Privé London Dining Club Receives a Splash of Bentley Style

Mosimann’s, an exclusive dining club located in the heart of Belgravia in central London, has opened the doors to a new privé room inspired by, and dedicated to, luxury British carmaker Bentley.

The dining room for the rich but not necessarily famous, blends traditional British styling with unique Bentley accents. It is the work of Caulder Moore, which also designed the Bentley Living Room at the company’s headquarters in Crewe, in 2010, and can seat 14 people with standing room for 28.

Read more »

Study: Car Parts Most Likely to Fail During the Summer

UK insurer specialist Warranty Direct revealed data showing which car parts fail more often in the summer months between June and August. According to the study, Britain's summer climate contributes to the quicker deterioration of axle and suspension parts, that account for more than 25% of the insurance company claims. Read more »

Meet the New Chrysler Delta…but it's not for U.S., it's for the U.K.

Do you remember the Chrysler-badged Delta hatchback that made a surprise appearance at the Detroit motor show in 2010?

Well, the Chrysler Group has presented the final production version but it is not for U.S. consumption. Instead, the Delta will be offered in the United Kingdom where all Lancia products will be marketed under the Chrysler brand.

The only changes made to the original Lancia model, which was recently updated with a new front grille, concern the Chrysler badges inside and out.

Read more »

New Pure-Electric iRACER to Star in California Sports EV Racing Series

Visitors at next month's EcoVelocity low-carbon motor festival at London’s Battersea Power Station will be treated to the first public appearance of the iRACER, which is the creation of the team behind the EVCUP racing series.

The iRACER is a track focused, pure electric vehicle designed and engineered from the ground up as a thoroughbred racecar and it will compete in the ‘Sports EV’ classification of the EVCUP series that gets underway in California.

Read more »

Mercedes-Benz Teams up with LEGO to Create the Largest TECHNIC Model

When it comes to building LEGO, size does matter and with an impressive length of 38.6 cm (15.2-inches) from bumper to bumper and more than 2,000 pieces, the 1:12-scale Mercedes-Benz Unimog will surely be one heck of a challenge to build.

The LEGO Unimog 4000 was created to celebrate the Mercedes-Benz truck's 60th anniversary this year and it is available to buy from Argos and LEGO stores with pricing in the UK set at £154.99 (about €177 or US$255).

Read more »

Mia Electric to Showcase New Cars in the UK Ahead of 2012 Sales Launch

Following the presentation of the Mia Electric brand at last year’s Geneva Motor Show, the newly formed company announced plans to showcase its zero-emission vehicles for the first time in the United Kingdom at this year’s EcoVelocity motor show that runs from September 8 to 11.

The Electric Microbus, which will reach UK showrooms in the first quarter of 2012, was designed by the former head of design at Volkswagen, Murat Günak, and will be available in three configurations including the standard, three-seat short wheelbase model and two extended versions, the four-seat Mia L and the Mia box van with a cargo capacity of 1,500 liters.

Read more »

Chilling Mazda MX-5 Touch and Roll Over Accident

The accident you are about to watch in the video after the break occurred during the third race of the Ma5da MX5 Mk1 Championship at the Snetterton circuit in the UK.

It all went down when the Jamie Ingram (car No.108) lost control of his Mk1 MX-5 and hit Mark Leach's blue MX-5 (car No.16), who at the time was passing on the right. Leach's car was launched into the air and then rolled over seven times before coming to halt.

Fortunately, despite the severity of the accident, Leach made it out alive but not without some injuries including a bruised lung, some whip lash, and a broken arm.

Read more »

Williams Wants to Extend Jaguar Partnership Beyond C-X75 Supercar

The Williams Formula 1 team, which only recently announced its deal with Renault as an engine partner from 2012 sparking rumors about special editions of the French company's cars like the acclaimed Clio Williams of the past, now says it also wants to expand its cooperation with Jaguar beyond the C-X75 hybrid supercar. Read more »

Kia Prices New Rio in the UK from £10,595

The all-new 4th generation Rio will reach Kia's UK showrooms on September 1 with on-the-road prices starting from £10,595 for the entry-level 1.25 "1" and reaching £14,895 for range-topping 1.4 CRDi "3" EcoDynamics.

The Rio will be available at launch only as a five-door model but a three-door bodystyle will be added to the range early next year.

Read more »

Singapore Businessman Peter Lim Invests in McLaren

McLaren Automotive announced today that Singapore-based businessperson Peter Lim has made a significant investment in the company and has also joined the McLaren Automotive Board of Directors, effective immediately. Read more »

Nissan Juke Kuro Limited Special Edition Available in the UK

For certain enthusiasts, Kuro can only mean one thing: Pioneer's now discontinued, but in the minds of many, still the best series of HD television sets to date. For Nissan's UK arm, Kuro is the name of a new special edition of its funky looking Juke small crossover.

