Saturday, 1 August 2015

USA - Chevy Korea has started taking orders for the 2016 Impala, the first time the cars been available there.

Chevrolet began taking pre-orders in Korea today for the Impala, the first time the brand is introducing a full-size sedan domestically. The Chevrolet Impala for Korea is assembled at General Motors’ Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant.
“We are thrilled to have the iconic flagship sedan complete Chevrolet’s passenger car portfolio in Korea,” said Sergio Rocha, president and CEO of GM Korea. 

“We are confident that its bold styling, comfort, safety, powerful performance and technology will make it a leader in the highly competitive upper-medium sedan segment.”
To meet an array of customer needs, the Impala will be offered in Korea with two engine choices: a 2.5L SIDI L4 engine and a 3.6L SIDI V-6 engine. Korea-only convenience features include power folding side mirrors, an electronic toll collecting system, fuel-fill cap locking, rain-sensing wipers, a unique cluster, standard navigation, a unique antenna, a 220V power outlet, rear audio controls and rear heated seats.
The 2016 Impala will include Apple CarPlay capability, which takes the iPhone features and puts them on the vehicle’s display in a smart, simple manner. This allows drivers to make calls, send and receive messages and listen to music right from the touchscreen or by voice via Siri. Apple CarPlay supported apps include Phone, Messages, Maps, Music and compatible third-party apps. 

FOURTEEN BTCC Drivers to appear behind teh wheel at this years Goodwood Revival - Cant wait.....

Fourteen British Touring Car race winners – including four series champions – are now confirmed to compete at the Goodwood Revival on September 11-13 in a variety of sensational historic sports, GT and saloon racing cars.

Jason Plato, the most successful BTCC racer of all time in terms of race wins, is reunited with TV chef James Martin, star of BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen, in the St Mary’s Trophy that caters for racing saloons of a kind that competed from 1960-66.

ALL PICTURES COURTESY OF GOODWOOD REVIVAL - THANK YOU !


Two-time BTCC champion Plato, who currently races for the BMR Volkswagen team, and Martin will campaign the latter’s 1964 Morris Mini Cooper S.


Among their chief rivals will be current Honda BTCC pairing Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, who have four championship crowns between them.

The duo will share their own Ford Lotus Cortina in the race while Neal will also contest the RAC TT Celebration for early-1960s GT machines in a Sunbeam Lister Tiger.

Andrew Jordan, the 2013 BTCC champion, will provide another star attraction as he shares a similar Cortina with his father Mike – himself a BTCC race winner and two-time British GT champion. The Jordans finished second in the St Mary’s Trophy last year in their Austin A40.

Three-time World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx, who has returned to the BTCC this year with the WSR BMW team, remains behind the wheel of one of the German manufacturer’s cars at the Revival. 

He drives an 1800 TiSA in the St Mary’s Trophy while his regular WSR team-mate, Sam Tordoff, takes the wheel of a Fiat Abarth 1500S.

Two more BTCC race winners, Jackie Oliver and Darren Turner, will also have TiSAs at their disposal in the St Mary’s and will drive, respectively, a Jaguar E-type and an AC Cobra in the TT.

Steve Soper, the BTCC series runner-up in 1993, races a Cortina while Tiff Needell, whose lone win in the championship came four years earlier, has a Jaguar Mk2 at his disposal and Tom Kristensen, a three-time race winner in the BTCC in 2000, will race a Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt in the St Mary’s as well as the unique Lister-Jaguar Coupe in the TT.

Four more drivers with touring car pedigree; 1970 European Champion Jochen Mass, former German and Italian title-winner Emanuele Pirro, sportscar legend Derek Bell and ex-BTCC front-runner Patrick Watts have also confirmed their drives for the Revival.

Mass and Bell won the RAC TT in, respectively, 1972 and ’73 during a time when the race formed part of the BTCC calendar. 

While both drivers will take part in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy on the Friday night of Revival – Mass in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Gullwing’ and Bell in a Jaguar C-Type – the German will also race a Ford Galaxie 500 in the St Mary’s Trophy.

Pirro will pilot a Mini Cooper S in the latter encounter and an exquisite Ferrari 500 TRC in the Lavant Cup, held exclusively for 1950s drum-braked Ferrari sports racing cars this year.

Watts races a Cooper-Bristol T25 against Mass in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy, while Andy Wallace, whose BTCC appearances in 1993 are largely forgotten against a sportscar career that includes a Le Mans victory, will battle against him in a Jaguar C-Type and will also drive a Mk2 Saloon in the St Mary’s Trophy.

