For many years known as The Racing Car Show and based in London’s Olympia, Autosport International or A24 as this year’s show was dubbed, traditionally marks the start of a new season and without fail, Europe’s largest annual motorsport expose provides a great platform for the sport to showcase plans for the coming year. It also brings together old friends, creates new friends, and harvests the … [Read more...]
Classics
Silverstone Festival 2024 details and discounts
Tickets for the 2024 Silverstone Festival will go on general sale on Wednesday 15 November with best prices offered to those booking the following weekend. The event will once again be staged over the end-of-summer bank holiday weekend – which next year is 23-25 August – and will offer fantastic fun-fuelled entertainment for all the family. Staged at the home of British motorsport, the … [Read more...]
Racing lines 10 August
Visitors to this summer’s Silverstone Festival 25-27 August will be treated to the sensational sounds of BRM’s incredible V16 – widely hailed as the greatest sounding F1 engine of all time. It will be the first time Silverstone has reverberated to the mind-blowing wail of BRM’s fearsome supercharged 1.5-litre power plant in public for more than a generation and is yet another highlight among the … [Read more...]
Goodwood Festival’s bright spots
Bad weather disrupted this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed but couldn't blow away or wash out participants and spectators' enthusiasm marking its 30th anniversary. McLaren factory driver Marvin Kirchhöfer won the sensational Sunday afternoon Shootout final in the recently unveiled McLaren Solus GT, while over at the prestigious Festival of Speed concours de elegance at the Cartier Style et Luxe … [Read more...]
Unique racer rises from scrapyard
The 1927 Alvis Grand Prix car, one of the first of its kind to use front wheel drive, has been extensively restored 96 years after a retirement at Brooklands curtailed the factory effort. Abandoned in a Warwickshire scrapyard after its race career ended, the sole surviving Alvis Grand Prix is highly original, having not been subjected to years of competition. It has been revealed at Automobile … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: GWM Funky Cat 1st Edition
The UK’s electric car revolution is becoming a bloody affair. From initially resisting the new technology on cost grounds including writing off established investments in petrol and diesel engine technology and having to develop hybrid or pure electric powertrains, along with making tens of thousands of workers redundant, manufacturers have struggled to convince buyers into showrooms or on-line … [Read more...]
Toyota Gazoo Racing looks ahead
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s presentations at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon and the concurrent Tokyo Outdoor Show looked to a future where “no car lovers are left behind”. They showed new concept models, customised vehicles, new engineering ideas and a wider selection of heritage parts to help enthusiasts maintain their classic cars. AE86 Corolla hydrogen and battery electric concepts Toyota is … [Read more...]
Shelby honoured; Donington Historics; Bowler at Autosport
American driver, car manufacturer and entrepreneur Carroll Shelby will be celebrated at this year’s Goodwood Revival, over the weekend of 8-10 September. The centenary of Shelby’s birth will be honoured with one of Goodwood’s signature tributes, comprising cars that were not only raced, but also designed and developed by the 1959 Le Mans winner. Running across the weekend, the … [Read more...]
Book review: Chris Coburn and DTV
A comprehensive biography of the irrepressible Chris Coburn has just been published and it's an ideal Christmas gift for motorsport fans. Talented, versatile, and multifaceted – driver, entrepreneur, engineer, and skier – Coburn was a prolific mover and shaker in the world of motorsport during the 1960s/70s. He was instrumental in the formation of the legendary Dealer Team Vauxhall with the … [Read more...]
Rallying’s gentleman was inspirational
The motorsport world was saddened to hear of the death of legendary rally and race driver Paddy Hopkirk, who passed away 21 July aged 89. Paddy first hit the headlines January 1964 when he and Henry Liddon won the glamorous Monte Carlo rally after starting in Minsk driving a red and white British Motor Corporation 1071 cc Mini Cooper S. Designated car #37, Paddy later made this number along with … [Read more...]