Anniversary

The Lotus Elise 20th Anniversary Special Edition celebrates the unveiling of the iconic sports car at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1995. 20 years ago, the Lotus Elise revolutionised the sports car world, setting the benchmark for handling, purity of the driving experience, lightweight and efficiency. Its pioneering and advanced bonded aluminium chassis was a market-leading technological innovation at the time and over the years has improved and evolved and remains core to the Elise’s exceptional performance today. Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Group Lotus plc, welcomes the Elise 20th Anniversary model, “It is sometimes hard to believe that the Elise has been around for 20 years. It was ground breaking when it was launched and continues to be the benchmark for handling and performance in its class. Over the years we have improved and refined the Elise but we […]

Set to celebrate its 90th birthday annivarsary, The MG Car Company was founded in 1924 and got its name from Morris Garages, a dealer of Morris cars in Oxford which began producing its own customised versions to the designs of Cecil Kimber. The first cars, re-bodied Morris models, used coachwork from Carbodies of Coventry and were built in premises in Alfred Lane, Oxford. On May 1, 1924, the Octagon was registered as an MG trademark. The marque has come a long way since those early days, with the famous octagonal emblem recognised and celebrated around the globe. After several moves in Oxford, due to a growing demand for more cars to be produced, the MG moved to Abingdon and ever since the town has been the home of the MG. Arguably Britain’s favourite classic sports car reaches its 90th anniversary […]

Morgan Motor Car Company has announced a new special edition Plus 8 Speedster for delivery this summer. The new Morgan Plus 8 Speedster embodies all of Morgan’s core values and has been commissioned as part of a special line of vehicles to celebrate 100 years of vehicle manufacture at Pickersleigh Road. The Speedster, the latest evolution of the Plus 8, offers an even more invigorating driving experience inspired by a bygone era of stripped back, road going race cars. A 367 bhp 4.8 litre BMW V8 engine and a 6 speed manual or ZF 6 speed automatic gearbox propels the car from 0-62 in 4.2 seconds with a limited top speed of 148 mph. The latest in aluminium chassis developments ensure that its performance and road-holding will match its looks. The Speedster boasts a power to weight ratio to rival any […]

The British Car Club of Charleston invites you to join in the festivities of our 29th Annual British Car Day at Memorial Waterfront Park, Mt. Pleasant, SC. As we have for the past several years, this year’s show will benefit the Garrett Academy’s Auto Collision Body Shop. Benefits from the food tent and silent auction tent will help Mike Branch and the students with much needed supplies and tools for the class. In addition to the British car show itself, of course there is the beauty of the water front park to enjoy. FRIDAY – October 25th Welcome Reception – Harbor Breeze Restaurant 176 Patriots Point, Mt. Pleasant 6- 9pm. Those who have pre-registered for the British car show are welcome to pick up their packets, or you may register at this time. SATURDAY – October 26th British Car Show – […]

International icon and British car manufacturer Aston Martin turned 100th anniversary Tuesday, 16 January,  in Chelsea’s Henniker Mews the original home of the company. Founded on 15 January 1913, Aston Martin designs and manufactures around 3,500 exclusive sports cars at its Gaydon headquarters in Warwickshire every year. “I am proud to be celebrating 100 years of heritage and the best of British craftsmanship,” said Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez. Dr Bez described Aston Martin as “the coolest luxury car brand on the planet,” an argument heightened by its connection to the James Bond film franchise, featuring in the latest blockbuster Skyfall. The event in London marks the start of a year-long celebration with events taking place across the world, including a week-long Aston Martin festival in July where enthusiasts will be able to see how the car is made at […]

As the 50th anniversary of the incomparable Jaguar E-Type draws to a close, British Motor Heritage (BMH) has been celebrating an E-Type milestone of its own – the production of its 100th replacement bonnet. Best known for the manufacture of replacement bodyshells and individual panels for the MGB, MGR V8, MG Midget, Austin Healey Sprite, Triumph TR6 and original Minis etc, BMH these days also produces bonnets for the Series 1, 2 and 3 Jaguar E-Types. Supplied exclusively to Unipart Jaguar Classic and distributed by Jaguar Classic Parts, the bonnets are manufactured using the original Jaguar tooling and the 100th one (that for a Series 1 model) was completed on September 11 by Stephen Fry, Martin Pollard, Alan Stacey and Dave Jeffs, who between can boast over 40 years’ service to BMH. The E-Type bonnet is just one of a […]

Morris Minor enthusiasts from Ireland and the Netherlands joined British motoring fans to celebrate the history of the icon. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the one millionth Morris Minor rolling off the production line. To celebrate the million mark, 350 bright lilac models were produced and 10 of the special cars took part in Sunday’s rally. Enthusiasts travelled from far and wide to be part of the event, which took the cars from Steeple Aston to Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire. Oxfordshire was chosen for the event because the car was produced at the Cowley car plant. It was 40 years ago the last Morris Minor was built in this country. Denis Lynch, 69, owns one of the limited edition Minors and travelled from West Limerick in Ireland to be part of the event. He said, “I am a Minor […]

On Sunday 12 October, an estimated 10,000 spectators packed the streets of Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire to support Lola Cars landmark 50th Anniversary parade of racing cars. The impressive display of 16 cars represented the marque’s most iconic models from the past half century through to Lola’s all-new 2008 designs. Some of Lola’s most successful drivers were reunited with the winning line-up of cars supporting Lola’s Golden celebration. The Lola legends included John Surtees OBE, Richard Attwood, Hugh Dibley, Teddy Pilette, Chris Craft, Mike Blanchet, James Weaver, Julian Bailey, Anthony Reid and Peter Ashdown. Current racers included Le Mans Series driver Mike Newton, Malaysian A1 Grand Prix driver Fairuz Fauzy and Danny Watts. At midday and in brilliant autumn sunshine, Councillor Saeed Akthar, the Mayor of Huntingdon, waved the Union Jack to officially start the parade from Lola’s state-of-the-art headquarters in […]

Morris Minor lovers from across the globe will descend on Oxford this year to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cowley-built car. The iconic vehicle, designed by Mini creator Alec Issigonis, first rolled off the production line in 1948. It became the first British car to sell a million units and went on to shift 1.6 million by the end of its 23-year lifespan. As part of the birthday celebrations, the Morris Minor Owners’ Club will drive a procession of members’ cars from each year of production through Oxford city center in November. Ray Newell, whose book Morris Minor: 60 years on the road was published this month, said the Cowley craftsmanship had helped keep so many examples running. He said: “At the time they were solid, dependable vehicles. In post-war Britain they were really economical to run. advertisement “Morris […]