Daily Archives: May 17, 2012

Very rare Jag E-Type Lightweight for sale

May 17, 2012   Ian   No comments
The Motorexpo in Canary Wharf will host the sale of “one of the most desirable E-Types to come to open market in recent years.” The 1963 Jaguar E-Type Lightweight No. 14 is extremely rare and has a very unusual history. Jaguar only made 12 Lightweight E-Type race cars, although as the name suggests, this one is number 14. How so?

It’s because aside from the original 12 cars, Jag made six extra body shells, eight engines and a few gearboxes.

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Remember the “German” Citroen C5 ad? It’s actually true

May 17, 2012   Ian   No comments

Apparently life does imitate art. The Citroen C5 launched in the UK with an ad saying how it was just like a German car. Now it is rumoured that the next C5 could be made by Opel in Germany. The tie up between Opel/Vauxhall and PSA Peugeot Citroen means most of their cars will eventually have common platforms. The plan being discussed at present would see production of the Astra leave Russelsheim in Germany (the HQ of Opel), and the space being taken up by the next generation C5 (presumably sharing a platform with the Insignia.
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VW accidentally advertises Fiat 500

May 17, 2012   Ian   No comments

Fiat has managed a cool piece of ambush marketing in Sweden – by parking a Fiat 500 directly outside VW headquarters when Google was filming it for Streetview. Now anyone in Sweden looking up the VW HQ in Södertälje will see a Fiat 500 perfectly parked under the VW corporate identity. Is it Fiat’s way of showing how much better looking the 500 is than the Beetle?
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Hertz launches Electric Vehicle car club in Oxford

May 17, 2012   Ian   1 Comment

Hertz, the car rental company, is setting up a car sharing club in Oxford that will only offer electric vehicles. This probably makes a lot more sense for most people than buying an electric car.  Members of the car club can rent the Nissan Leafs by the hour for as little as £5 and can recharge them at any one of 32 charging points round the city (due to expand to 60 charging points soon).
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Vauxhall’s UK factory to survive?

May 17, 2012   Ian   No comments

The official announcement is expected any day now, but the odds of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant surviving appear to have improved. Rumours from Germany suggest that General Motors’ current plan is to concentrate Astra production in Poland and the UK, while stopping the Astra production lines in two German factories, Bochum and Russelsheim.  If true, Bochum would then close and Russelsheim would concentrate on the Insignia, and weirdly, could make Citroens
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