 Jan 2010. Tony had been a dear friend and one of my Moderators for over nine years. In that time he helped countless enthusiasts from around the world solve their MG and other British car problems. Many of you knew him personally; some only knew him from the internet. […]