Archive for June, 2012
Events : Goodwood Festival of Speed (days 1 and 2)
Words: Keith Adams Photography: Headline Auto The Goodwood Festival of Speed has been running – and growing – since the early 1990s, and since 2010, grew to incorporate the Thursday Moving Motor Show. It is an interesting new development, which means new car manufacturers can display their wares at this retro-event without them looking too [...]
June 30, 2012
· 
Keith Adams · 
7 Comments
News : McLaren MP4-12C drops its top
McLaren Automotive has announced its second model, the 620bhp, twin-turbo V8-engined, open roofed 12C Spider. The 12C Spider is based on the same super stiff carbonfibre MonoCell chassis as its hardtop sibling and is claimed to drive just as well as its hard-topped sister. One man used to excitement behind the wheel is Jenson Button. [...]
June 29, 2012
· Keith Adams · 4 Comments
News : Journey of Discovery makes a million!
The Land Rover ‘Journey of Discovery’ has raised £1million for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Mark Cameron, Land Rover Global Brand Experience Director, presented the cheque to Mark Astarita (Director of Fundraising, British Red Cross) at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where Land Rover are celebrating the ‘Journey of [...]
June 29, 2012
· Keith Adams · No Comments
News : Jaguar named number one by JD Power
The 2012 UK Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study was based on the evaluations of nearly 18,000 owners after an average of two years ownership. Every aspect of vehicle ownership was rated from performance, design and comfort to quality, reliability, cost of ownership, economy and dealer service satisfaction. Not only was Jaguar named Number 1 Car Manufacturer, [...]
June 27, 2012
· Keith Adams · 22 Comments
Gallery : Rootes dealers and factories
Keith Adams Thanks to Shahin of the PaykanHunter website (and regular of Autoshite), who put in some serious hours scanning a selection of amazing transparencies, we now have further insight into how the Rootes Group dealerships in the UK looked – and what you were faced with as a potential Hillman or Chrysler customer. [...]
June 26, 2012
· Keith Adams · 14 Comments
Video : Telly Savalas looks at Birmingham
Keith Adams It’s difficult to decide whether you should laugh or cry watching this video of Telly Savalas’ ‘visit’ to Birmingham. On one hand, his hammy commentary and wonderful backing music are pure comedic genius, but on the other, the modernistic vision of Birmingham circa 1980 is put into sharp relief by how it looks [...]
June 26, 2012
· Keith Adams · 19 Comments
Auction watch : 1960 Mini under the hammer
A 1960 Austin Seven 850, with 2600 miles on the clock and with virtually every component an original, up for auction at the Silverstone Classic Sale on 21 July. Not surprisingly, this exceptional car, estimated at £20,000 to £25,000, is expected to be one of the most sought after lots at the sale hosted Silverstone [...]
June 26, 2012
· admin · 11 Comments
News : Plato takes his 70th BTCC victory at Croft
Words: Clive Goldthorp Photographs: BTCC Media Office MG KX Momentum Racing’s Jason Plato took his 70th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) win in Round 15 of this season’s campaign at Croft in North Yorkshire last weekend and so held on to third place in the Drivers’ Championship. However, victories for the Honda Yuasa Racing Team’s [...]
June 26, 2012
· Clive Goldthorp · One Comment
Blog : Citroën XM or Rover 75… or both?
Keith Adams They say great cars – just like buses – come along in threes, and in a way, it looks like this might be happening at AROnline Towers. First, there was my Lancia Delta Integrale (which should be arriving home this week), then the arrival of my Rover 75 1.8 Connoisseur, which has proved [...]
June 25, 2012
· Keith Adams · 50 Comments
Events : Around the show at MGLive! 2012
We love a good car show at AROnline and last weekend’s MGLive! at Silverstone proved to be both a brilliant tribute to the past and an eye-opener for current and future MG affairs. Words and Photographs: Mike Humble AROnline was in attendance for last weekend’s MG Car Club-run MGLive! event at Silverstone in Northamptonshire with Clive Goldthorp and myself [...]