GM recalls 82,620 Cadillac ATS sedans over sunroof issue

General Motors is recalling 82,620 Cadillac ATS sedans and issuing a stop sale on the vehicle for issues with the power sunroof.
GM already had recalled 67,000 ATS sedans in February for the same issue -- power sunroofs that can auto-close when the non-recessed portion of the “slide” or “tilt” switches are pressed and the roof panel is open.

When these switches are not fully recessed, they can be activated with less force than is required to comply with federal standards.
The new recall replaces the initial one and now covers ATS sedans from the 2013-16 model years. It covers 63,665 vehicles in the U.S. and 18,955 in Canada, Mexico and other areas.
An inefficient replacement part was used to remedy the original recall, so even those vehicles already repaired must be fixed again, a GM spokesman said.
GM is not aware of any crashes, injuries or deaths linked to the issue.
The stop sale covers 7,000 vehicles in the U.S. and will be lifted once the service bulletin is completed.
Nora Naughton

An ultra-rare, unrestored and original Aston DB6 Mk 1 Volante Vantage set a new record for Barons.

An ultra-rare, unrestored and highly original 1969 Aston Martin DB6 Mk 1 Volante Vantage set a new record for Barons when it sold for £781,000 at Sandown Park on July 28th. The highest price ever achieved for a car at a Barons sale, it broke the auction house’s previous record of £739,000, set just three months ago for a 1954 Bentley R-Type Continental Fastback ‘barn find’.


The Aston above is the one sold at Auction, the cars below are illustrative examples of models that were sold at the auction, but are not the actual cars.


“We believe this may be a record for an unrestored example of this particular Aston Martin, so these are very exciting times for Barons,” said company director Peter Gascoigne. 

“The past six months since Tony Cavell and I took the reins have seen significant growth in the value and quality of cars across the sales, and in the overall sale results. To have two such cars within three months of each other is truly remarkable.”

The Sandown Park saleroom was packed, and the number of online bidders had swelled by 50% for this sale. Bidding on the Aston – one of just 29 ever made, and believed to be the final such Volante Vantage built – actually started slowly, building gradually from an initial £350,000. 

Then telephone bids began flooding in and the car accelerated rapidly up to the final figure paid by the UK buyer.

Another British classic was second in the popularity charts at the sale. The stunning 1968 Series 1.5 Jaguar E-type 2+2 had been the subject of a comprehensive nut-and-bolt bare metal restoration, and sold for £46,750. 

It was followed by a very impressive, and considerably younger, machine; the 2014 Dax Cobra, which has just 500 miles on the clock, roared past its £20,000 estimate to sell for £32,175.

Barons is now gearing up for its British Heritage, Classic & Collectors’ Sale, at Sandown Park on September 15th.

The full results of Barons’ July 28th sale appear below.
YearMakeModelSold @ Inc
1969Aston MartinDB6 MKI Volante Vantage£781,000
1968JaguarE-type 1.5 2+2 Coupe£46,750
2014DaxCobra£32,175
1989Porsche911 Carrera£22,000
1963TriumphTR4£21,450
2002Porsche911 Carrera 4 Widebody Coupe£15,950
1977JaguarXJ6 4.2 S2£11,825
1961JaguarMKII 3.4 Saloon£11,220
1967FordMustang£9,900
1990JaguarXJS 3.6£9,350
1977TriumphStag£8,525
1966MGB Roadster£8,250
1972Fiat500L£6,820
1994Land RoverRange Rover Vogue LSE£6,050
B0B 60Registration number£5500
1971MG1300 MK2£5,225
1974Fiat500R£4,675
1986Porsche928 S2 Coupe£4,400
 1997BMWZ3 1.9£4,290
1992Porsche968 Cabriolet£4,180
1989VolkswagenGolf Gti 16V£3,410
1973MorrisMini 1000£3,300
1977FordCapri£3,300
1986JaguarXJS 5.3 V12£3,300
2001BMWZ3 3.0i£3,300
 1957FordAnglia 100E£3,080
1985VolkswagenMKI Golf Gti Cabriolet£2,970
1998Alfa RomeoSpider 2.0£2,695
1999VolkswagenGolf Convertible£2,530
1989BMW320i Convertible£2,475
1978MGMidget£1,870
2003MGTF 1.8£1,650
1986Saab900GLS TA£1,200
1980DaimlerSovereign 4.2£1,150
1976MGB Roadster£750