Month: August 2009

Dave Smart Part eight: Mini and a shipyard Had a bit of a lie in then after a pleasant breakfast, Jagoda and I jumped in the Mini for a sight […]

Dave Smart Part seven: Berlin to Gdansk – what a day! Before I left Berlin, there were a few things I wanted to do, get pictures of the car at […]

Keith Adams I must admit that I’m suffering from banger rally withdrawal symptoms. Yes, I know I am not going to get any sympathy from you because, since landing my dream […]

Gasgoo.com, 27th August, 2009 SAIC Motor Corp., China’s largest domestic automaker, said first-half profit fell 26 percent after 1.18 billion yuan ($173 million) of write-offs eroded gains from surging sales […]

Clive Goldthorp Mini fans the world over will already know that last Wednesday was the 50th Anniversary of the original BMC-built model’s launch. MINI UK chose to mark the occasion by […]

Dave Smart Part six: Berlin – a tale of two cities After stupidly falling asleep last night I got up early to see as much of the city as I […]

John Cranage, Birmingham Post, 27th August, 2009 MG UK was non-committal yesterday over a claim that it was preparing to suspend production at its Longbridge factory in Birmingham until next […]

David Bailey, Birmingham Post, 25th August, 2009 With only limited MG TF production to date, and soft-top sales set to fall off as Autumn and Winter fast approach, concern is […]

Dave Smart Part five: And so to the East… I set off from Osnabruck at about 11, with the GPS set to ‘avoid highways’ and had a lovely morning travelling […]

Ian Nicholls From The Times 26th August, 1959 B.M.C. BABY CARS SET UP A NEW STANDARD IN CHEAP MOTORING PERFORMANCE AND COMFORT RETAINED FROM OUR MOTORING CORRESPONDENT The British Motor Corporation officially […]

Dave Smart Part four: Salsa dancing already I left Erwin’s place mid morning and headed for Osnabruck in Germany, weather was dull, but good at first, however as I crossed […]

Alun Thorne, Birmingham Post, 25th August, 2009 After months of prevarication, Tata Motors finally secured the finance it needed to keep Jaguar Land Rover afloat during the downturn. Now the […]

Keith Adams I’ve been driving around in a Metro diesel (see below) this week (it’s cheaper than walking and rides better than your 5-series thank you very much) but am […]

Dave Smart Part three: Working for my keep As it was good to see Erwin again, I decided to stay for an extra night in Meijel, but Erwin had to […]

Dave Smart Part two: The first day Well today I left my friend’s house at about 9.40am (I should have really left at 9.00) so things were always gonna be […]

Clive Goldthorp Autocar’s website and sister title Motorsport News have this week reported that two of the former BMC marques most closely associated with Motor Sport are set to return to competition […]

Dave Smart is about to take his ex-S2N Mini for an adventure across Europe. And we’ll be keeping track of his progress. For more information, visit http://getjealous.com/marvelousminiofdoom […]

Jon Griffin, Birmingham Post, 21st August, 2009 A new generation of green vans could rise from the ashes of the mothballed LDV factory in Washwood Heath, Birmingham if backers can be […]

David Bailey, Birmingham Post, 18th August, 2009 Whilst GM and Saab’s prospective bidder Koenigsegg Group AB reached an outline agreement over the sale back in June, talks dragged on over […]

Keith Adams I’ll say one thing – there’s certainly plenty of variety in my driving life at the moment. The week started with a Ferrari 599HGTE and Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 […]

The Economic Times, 18th August, 2009 MUMBAI, India — Tata Motors may not join the race to pick up a majority stake in Italian car design firm Pininfarina, contrary to expectations […]