Rover: A History in Cars

Directors Peter Beale and John Edwards of the vilified Phoenix Four are in line for a massive multi-million pound Christmas bonus from the remnants of the Longbridge empire, it was revealed today. The two former Longbridge bosses, who with fellow directors John Towers and Nick Stephenson have already enriched themselves to the tune of around £9 million each, will be entitled to another huge cash windfall next month. Staff

Land Rover has opened a new visitor attraction at its thriving Solihull manufacturing plant. ‘The Range Rover Story’ is an interactive exhibit created to celebrate 50 years of the world’s most revered luxury SUV. Range Rover has been manufactured at Solihull since 1970, but its history with the site goes back to 1967 when the first secret prototype was conceived, codenamed Velar. The new exhibit will take visitors on a time-travelling voyage from its inception in the mid-1960s, through to the introduction of the Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Evoque. The exhibition culminates in an exciting unveil of the new Range Rover Velar, celebrating British design and engineering integrity. Staff

Chinese-owned MG Motor U.K., the British sports-car marque, is to halt production of its TF sports car for six months, not resuming until March next year. Sales of the low-volume sports car, the only vehicle now built at the once-massive Longbridge factory in England, have been slow through the year. The midengine two-seat TF sports car started life as the MGF in 1995 and was Britain’s best-selling sports car for years. It’s now sold in limited numbers in the U.K. Just 265 were sold in the first nine months of this year, although September was the revived brand’s best month yet, with 65 TFs finding buyers. The company also has orders for all 50 copies of a new 85th-anniversary limited edition. According to newly appointed sales and marketing director Guy Jones, the small-sports-car market is down 30 percent this year […]