Archive for January, 2011
All change, and work to do
Keith Adams With the worst of the post-Christmas blues a distant memory, it’s time to start getting my fleet ready for a summer of driving and enjoying. When I parked up the Polski-Rover SD1 for its winter break, it was with a blowing exhaust and floppy gear knob – and, instead of fixing them, I [...]
January 31, 2011
· 
Keith Adams · 
5 Comments
Maestro : a tale of unfulfilled promise
Steven Ward The car Today, I visited a fair-sized barn in North Yorkshire full of Maestros, Montegos and the odd Metro. I’m a former Maestro owner, admirer and salesman, so it was not without some sadness that I pondered on the decline and unrealised potential of the Maestro. BBC Radio 4 recently broadcast a programme by Steven Punt [...]
January 31, 2011
· Keith Adams · 68 Comments
Lotus : The Day of Reckoning in the IPR battle draws nearer…
Chris Sawyer, Executive Editor of US-based website Cars In Context, reflects upon this week’s developments in the dispute over the IPRs to the Team Lotus Trade Marks. Well, 21 March, 2011 is to be the day of reckoning. That is the day when Mr Justice Peter Smith will hear arguments from the lawyers representing Group Lotus [...]
January 28, 2011
· Clive Goldthorp · 3 Comments
Press Report : Magna Steyr to build MINI Paceman in Austria
Automotive News Europe/Reuters, 26th January, 2011 Magna Steyr, which manufactures the MINI Countryman, will build BMW AG’s new MINI Paceman, the newspaper Kleine Zeitung reported. Austria-based Magna Steyr already assembles the Countryman in Graz and has won a contract to build the MINI Paceman model, a two-door “Sports Activity Coupe,” the paper quoted BMW development [...]
January 26, 2011
· Clive Goldthorp · 41 Comments
MG : Brand now set for expansion in China and the UK
MG Motor UK Limited’s parent company, SAIC Motor Corporation Limited, posted some impressive sales figures in 2010. Total year end vehicle sales have now been confimed at 3.58m units – up 31.5% on 2009 and a new record. Passenger car sales alone totalled just under 2.28m units and increased nearly 42% on the previous year [...]
January 26, 2011
· Clive Goldthorp · 8 Comments
These testing times!
It’s that time we all know and love again - yes, the dreaded MOT looms… Mike Humble There are many things in the world that drive me insane with rage, hatred or fear, examples of which include: Jenny Eclair, Peterborough, BBC Radio One, woodchip wallpaper and unwittingly finding a chocolate raisin in a bag of Revels. However, [...]
January 26, 2011
· Mike Humble · 12 Comments
Jaguar : E-type celebrates 50th Anniversary in March
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of one of the most famous and desirable cars in automotive history – the Jaguar E-type. Jaguar will be celebrating this special anniversary year at a number of high-profile motoring events throughout 2011. The company will mark the anniversary at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show and go on to celebrate [...]
January 25, 2011
· Clive Goldthorp · 5 Comments
Spot the Cla$$ic
Steven Ward Any easy game this one, you’ve probably sussed the answer already. One was assembled by men and women who were being trained to assemble a world-class executive car. A design by Brits, paid for by a wealthy multi-national. The same factory then briefly stopped assembly, the world-class executive car was built there and the plant [...]
January 24, 2011
· Keith Adams · 26 Comments
No sex in this City
Kevin Davis This is my first acquaintance with a CityRover and I bagged this 1.4 Sprite at the local car auction recently. I won it for a very princely sum with 11 months MoT and 5 months tax left to run on it and 81,000 miles but with no history and no handbook. I settled [...]
January 23, 2011
· Keith Adams · 18 Comments
Rimmer Brothers : MG TF body shells now available
Keith Adams The oldest MG TFs are now pushing 10 years old and, with corrosion prevention on all models not being what it could be, Rimmer Bros.’ announcement that a selection of new body shells are in stock is good news. These body shells have been sourced from MG Birmingham and are the final few of the MG Motor UK production run, which [...]
