Archive for April, 2010
Jaguar : 75th Anniversary celebrations on the Mille Miglia 2010
Jaguar is continuing the celebration of its 75th Anniversary with a strong entry in this year’s Mille Miglia revival event. The company is represented by a total of 27 vehicles from around the world, including an impressive ‘works team’ of classic XK120, C-type and D-type models supported by Jaguar Cars and the Jaguar Heritage Trust. Jaguar’s strong representation in [...]
April 29, 2010
· 
Clive Goldthorp · 
No Comments
XPart : New range of Classic Mini parts launched
There are around 35,000 Classic Mini owners in the UK and demand for genuine Classic Mini parts continues to grow. XPart has therefore now introduced a range of new and improved front and rear bumpers as well as bonnet bars for the much-loved British icon. The bonnet bars will be made from stainless steel using MG Rover original [...]
April 29, 2010
· Clive Goldthorp · No Comments
China Watch : SAIC Motor’s Q1 net profit soars
Gasgoo.com/Reuters, 29th April, 2010 SAIC Motor Corp., China’s biggest automaker, posted a more than quadrupling in first-quarter net profit, as Beijing’s policy support continues to draw buyers into showrooms in the world’s largest car market. SAIC Motor, which runs vehicle manufacturing ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen, is a major beneficiary of Beijing’s stimulus measures, [...]
April 29, 2010
· Clive Goldthorp · No Comments
Jaguar XF : Police version hits the Midlands’ motorways
The first ever Police-spec XF is about to go on patrol across the Midlands. The Central Motorway Police Group has bought seven high performance Police vehicles based on the award-winning Jaguar XF Diesel S model. The Police-specification Jaguars feature the 275PS 3.0-litre Diesel S engine and a ‘Police Pack’ which includes a roof mounted light bar [...]
April 28, 2010
· Clive Goldthorp · 12 Comments
Roewe E1 Concept : Is the Rover Spiritual back from the dead?
Ash Sutcliffe, China Car Times, 25th April, 2010 The Rover Spiritual was set to be the car that would replace the ancient Rover Metro and take Rover back into the heart of mass producing small cars, which was essentially its bread and butter. The Spiritual Concept broke free at the Geneva Auto Show way back [...]
April 26, 2010
· Clive Goldthorp · No Comments
Bringing it back up to scratch
Keith Adams The ongoing return to normality continues for the Saab 9000 Aero. It’s been a horrible experience all-round – as a quick recap, I sent the car away for some repairs, then the mechanic disappeared, along with the car – and only recently has it been recovered from a farmer’s field in Somerset, windscreenless [...]
April 25, 2010
· Keith Adams · 4 Comments
The hybrid hoax
Jemma Hawtrey There is a saying in Los Angeles – ‘failed celebrities don’t die, they just buy a Toyota Prius…’ and it must be true because it’s a saying… In 1994 a bored executive at the Toyota company was tasked with building a car that was hyper efficient – it had to be more efficient [...]
April 24, 2010
· Keith Adams · 5 Comments
MG ZERO Concept : British design stars at Auto China 2010
Clive Goldthorp SAIC Motor has, as anticipated, officially unveiled the MG ZERO Concept car at Auto China 2010 in Beijing today. The Birmingham-based MG Global Design Team, led by British MG Design Director Tony Williams-Kenny, developed the MG ZERO Concept and the car now looks set to become one of the stars at what has rapidly become a [...]
April 23, 2010
· Clive Goldthorp · 30 Comments
MG Motor UK : MG-Rover.org’s Steve Childs interviews Guy Jones
Clive Goldthorp MG-Rover.org’s Steve Childs has kindly given AROnline permission to publish the full text of the wide-ranging interview which he conducted with MG Motor UK Limited’s Sales and Marketing Director, Guy Jones, on the 23rd April, 2010. How would you describe the sales of the TF LE500, TF 135 and 85th Anniversary models since [...]
April 23, 2010
· Clive Goldthorp · No Comments
Press Report : Longbridge back in full flow at last
Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail, 21st April, 2010 Longbridge is up and running again – with 25 MG TF sports cars rolling off the lines every week at the world-famous Birmingham car factory. The plant, which once produced thousands of cars a week in its British Leyland days, is humming with activity once more as the [...]
