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30 March 2003: Morgan Motor Company is marking the 35th anniversary of its Plus 8 with a special limited edition. Since its launch in 1968, over 6000 Plus 8s have been built, and almost all of them are still in active service according to Morgan. The Anniversary model is powered by a 4.0-litre Land Rover V8 engine and has many special trim features to set it apart from the regular Plus 8, which sadly ceases production in 2004. Around 185 'Anniversary Editions' will be built (85 for Europe, 100 for America). Morgan's last limited edition, the Le Mans '62 commemorative edition, sold out of all 80 cars within a few days of the announcement so we advise getting your order in quickly. Further news from Morgan this week is the refusal of entry to the 2003 Le Mans race. This is quite a shock to the small UK company as it hoped to build on the fan base created in 2002 by the private Morgan entry. Indeed, as this is written, the Morgan website still invites fans to come along. The Le Mans organisers have not yet given a reason for this decision. Morgan will instead content more rounds of the FIA GT Championship in Europe with a view to tackling Le Mans in 2004. |
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30 March 2003: With just three weeks to go before the start of the 2003 British Touring Car Championship, MG Sport & Racing have announced that there will be three works MG ZS cars this year. Last year's pairing of Anthony Reid and Warren Hughes has been joined by Colin Turkington. Colin drove one of the Team Atomic Kitten cars in the 2002 BTC Touring Independents Cup. Having finished 4th and 6th last year, MG is keen to challenge the all-conquering Vauxhall Astras this year. The cars will be run by West Surrey Racing. Advanced Engine Research is responsible for the engine management, while Powertrain (a sister company to MG Sport & Racing) has taken on the engine development. Click here for the 2003 BTCC calendar.
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29 March 2003: A few weeks ago, Trevor Nicosia went along to the UK launch of the new Honda Accord. While he was there, he also had the opportunity to drive the Honda Civic IMA - Honda's latest hybrid vehicle consisting of an efficient petrol engine coupled with an electric motor/generator system. First impressions are that the Civic IMA is not very different to a regular Civic, but much more fuel efficient. Click here for the full story.
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28 March 2003: With Peugeot dominating the 2002 WRC season, and Citroen mounting a strong challenge this year, Ford are ploughing money into development of the Focus WRC. The decision was made to sacrifice top drivers in return for more car development work. The young pairing of Martin and Duval are not doing too badly considering their inexperience relative to last year's Ford drivers (McRae and Sainz), though the Focus needs an update, and here it is. Ford have finally released pictures of the 2003 Ford Focus WRC.
Click on the images to see them in full. The car looks superb. Where as the older car looked like a mildly modified regular Focus, the 2003 version appears to take a leaf out of the Max Power book of styling. Needless to say the new appendages are purely functional, but they will also help attract attention, which is after all, the reason for manufacturers to get involved with motorsport. Ford are quite bullish about their chances up against the French marques in particular. The 2003 Focus WRC will make its competition debut on the fourth round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Rally New Zealand, on 10-13 April. |
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28 March 2003: When we did the 2003 Geneva Motor Show review, we suspected there may be too much to tell you about. However, that is a pathetic excuse for not picking up on the fact that Skoda launched their all-new World Rally Championship contender, the Fabia WRC. Skoda have been using the Octavia for WRC duty. When it entered the fray, there were no other suitable Skoda models on sale. However, the Octavia was never competitive. Now, it is just too large and heavy to compete with the latest generation of small and nimble WRC cars exemplified by the current benchmark, the Peugeot 206. The Fabia itself has been on sale since 2000. The VW Group (Skoda's parent company) has finally seen it fit to put it into battle.
The WRC version is based on the new Fabia RS, which also made its debut in Geneva. The RS is powered by a 130bhp 1.9-litre turbo diesel engine, though of course the WRC car will conform to the 2.0-litre turbocharged (petrol) formula, with about 300bhp on tap. Skoda are coy about an actual stage debut date for the Fabia WRC, saying simply "Depending on the results the Skoda Motorsport Team anticipates its first appearance in World Rally Championship competition during the last quarter of this year". We think it is unlikely to be until the Rallye di San Remo at least (Click here for the 2003 WRC calendar). |
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27 March 2003: A blue Rover 45 was delivered to The Car Enthusiast this week for
review. It is powered by MG-Rover's 1.9-litre turbo diesel engine. The peak
power figure is nothing exciting (113bhp), but there is ample torque for
safe overtaking (192 lb.ft), and the fuel economy figures look good. As we
have come to expect from MG-Rover, the 45's on-road dynamics are very good.
The engine is not particularly refined unfortunately, and the interior of
the car, though fitted with very nice leather seats, is quite dated. The
full road test will be online shortly, linked from the main Road Tests page.
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24 March 2003: Despite the current economic environment, Bentley have announced that 3200 deposits have been received for the new Continental GT. The price (£110,000) was announced at the Geneva Show earlier in March. The first customers are due to take delivery in September. The car is not cheap, but then again, how many cars can you think of that can boast a 6.0-litre twin-turbo engine producing 550bhp, propelling the occupants to 190mph. Oh, and it has four seats... It appears that the new Bentley, under VW ownership, could well prosper.