June 24, 2012
· Mike Humble · 20 Comments
News : MINI Clubvan rolls-up for business
Possibly the most sensible MINI variant to date is launched, following its warm reception at the Geneva. The Clubvan’s arrival leaves just the pick-up to come… Making its global premiere at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Clubvan is an interesting – and some would say overdue – addition to the MINI range. It’s [...]
June 23, 2012
· Keith Adams · 33 Comments
Events : Best of British Show launched
Carol Vorderman, Bomber Command Memorial Patron, prepared for The Queen’s unveil of the Bomber Command Memorial today by attending the Best of British Show launch at Cotswold Airport, Gloucestershire for their chosen charity the RAF Benevolent Fund. Carol combined the media launch of the Best of British Show (taking place on August Bank Holiday Sunday [...]
June 22, 2012
· Keith Adams · One Comment
Events : Cholmondeley Pageant of Power 2012
Words and Photographs: Simon Davies/Pegasus Photographics ‘Here we go again’ was the thought which came to mind when looking at the weather forecast for the coming weekend’s Cholmondeley Pageant of Power on BBC Breakfast last Friday morning – heavy rain was promised to set in for the weekend around the Cheshire area. However, in the event, Friday and [...]
June 21, 2012
· Clive Goldthorp · No Comments
News : Bowler and Land Rover join forces… finally!
Land Rover and Bowler, the UK-based manufacturer of all-terrain performance cars and rally raid vehicles, have agreed to a brand partnership, formalising a relationship that has been in place for over a decade. Under the new agreement, ‘Powered by Land Rover’ badging on Bowler’s competition cars and across its marketing materials acknowledges the role that [...]
June 21, 2012
· admin · 18 Comments
News : Backbone of Britain breaks cover
Andrew Elphick Finally, Ford’s new Transit Custom has broken cover away from the halogen spotlights of the show circuit. Ford whetted the appetite of ‘White van person’ (we’re very politically correct here at AROnline!) back in March with the taster Tourneo Custom concept luxury bus. Fast forward a month and the Commercial Vehicle Show previewed [...]
June 20, 2012
· Keith Adams · 63 Comments
Auction Watch : The Le Mans Eventer
Keith Adams It’s not often we see a Lynx Eventer – the sublime shooting brake conversion of the Jaguar XJ-S – in the wild, especially on the auction circuit. So when we caught this car, which is coming up for sale at Artcurial’s Le Mans Classic sale in July, on the auction house’s lot list, [...]
June 20, 2012
· Keith Adams · 8 Comments
Blog : In the MG world, the Chinese understand Britishness better
Jack Yan Take a car range that’s not selling too well, and try to pull the patriotic heart-strings to see if you can move a few. Trouble is, this advert for the MG 6 Magnette, which is running on some of our sites, is pretty awful. It’s not convincing, for starters. Brand Germany has its [...]
June 20, 2012
· Jack Yan · 17 Comments
News : MGs fall-out in Qatar
Words: Keith Adams Photography: Nigel Garton It looks like a scene from 28 Days Later, but this astonishing line-up of 50 MGs is actually what looks like an abandoned cache unsold cars near the Qatari capital of Doha. Our man in the Middle Eastern state stumbled upon this selection of MG3s, 550s, and 6s, and [...]
June 19, 2012
· Keith Adams · 14 Comments
Products : Haynes manuals online
Haynes has launched a new online service for its DIY car manuals. The 50 biggest-selling guides – covering cars like the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Astra – can now be accessed by computers, tablets and smartphones. And the online versions feature video guides, too. They work out more costly than the £21.99 book, although for [...]
June 19, 2012
· admin · 2 Comments
Concepts and protoypes : Land Rover Discovery
Project Jay was a vitally important programme for Land Rover – it was to create a intermediate model range that sat between the Range Rover and Defender, and fight the Mitsubishi Shogun and Isuzu Trooper in the market. Designing the car, which was so heavily based on the Range Rover was a difficult task. The [...]
June 18, 2012
· Keith Adams · 18 Comments