Nissan says it borrowed the name from the Japanese word for black as the strictly limited edition provides a new, dark look to the British-built Juke.

Read more »

Jaguar Shows Frankfurt-Bound C-X16 "Production Concept" Sports Car

This is the first official image or rather sketch of the all-new Jaguar C-X16 study which will make its world premiere at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show on September 13.

The British automaker describes the C-X16 as a "production concept" adding that it is a "precursor to future Jaguar sports cars that will aim to set new class benchmarks in design, vehicle dynamics and technology".

Read more »

New Eterniti Luxury Brand to Launch at the Frankfurt Motor Show

The upcoming 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show will not only see the world premiere of many new production vehicles and concept studies, but it will also play host to the launch of a new luxury car brand called Eterniti Motors.

There isn't much information going around the brand other that it is a niche company based in London and that its launch vehicle will be the Hemera SUV, a first glimpse of which we get to see through an official rendering and a teaser video.

Read more »

Hyundai Introduces New 76.4mpg i20 Blue in Britain

After the launch of the i10 Blue at the beginning of the year, Hyundai is doubling its eco-friendly offerings in the UK's small car segment with the addition of the i20 Blue to its lineup.

The i20 Blue combines the standard model's 1.4-liter CRDi turbo diesel engine delivering 90-horsepower with Intelligent Stop & Go (ISG), low rolling resistance tires, rear suspension under cover and rear wheel deflectors.

Read more »

Top Gear: Former Employee Claims Pro Drivers do Clarkson’s Stunts, BBC Rejects Allegations

Some say it is the world’s most famous car show, with millions of viewers worldwide and that, despite having three presenters, plus the man in white known as The Stig, 51-year old Jeremy Clarkson is the undisputed star of the show. All we know is that it's called Top Gear and it has run on BBC for 17 seasons so far.

And as one of the most popular and long-running TV shows in the world, Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson often make headlines, but not for the reasons one would expect.

Now, British tabloid Daily Mail has put up a story claiming that Clarkson’s stunts are not always performed by him, but by professional racing drivers. The newspaper cites two unnamed sources, one of which is said to have worked for Top Gear for more than five years.

Read more »

Kia Launches New Three-Door Picanto in Britain

For the first time since the Kia Picanto was introduced into the market in 2004, the Korean city car is available with a three-door body style.

Revealed alongside the second generation of the five-door model at the Geneva Salon this past March, the three-door Picanto will go on sale in the UK from the 1st of September with prices starting from £7,795 for the base 1.0 ‘1’ and rising to £12,295 for the 1.25 'Halo' with an automatic transmission.

Read more »

Largest Ever Display of James Bond Movie Cars Coming in 2012

If you're an automotive fan that also happens to like the James Bond films, then you're in for a treat.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 007 franchise, the National Motor Museum in cooperation with Beaulieu and EON Productions (the latter co-owns, with MGM, the copyright to the James Bond films), will hold the largest exhibition of James Bond vehicles ever displayed to the public.

Read more »

2012 Land Rover Defender Updated with New 2.2L Turbo Diesel and Additional Option Packages

There may be talk of a new Defender on its way with rumors of a concept model making its appearance as early as next month at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but for now, Land Rover is updating the current version with a new turbo diesel engine and the introduction of two new option packages for the 2012 model year.

The most important change of course is the new, EU5 compliant, 2.2-liter turbo diesel engine that replaces the EU4 2.4-litre oil-burner found in the 2011MY Defender.

Despite the smaller capacity, the new four-cylinder diesel delivers the same power and torque as the outgoing unit with 122PS at 3,500rpm and torque, 360Nm (265.5 lb-ft) at 2,000rpm.

Read more »

This MINI Hides a 5-Foot Snake Under its Hood

It's the last thing you want to find hiding or crawling under the bonnet of your car: a slippery, five-foot long Boa constrictor. But that's exactly what happened to Wayne Hunt, a technician carrying out an MOT on a MINI Cooper at the Bosch Car Service garage in Carringtons of Oxford, UK.

Wayne said that he pushed his hand under the hood to find the safety release catch but "felt something that seemed rather out of place", which turned out to be a five-foot long, five-inch thick snake (raise your hand if you just thought about "that's what she said" joke).

Read more »

Aston Martin: How Recycled Platforms and Eight-Year-Old Tech Could be the Brand’s Downfall

Unlike Bentley, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Rolls-Royce – who are owned by highly successful mainstream brands Volkswagen, Audi, Fiat and BMW respectively – specialist manufacturers such as Aston Martin have a hard time in the market.

Whereas a company like Mercedes-Benz can afford to spend €5 billion (US$7.1 billion) in one year on research and development, the Gaydon-based manufacturer of performance/luxury coupes is planning its next models on the eight-year-old platform that first underpinned the DB9 coupe in 2003!

Read more »