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24 March 2003: As part of Ford's centenary plans, development is surging forward on the GT - the modern day GT40. Ford have today released pictures of the prototypes undergoing NVH (Noise Vibration & Harshness) testing in Los Angeles. As well as keeping the car in our view, it appears to be a two finger gesture to the scoop photographers. Even though the car is finished in matt black, as most secret prototypes are, the body shape is in fact that of the show car that has been touring the various motor shows. The picture provided here (click on it to see it in full) shows Jamie Cullen (Ford development engineer) performing a burnout - for NVH testing purposes. What a terrible job he has...
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23 March 2003: The 2003 Malaysian GP is now over. The surprise winner is Kimi Raikkonen in his McLaren Mercedes. The second race of the season proved to be just as entertaining as the Australian GP, even without the predicted intervention of tricky weather. It appears that the FIA's radical rule makeover is paying off. In particular, qualifying in race trim is increasing the number of different fuel strategies we are seeing, and it serves to mix the grid up which is leading to some great racing. Driver of the day was without a doubt Kimi. In his first victory in F1, the Finn did not put a wheel wrong. He cruised to a comfortable finish ahead of Rubens Barrichello and Fernando Alonso (pole sitter). Things may have turned out a little different had Michael Schumacher not taken himself and Jarno Trulli out of the equation in the second corner. Michael was busy fending Coulthard off when he mis-judged Jarno Trulli's speed and hit the left rear corner of the Renault, sending it into a spin. This lead to chaos further down the field though nobody actually had to retire due to the incident. However, Schumacher stopped once to replace his front wing and was then given a drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable racing accident. Michael still managed to claw back to 6th place. After the race he admitted he made a mistake and he apologised to Trulli. However, it has transpired that Jarno's car may have had a slight hesitation outside his control. Fernando Alonso has become the most successful Spanish F1 driver in recent times by taking third place in his Renault. It is good to see two young drivers leading the fight to the Ferrari/Schumacher domination. I would not start changing bets yet though. Ferrari still had the quickest car on the track, and will be introducing an all-new car in Imola. However, McLaren have a significant lead now in both championships, and they too have a new car on the way. The 2003 season is certainly hotting up! Click here to access race graphics from Malaysia, including a circuit guide, grid line-ups and a lap-by-lap summary. |
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22 March 2003: The National Tarmacadam Rally Championship started off in fine style at the weekend with the John Price Rallying Tour of Epynt and, after over three years of trying, David Kynaston and co-driver Andy Russell finally took their first outright win in the series in their Audi Quattro A3. However, they did not have things all their own way and were hounded throughout the day. Click here for the full event report. |
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20 March 2003: Visitors to this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed have a treat in store, thanks to Mercedes-Benz. The company will give thrilling high-speed demonstrations of its celebrated W 196 R Streamliner racing car for the first time in some 40 years. Read the full press release here.
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19 March 2003: Veloqx Motorsport is to operate a pair of Ferrari 360 GT race cars for the re-born Team Maranello Concessionaires (TMC) in the 2003 FIA GT Championship. Full details were revealed in Surrey today. Among the announcements were an exclusive deal with Dunlop, and a 10 programme series by Sky Sports following the progress of the team. The race debut is set for Sunday 6th of April in Barcelona.
Jamie Davies (Ferrari's reigning British GTO Champion) will head the TMC attack, partnered by youngster Tim Mullen for a second season. New recruits to the team for 2003 sharing the other 360 GT, will be 2001 British GTO Champion, Kelvin Burt and ex-DTM racer and McLaren F1 tester, Darren Turner.
Andrew Kirkaldy and a sixth driver (to be named) will join the team's driver line-up for the Spa 24 Hours.
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19 March 2003: Jordan Grand Prix has managed to secure further sponsorship for the 2003 F1 season. The new money comes from China Central Television (CCTV) and Shanghai International Circuit Co. Ltd (SIC). This year is the first that F1 will be beamed live to China, which leads nicely into 2004 - the first year of the Chinese GP. Jordan will feature in all preview material, as well as displaying the new sponsor logos on the car (see image). Eddie Jordan had this to say: "I am thrilled that Jordan Ford has been chosen by Shanghai International Circuit and CCTV as their partner for commencing Chinese involvement in Formula One. The deal will ensure the
popularity of both Formula One and Jordan Ford in a vitally important region. We are
looking forward to working together on preparations for next year's inaugural Chinese
Grand Prix and I'm sure Jordan Ford will be a big success with the Chinese people". |
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18 March 2003: Peugeot have shied away from calling their new sporty 206SW the GTi, though that is what it is in essence, and a practical GTi at that. You probably know that the SW is the 'lifestyle' version of the best-selling 206 hatch. It shares the hatchback's front end and mates it with a stylish rear, incorporating a two-part hatch. Back to the GTi, sorry Si version. The new Peugeot 206SW Si is £14,680 on-the-road (in the UK). It is powered by the 138bhp engine from the GTi, giving the shopping a rapid 0-62mph time of 9.3 seconds. Extra features include a colour coded front spoiler, black gloss door pillars, aluminium fuel filler cap and 16 inch alloy wheels. Inside, aluminium pedals and gearknob, leather and Alcantara seat trim, sports front seats and a leather steering wheel contribute to the sporty feel. |
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