Archive for January, 2012
News : MG Motor UK – brand-building set to gain momentum at Brands Hatch
Words: Clive Goldthorp Photographs: Simon Davies/Pegasus Photographics MG Motor UK Limited’s works British Touring Car Championship team, MG KX Momentum Racing, was officially launched at MG Birmingham yesterday. Guy Jones, the company’s Sales and Marketing Director, geniunely believes that he has assembled a ‘Dream Team’ and those present were left in no doubt that the [...]
January 31, 2012
· 
Keith Adams · 
19 Comments
Not their finest hour : Austin Maestro 1.3HLE
AROnline takes a look back at some of the memorable automotive blunders in more recent times from both our own, and rival makes. This time Mike Humble offers you a treat from our very own Austin Rover. Pray silence please for the Maestro HLE… The miracle Maestro? Now don’t get me wrong, but the Maestro is by no [...]
January 31, 2012
· Mike Humble · 91 Comments
Events : London-Cape Town, day 29 – the end!
Day 28, Cape Town, South Africa At last! We finally see the silhouette of Table Mountain…and roll down the long drive lined with palm trees to the Table Bay Hotel – the South Atlantic a pebble throw away. We have made it. It’s an emotional moment. Tears roll down the faces of grown men. The [...]
January 30, 2012
· Keith Adams · 24 Comments
Analysis : LEZs, classic movement’s greatest threat?
Andrew Elphick delves into Low Emissions Zones (LEZs), and how their widespread introduction could affect widespread classic car usage for years to come… The future. Its scary right? Maybe. One thing is for certain you will never outrun it in a car. You may or may not be aware of the LEZ, or you might [...]
January 30, 2012
· Keith Adams · 19 Comments
Not their finest hour : Vauxhall Sintra
AROnline takes a look back at some of the memorable automotive blunders in more recent times from both our own, and rival makes. Mike Humble feels the pain of the people carrier driver and recalls Vauxhall’s answer to to the large MPV… The Vauxhall Sintra Gone, and probably best forgotten The Vauxhall Sintra: not a bad looking MPV [...]
January 30, 2012
· Mike Humble · 66 Comments
News : MG6 arrives in New Zealand
Keith Adams The first MG6s have arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, as the marque returns to the country after an absence of over five years. MG’s importer, Kerry Cheyne, long-time supporter of the marque (and former owner of one of the only MG ZT 260 V8s with automatic transmission) is happy to be selling MGs [...]
January 29, 2012
· Keith Adams · 56 Comments
Essay : Rimmer Bros – 30 years and counting…
Surviving 30 years in the parts specialist business these days is no mean feat, but to flourish in the way that Rimmer Bros has is a real achievement. Here’s their story of how they did it – and how the company continues to support its wide array of British classic cars. Thirty years and counting [...]
January 29, 2012
· Keith Adams · 13 Comments
Events : London-Cape Town, day 28
Day 28, Clanwilliam, South Africa Yesterday’s gruelling run through Namibia on 800km of gravel tracks was indeed a tough test for some crews, with tyres being the main problem. With last night spent camping a long way from the nearest broadband connection, we have no picture updates yet, but we may get some tonight. The [...]
January 29, 2012
· Keith Adams · 8 Comments
News : More than 16,000 call for 30-year classics
Keith Adams A new online e-Petition calling for a change in government policy regarding the historic vehicle exemption. Currently, the VED ruling is that any car registered (or built) before 1 January 1973 is subject zero-rated tax discs – and the petition calls for this to be changed in favour of a rolling 30-year arrangement. [...]
January 28, 2012
· Keith Adams · 74 Comments
Events : London-Cape Town, day 26
Day 26 Windhoek, Namibia Watching the cars at the end of today’s second World Cup Section, Alastair Caldwell did well, although the four-cylinder Porsche sounds a lot noisier, and John Bayliss, driving Paul Carter, seemed to have the measure of it, lifting the broken Volvo over the worst of the ruts. Paula and Diane Unwin’s [...]
