Archive for December, 2011
Blog : A Spanish Citroën Xantia finally has a glow of confidence!
Mike Humble has packed his tools away for 2011 but one last job was undertaken, but this time, not on a Rover… But he wishes it was! As I have mentioned before, Swiss Towers is situated in a deathly quiet cul-de-sac on the extreme outskirts of leafy Horsham, most of us know each other either by [...]
December 31, 2011
· 
Mike Humble · 
13 Comments
Happy New Year from AROnline!
Keith Adams As the sun sets on 2011, I thought I’d wish you all a Happy New Year, and hope that 2012 ends up being a good one for you. Usually the last night of the year is a time of thought and reflection, a pause for breath before launching into a whole new year [...]
December 31, 2011
· Keith Adams · 26 Comments
Video : Speke closure on the BBC
Keith Adams British Leyland history is full of tragedies, and here’s one that probably ranks among the worst of all – the closure of the Speke factory in Liverpool. It was a factory closure that ended up being bloody and acrimonious, and cost us the Ford Capri-rivalling Triumph Lynx… Here’s an interesting version of events [...]
December 31, 2011
· Keith Adams · 48 Comments
Essays : Volkswagen Golf – Does anyone REALLY do it better?
After spending time driving around the UK at Christmas, Mike Humble wonders if the Golf truly does lead where others merely follow. And comes to an unsurprising conclusion. Simply the best? I seem to have a certain affinity with Germany if I think and look hard enough, my record collection contains nearly everything Kraftwerk ever [...]
December 31, 2011
· Mike Humble · 45 Comments
Awards 2012 : The best of the best
Despite a gloomy economic outlook for 2012, these are exciting times for car enthusiasts, with the best cars at your fingertips for surprisingly little money. Enjoy the best new, used and classic cars – as well as an amazing online experience in the New Year! AROnline reader new car of the year We’ve already revealed [...]
December 31, 2011
· Keith Adams · 29 Comments
Review 2011 : AROnline looks back!
Well, that was an amazing year, and one we’re unlikely to forget for quite some time to come. And true to form AROnline looks back at the high- and low-lights of the year, as well as awarding the best of them. There are no prizes, of course, other than the joy of knowing you’ve been [...]
December 31, 2011
· Keith Adams · 3 Comments
Events : London-Cape Town World Cup Rally
Words: Keith Adams Photography: Gerard Brown It’s an amazing event, with a scale that’s hard to comprehend. The ERA London to Cape Town World Cup Rally recaptures the spirit of the long distance World Cup Rallies of the 1970s, and a field of classic and modern rally cars will be battling into Europe and beyond [...]
December 31, 2011
· Keith Adams · 3 Comments
Blog : Sir Alec Issigonis, 40 years on
Richard Aucock 40 years ago this month, Sir Alec Issigonis, creator of Britain’s best-selling motoring icons, retired The creator of the original Mini, the Morris Minor, the Austin Maxi and Landcrab 1800 had reached the official BL retirement age of 65. And so, left full-time employment. He was to remain on as a design consultant [...]
December 31, 2011
· Keith Adams · 18 Comments
News : Longbridge Flight Shed – Update
Words: Robert Leitch Photography: Richard Porter The latest pictures to emerge of the Flight Shed demolition show that everything of worth has gone. The overclad external walls remain, but the extraordinarily elegant and efficient pressed steel ‘lamella’ roof, its crowning glory, has gone completely. Since the previous article was posted some further valuable information – [...]
December 30, 2011
· Keith Adams · 19 Comments
Blog : Top Gear, thanks but no thanks
Keith Adams What a shame. ‘What an absolute crying bloody shame, and a missed opportunity’. It’s all I could think after sitting through 90 minutes of prime-time car-based television adventuring thanks to the ‘boys’, and their increasingly immature, pointless old car antics. For those who didn’t watch (and I suggest you do while it’s still [...]
December 29, 2011
· Keith Adams · 177 Comments
Blog : A New Year’s Rant-solution – Hybrid cars
By Gemma Hawtry – or – Stupid mode (well & truly): ON. Those petrolheads (sic) that follow the green side of things will have noticed some depressing stories of late. One of the more notable has been the outbreak of spontaneous Chevy Volt combustion. Another hailing from American shores is the (slightly dubious) calculation that [...]
December 29, 2011
· Keith Adams · 22 Comments
News : AROnline readers vote with their wellies… (or is it Jimmy Choos?)
Keith Adams After eight days and well over 2000 votes, you have voted the Range Rover Evoque as your British Car of The Year for 2012. In eight days of clicking, it was a two horse race between the MG6 and Evoque, with Solihull beating Longbridge by 0.5%! As polls go, this has emerged as [...]
December 27, 2011
· Keith Adams · 47 Comments
Our cars : Bini ‘First’ joins the fleet
Keith Adams Given the general love for Bangernomics motoring – preferably with a British flavour – around here, it might seem more than a little odd that an R56-generation MINI is joining the fleet. Especially as this one had 17 miles on the clock, and my name was the first on the V5C logbook when [...]
December 27, 2011
· Keith Adams · 80 Comments
Guest Blog : Are we nearly there yet?
William David In-car entertainment systems to keep children happy In daily life there are few situations more trying than a dispiriting car journey that stretches hour after hour. Having to conquer your own boredom and discomfort is one thing – but dealing with bored and fidgety children is quite another. And while adults may be [...]
December 27, 2011
· Keith Adams · 11 Comments
News : Halewood redundancy shock
Alan Weston, Liverpool Echo Agency workers at Jaguar Land Rover’s Halewood car plant today described their shock at being told they were losing their jobs the day before Christmas Eve. The staff affected were among the extra manpower hired by the company at the start of the year to help with the launch of the [...]
December 24, 2011
· Keith Adams · 17 Comments
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from AROnline
Keith Adams Without doubt, 2011 has been a momentous year for AROnline, and one that at times I thought it was never going to make it through. We had unending hosting problems – probably as a result of our increased readership and interaction – and ended up going through three hosts before being bailed out [...]
December 21, 2011
· Keith Adams · 78 Comments
News : Avis buys fleet of 100 MG6s
One of Britain’s leading car rental firms will soon be running the MG6. Avis Rent a Car has taken delivery of 100 MG6 GTs and MG6 Magnettes. It is the first order of its kind for MG. The cars will be put on Avis’s national car hire fleet and customers will soon be able to [...]
December 21, 2011
· Keith Adams · 45 Comments
Essay : Jealousy, dirty tricks? That’ll be the others
Following on from Mike Humble’s essay of Daewoo ownership in the early years, he also explains about some of the truly shocking tactics the rival brands and dealers used in an attempt to discredit the fledgling company. Having first hand experience of Daewoo cars in the UK some time before most others left a bitter [...]
December 20, 2011
· Mike Humble · 21 Comments
Unsung Heroes : Rover 213/216
One car that marked a milestone in the long and chequered history of BL Cars Ltd was the Rover 200 range of 1984. Another collaboration with Honda akin to the Acclaim, but with much more British input and proving to the world that we could screw a car together. Nimble, compact and with svelte interiors [...]
December 20, 2011
· Mike Humble · 79 Comments
News : MG6 diesel given a Royal unveiling
Keith Adams HRH Prince Andrew the Duke York visited MG Motor UK at Longbridge last Friday. He was given a guided tour of the impressive research and development centre, based at the site of the old ‘Elephant House’, as well as given an insight to the company’s UK model development plans. However most interesting for [...]
December 19, 2011
· Keith Adams · 96 Comments