April 21, 2010
· Clive Goldthorp · No Comments
Blog : Kerbcrawling in Essex
Keith Adams A much-needed day off work, and what better way to spend the day relaxing than going trawling the ‘golden mile’ of car dealerships in Southend with my mate Andrew Elphick. It was a great idea – to idly fantasize about spending money I don’t have on cars I don’t really need – and [...]
April 20, 2010
· Keith Adams · 6 Comments
Press Report : Jaguar Land Rover denies factory rumours
Autocar, 19th April, 2010 Tata Motors Europe CEO Carl-Peter Forster has denied a report claiming Jaguar Land Rover was set to reverse its decision to keep one of its Midlands plants open. The Sunday Times quoted an unnamed source saying the firm would keep open both Solihull and Castle Bromwich, despite its September 2009 business [...]
April 19, 2010
· Clive Goldthorp · No Comments
It’s all in the detail
Keith Adams Following a nice day out at Longbridge yesterday, I decided it was time to stop ignoring all those little cosmetic issues that my Polski-Rover has and get them sorted once and for all. Don’t worry – by that I don’t mean that it’s rusting or has picked up some nasty stonechips – but [...]
April 19, 2010
· Keith Adams · 6 Comments
A Dream Realised
Sam Skelton Polski-Rover at Pride of Longbridge My very first memory, earlier even than family events such as holidays and birthdays, is of my father’s old SD1 Vanden Plas. A V8 automatic Series 2 in Moonraker metallic, it imprinted itself firmly upon first my young retinas and later my developing mind. I am sure that [...]
April 18, 2010
· Sam Skelton · One Comment
Press Report : Jaguar Land Rover factory may survive as sales rise
The Sunday Times, 18th April, 2010 Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is weighing a dramatic about-face on plans to close one of its three UK production plants. Sources close to the Midlands carmaker say that a recent revival in sales coupled with the arrival of a new management team has led to a review of the [...]
April 18, 2010
· Clive Goldthorp · No Comments
1000 miles in three days
Mike Humble That’s nothing! I hear the reader cry! To do 1000 miles in three days in a car, but okay then, how about if the car is coming up to being 21 years old? As readers of discerning taste may note, my daily hack is a Rover 214SLi, of which is now in its [...]
April 18, 2010
· Keith Adams · 3 Comments
China Watch : New MG3 images hit the Internet
Ash Sutcliffe, China Car Times, 12th April, 2010 Pictures of a future MG3 were released onto the Internet earlier today, sparking rumours of possible engine combinations for the MG3 which will officially be on show at Auto China 2010 in Beijing later this month and will probably go into production during the summer. The Roewe 350 went into production last [...]
April 16, 2010
· Clive Goldthorp · 51 Comments
MGLive! : MG6 to make public debut at Silverstone in June
Clive Goldthorp AROnline may have only just run a story about MG Motor UK Limited’s pre-launch media initiative for the MG6 yesterday but that programme has already moved up a gear with the company’s announcement that the first new MG since 2001 will take centre stage at the MG Car Club Limited’s MGLive! event which [...]
April 16, 2010
· Clive Goldthorp · No Comments
Stranded
Alexander Boucke The Munich-Barcelona Vitesse had an attack of heritage yesterday – it left me stranded at the office in the evening… Now with the weather getting warmer, the PGM-FI main relay was occasionally playing up. So far no big problem, a bit of patience and, after several attempts, the fuel pump would usually prime and [...]
April 16, 2010
· Alexander Boucke · 3 Comments
MG6 : MG Motor UK starts pre-launch media initiative
Clive Goldthorp AROnline seems to have beaten most of the Internet-based, English-language motoring media off the line by running Nigel Garton’s First Drive story on the MG6 last December. However, following SAIC Motor’s confirmation that production of the MG6 will begin at MG Birmingham before the end of this year, MG Motor UK Limited has now started [...]
April 15, 2010
· Clive Goldthorp · 2 Comments