January 27, 2012
· Keith Adams · 4 Comments
Unsung heroes : Rover 620ti
We take yet another look at the cars which once littered the highways and by-ways of the UK. This one is often regarded as a talented machine which was handsome, refined, well built and astonishingly capable when driven hard. Mike Humble explains all – and gets emotional. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury… The Rover 620ti The quiet [...]
January 27, 2012
· Mike Humble · 42 Comments
The Commercials : Leyland T45 Constructor
AROnline gets down in the dirt as we take another look at the T45 cab system Leyland introduced back in the early 80′s. Another big seller in the commercial vehicle sector was the Leyland Constructor – a range of 6 or 8 wheel vehicles up to 30 tons GVW. Mike Humble gets into gear and takes [...]
January 25, 2012
· Mike Humble · 11 Comments
News : MG enters BTCC for 2012
MG Motor UK has announced it will enter the 2012 BTCC Series with a two-car team of MG6 GTs, which will run in the MG KX Momentum Racing team and piloted by double BTCC champion Jason Plato and BTCC rising star Andy Neate. The cars will be prepared by Triple Eight Race Engineering, one of the [...]
January 25, 2012
· admin · 82 Comments
Events : London-Cape Town, day 21-24
Day 24 Victoria Falls It is simply not possible to drive the full length of Africa without being in someone’s rainy-season. But if you try it in line with our time-table, it might just be possible to do it without exercising a windscreen wiper. Last night it truly rained, torrential torrents overflowed the guttering. This [...]
January 25, 2012
· Keith Adams · 4 Comments
Drive story : MINI Coupé 1.6T John Cooper Works
Coupés are cramped, impractical, noisy… and a whole lot of fun. That’s the whole point of them, yes? MINI obviously thinks so, and has introduced a crackerjack Coupé to prove it. Keith Adams takes one up to Yorkshire and experiences something even more cramped and noisy. Coupés, trains, and the Coopermobile It’s fair to say [...]
January 24, 2012
· Keith Adams · 34 Comments
News : MG’s finance deals appeal
MG Motor UK has announced a new finance package for the MG6 series, finally moving closer to a competitive deal for many buyers. The offer, which runs until 31 March 2012, bundles a low deposit and a low 3.7% APR together with a five-year deal, to place the MG6 GT S at £249/month. In combination [...]
January 23, 2012
· Richard Kilpatrick · 48 Comments
The commercials : Leyland T45 Freighter
Leyland’s medium weight Freighter was the company’s bright new hope of the 1980s, combining two previous ranges into one – and putting in a strong performance in what became the fast growing sector up to 17 tons GVW. Mike Humble takes up the story. The Boxer is beaten by a new middleweight Even those unaware [...]
January 23, 2012
· Mike Humble · 22 Comments
Not Their Finest Hour : Leyland Titan B15
Mike Humble: AROnline hops on a bus that was destined for Shattered Dreams Parkway, only to find it was actually quite good yet was a victim of it’s own technology, it’s forward modern thinking, oh.. and an unhealthy dose of classic British Leyland union militancy! Strange when you look back in time isn’t it? [...]
January 22, 2012
· Mike Humble · 14 Comments
Blog : Is MG in the UK about to turn the corner?
Keith Adams I must admit that the eternal soap opera that is BMC and its descendents never ceases to amaze and impress with its capacity to turn up new and exciting twists. As we all know, the drama should have ended – in 2005 – but, instead, it followed an exciting new tangent… in the [...]
January 22, 2012
· Keith Adams · 62 Comments
The Commercials : Leyland T45 Cruiser
Hot on the heels of the stylish Roadtrain, and replacing the Buffalo 2 range of meduim weight artics, was the T45 Cruiser launched in 1982. Differing from the Roadtrain by only being offered with in-house power units and 4×2 axle configuration, Mike Humble tells the story. Cruising the UK’s mean streets The Leyland truck portfolio [...]
January 22, 2012
· Mike Humble · 5 Comments
