Author Archives: Greg

New SUV Model Planned by Bentley

Posted on by

It was announced recently by the new CEO, Wolfgang Durheimer, that Bentley is preparing to produce a 4×4 SUV model, which Bentley is aiming to launch sometime in 2014. The confirmation has allayed months of recent speculation in the motoring industry.

Bentley which is owned by The Volkswagen Group, are planning to use some its parent company’s technology architecture, by utilizing the chassis from the new generation  Porsche Cayenne / VW Touareg  / Audi Q7 4×4 SUV’s, which already share technologies around the range. Continue reading →

Porsche Increase Their Eco-Hybrid Models

Posted on by

The luxury German sports car company Porsche has always moved with the times and reacted to market forces, but in this current climate it is now reacting to environmental issues faced by the automotive industry worldwide.

Porsche has now increased its range of petrol-electric “Hybrid” cars which now encompass the Panamera Saloon and Cayenne SUV ranges. Which means it makes both these models the cleanest and greenest cars in the Porsche stable currently. Continue reading →

The New Bentley Continental GT is Launched

Posted on by

Bentley motor cars have always been held in high esteem from the company’s proven historic pedigree in motor racing as far back as the 1920’s, when the then Bentley racing team won the famous 24 hour Le Mans race in France, not once but five times during a ten year period.

The Bentley race cars didn’t just win, they dominated the world renowned Le Mans race circuit by winning consecutively from 1927 – 1930. Their main rival in that era was from “Ettore Bugatti” and his team, but back then the Bugatti cars often suffered from reliability issues, where as the Bentley cars were renowned for their bulletproof reliability. Continue reading →

The Ferrari 458 Italia and its Latest Award

Posted on by

Ferrari has always been at the pinnacle of sports car excellence and represented the top end of motor sport world.

The company was founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, and then called “Scuderia Ferrari”. At that time the company manufactured race cars, by the late forties it was decided time to move into the production of street-legal cars, so “Ferrari S.p.A” was formed in 1947. Continue reading →

A New Topless Land Rover on the Horizon

Posted on by

British Automotive giants Land Rover caused quite a stir at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show this year when unveiling a concept of its new DC100 concept.

The replacement to the iconic defender was one of the expected sights of the show, but the manufacturer surprised the crowds by showcasing a trimmed down, roofless version. The Sport version gets a new petrol engine, unlike the four cylinder diesel found the regular, as well as an 8 speed stop/ start engine; clearly placed with eco thoughts in mind. DC100. The sport also has unique solar panels on the roof to power the onboard systems, taking another page out from the environmentally friendly manual. Continue reading →

Great Car Adverts – Part 2

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome to Part two of great car adverts. Part one of great car adverts can be seen here for those of you had missed out previously. A quick re-cap of what the first three adverts were, we saw a Cat and Mouse fighting around a brand new Ford car, The Fonz smuggle lots of women in his Citroen C3 and a Citroen C4 with better dance moves than a drunken uncle at a family wedding.

Next on our list we see the Ford Focus which provided us with another use for the parts of the car. The advert cleverly stripped parts of the engine and bodywork down and used them to create instruments. The orchestra featured 21 parts each played by a professional musician. Elements like the transmission were used to create the cello and a clutch was used as a guitar. The advert can been seen here: Ford Focus Music Advert.

From music to food, our next advert sees a car made from something else. The Skoda cake advert proved to be an award winning recipe which led people to think that the car was mouth watering. The car was built using various ingredients such as flour, jam and chocolate that saw a life size replica of the Skoda Fabia. The advert can be seen here and if you want to have a go at building your own Skoda cake car then the recipe can be found here.

That concludes our overview of some of the most impressive car adverts on the TV over the years. You can be sure that the future has an even more impressive selection to come. With technology advancing and car manufactures keen to out do each other you can guarantee that there is a lot to look forward to.

If you have any adverts that you think the rest of our readers would be interested in seeing then feel free to send me the details.

Problem Accelerators? What next?

Posted on by
Reply

Would you say that we (the public) put too much faith in manufacturers? With many still recoiling from the possible devastation that Toyota could have caused with their inability to spot a defective accelerator pedal, it would be fair to say that it has knocked consumer confidence in the brand.

Yet we still go on and buy many products each day and have utilities such as gas being pumped into our home from these massive corporate brands. Should we be concerned about these too?

Some may think that it is understandable that something might be missed and problems might occur, yet a simple safety check could go missed, problems could unfold and the worse case scenario could see people being injured or killed. Yet others may consider this to be overreacting to this situation.

Some might consider this to be ‘blind faith’ in leaving these safety aspects to the big companies, yet they are the professionals. These are companies that have been producing everyday brands for decades and very little has gone wrong. It would be very unlikely to achieve a 100% safety record and each element is put under vigorous test s to ensure a safe conclusion.

Many other brands were keen to point out the lack of problem with their products when it was discovered that there was a problem with the Toyotas. The makers of the Ford Focus was able to come out and announce that their accelerator pedal posed no treat to consumers and would be safe to use.