January 23, 2011
· Keith Adams · 22 Comments
MG Car Club : Full Calendar of Events for 2011 now available online
The MG Car Club has just released full details of this year’s more than 350 event calendar which includes everything from track days to tech talks, road runs to race meetings and sprints to social meets. However, the jewel in the MG Car Club’s crown is the organisation’s showpiece MGLive! event which takes place at Silverstone [...]
January 22, 2011
· Clive Goldthorp · No Comments
One of our Dinosaurs is missing: On the trail of a unique MG ZT-T prototype
Steven Ward I do regular Internet searches of what the country’s motor auctions have in store for us MG Rover anoraks. My search last Monday morning, at first glance, revealed nothing of note. The trade is in a buying mood currently, so there is less reaching the auctions and what does, sells rapidly. However, I [...]
January 20, 2011
· Keith Adams · 31 Comments
MG Car Club : Zed models’ 10th Anniversary celebrated at ZedTen
This year marks the 10th Anniversary of MG Rover’s launch of the MG ZR, ZS and ZT and to celebrate the MG Car Club’s ZR/ZS/ZT Register will be organising a special event – ZedTen will be held at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridgeshire on the 24th July, 2011. One of the cars set to star [...]
January 17, 2011
· Clive Goldthorp · One Comment
Press Report : Prodrive’s Richards says WRC MINI will be ‘sensational’
Steve English and Matt Beer, Autosport, 14th January, 2011 Prodrive boss David Richards thinks his company’s ‘no compromise’ approach with the MINI it has produced for this year’s World Rally Championship will prove extremely successful. The company lost the Subaru works team deal following the Japanese company’s pull-out at the end of 2008 and chose [...]
January 14, 2011
· Clive Goldthorp · One Comment
Land Rover : Defender X-Tech Limited Edition announced
Land Rover has announced a new limited edition version of the Defender called the X-Tech which will be on public display for the first time at this month’s Brussels Motor Show. The Defender X-Tech will be available in Zermatt Silver with a contrasting Santorini Black roof and wheel arches and black 16-inch Saw Tooth [...]
January 13, 2011
· Clive Goldthorp · One Comment
Press Report : MINI’s Paceman Concept confirmed for production
Arlena Sawyers, Automotive News Europe, 11th January, 2011 MINI will build a production version of the Paceman Concept vehicle which has just been unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show, said Ian Robertson, member of BMW AG’s board. Robertson said the vehicle will debut sometime after the Countryman Coupe that will go on sale later this year [...]
January 11, 2011
· Clive Goldthorp · 24 Comments
Press Report : JLR sign £1bn deal to sell 40,000 cars in China
Automotive News Europe/Reuters, 11th January, 2011 LONDON (Reuters) – Britain and China signed business deals worth around £2.6 billion ($4 billion) on Monday which include increased sales of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) vehicles to China. JLR, a unit of Indian group Tata Motors Limited, has committed to sell 40,000 Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, worth more [...]
January 11, 2011
· Clive Goldthorp · 2 Comments
When is the speed limit, not the speed limit…?
Jemma Hawtry I sometimes like to just go and drive for no particular reason – just for something to do, when daytime TV gets too much to bear (Re-runs of The Professionals, anyone? There’s a limit to the number of times I can stand a Capri haring around sounding like its got a bad case [...]
January 10, 2011
· Keith Adams · 26 Comments
News : Celebrating the Minor Million’s 50th
A number of Morris Minors were on show at the Heritage Motor Centre on the 4th January, 2011 to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Minor Million. The special event was organised in conjunction with the Morris Minor Owners Club. The one millionth Morris Minor rolled off the production line on the 4th January, 1961 and [...]
January 10, 2011
· Keith Adams · 8 Comments
Jensen : The Interceptor makes a return
Oxfordshire-based manufacturer and restorer Jensen International Automotive Limited (JIA) has just commenced deliveries of the new Jensen Interceptor R. The Jensen Interceptor R is JIA’s modern interpretation of the much-loved British classic from the 1960s and 1970s. Each Interceptor R is hand-built from an original donor car, refurbished and treated to modern specifications, boasting a GM Corvette [...]
January 10, 2011
· Keith Adams · 50 Comments