It seems that consumer confidence in Toyota has taken a massive knock. Understandable, people will be reluctant to get on board with the Toyota brand due to these issues. It wasn’t helped with the media interest and the wide spread panic that was to follow.

It becomes all too easy to allow someone else to make the decisions for us and to become swayed to what these manufactures have to tell us. Yet what is the alternative? We can physically check the car before we use it and if we did what would we be looking for? We are not professionals and would not know where to start.

Problems are usually very scarce due to the high amount of safety checks that have to be done before these problems occur.

Great Car Adverts – Part 1

Posted on by
Reply

Advertisers have very little time to get their product to make an impact on us during a commercial break. In a short space of time between the shows you are watching, they have to promote a product and explain why you need it.

Many adverts go to great lengths to get you to remember the product and millions of pounds each year are spent on advertising. Many original averts are created each year, yet only a handful make it as the ‘ones you can’t wait to see again’.

Car manufactures are usually the industry that can captivate an audience with an idea to promote their latest offering. This post will be part one of a two part blog post that will highlight some of the most memorable car averts produced and aired on TV so far. Many of these are still available on the internet in places like youtube.com.

We start the list with, what was the New Ford car: Tom and Jerry – Mondeo. This advert was an integration of the widely loved Tom and Jerry cartoon cat and mouse duo. The scene saw Tom and Jerry break out of the TV and then resulted in Tom chasing Jerry the mouse out of the house and around a pristine Ford Mondeo, in their usual frantic fashion. The advert draws to a close when Jerry manages to crawl up inside the exhaust and get into the car, leaving the cat outside in the cold to be chased away by a dog. It’s nicely created and combines both 2D animation and real world surroundings. The advert can be seen here:  Tom and Jerry Ford Advert

Next on the list is the Citroens C4 ‘Dancing Robot’ advert. This is a nice looking advert and is filmed to create the look of an amateur video shot on the off chance. Starting in a car park, the camera is pointed at the car, then all of a sudden the car transforms into a robot, that starts to dance. Moving seamlessly the robot has been fully animated with 3D computer generated software then super-imposed on to live footage of a car park to create an ‘in the moment’ look and feel of the video. See the award winning advert for yourself. Dancing robot advert.

The advert for the Citroen C3 supermini was a flash back to the past. The commercial starts out with the Happy Days title sequence and then goes to show various members of the cast, each in a scene with the Citroen. The Cunninghams use the vehicle for a family scene together while ‘the Fonz’ gets into the drive-in and the security chap opens the boot and plenty of young women get out the back (displaying how much space there is in the boot). All in all, this is a good avert that integrates some old classic TV viewing and a practical car. The advert can be seen here: Happy Days Car Advert

That concludes part one of our look at great car adverts and part two will be coming soon.

Expensive van insurance?

Posted on by
Reply

Each day the working man is feeling the pinch by the government as the cost of fuel goes up, their wages stay the same so the money they have to spend goes down. For a lot of people this means that living the same they were 6 or even 12 months ago is becoming a struggle as they have less disposable income.

Some people have taken steps to cut costs, some workmen use cheaper materials, hire cheaper workers or try and pass the costs on to the customer but there are still a lot of expenses that need to be paid. One of which is van insurance.

Perhaps for some they don’t really see the benefit of insurance. Paying in to a pot ‘just in case you have an accident’ might seem a little hard to comprehend but it’s there if you need it and it is a legal requirement.
Van insurance is something that should not be neglected. For those who have a work van and spend the majority of time on the road driving around and go out on building sites their van insurance can be invaluable as you never quite know when an accident can happen. With many people about, heavy machinery in action and the van on rough terrain the chance of the van being damaged is highly likely.

If your van is stolen it can cause all sorts of problems and disruption to your work, but having insurance will insure that your beloved Ford Transit Connect is replaced so that you can carry on bringing in an income.

Although the insurance is considered a great expense it becomes clear that many people would not do with out it even if it wasn’t a legal requirement.

Got a Porsche? Join a Club!

Posted on by
Reply

If you are one of the lucky few that have managed to get a new or even a pre owned Porsche and obtain your ideal car then you maybe asking ‘what next?’ Well, besides driving around with people looking on in astonishment and every other day spent waxing the car and cleaning up every element that you love the Porsche you could always join one of the Porsche clubs that are across the UK.

So what are your choices?

PCGB was established in 1961 and has been going strong ever since. The club was founded by some like minded enthusiasts that loved their cars and the Porsche brand. Standing today with in excess of 16,000 members the club is one of the largest across Europe. They offer a whole host of things to do including touring for scenic drives, events with guest speakers, Track days and a website with regular updates.

The Porsche Club UK offers a great website with load of information about Porsche and the cars that they make. As a member you will receive the Porsche newsletter that is published about 9 times a year that contains a whole host of information, news and pictures, you also get full access to their comprehensive Porsche database which details suppliers and recourses, as well as a whole host of additional sites about the Porsche theme.

The PCGB is a great place to meet other like minded people and the Porsche Club UK is fantastic resource for those who want to know more about Porsche, so if you can why not join both?

These two clubs will provide every Porsche owner with something that will light up their fire and allow them to experience the full potential of their Porsche.