Bigger and better than ever, that will be this years MGLive at Silverstone Circuit.

The name above the gate may say MGLive! but there's plenty more to see than just MGs models when the MG Car Club's annual extravaganza returns to Silverstone on 17th and 18th June.

The Club's Racing division has developed a racing programme not to be missed on the GP Circuit, as it's own MG championships are joined by the pre-1966 Touring cars from the Masters Series, giving visitors the chance to see BMW 2002s, Alfa Romeos, Lotus Cortinas, Ford Falcons and Mustangs battling it out against the ever competitive Mini Coopers.

There will also be action from the single seater Radical Challenge Championship, as well as the all powerful Porsche Club Championship.

But the biggest grids of the weekend will be from the eclectic mix of Equipe GTS, with a range of vehicles from Alfa Romeos to TVRs and of course MGs – with Midgets and MGBs completing a varied line-up.

For those who prefer to be part of the action rather than just spectate, MGLive! invites owners to compete in the California Cup Autotest, the MGLive! Autosolo and a Sprint held on the Stowe Circuit. There's also passenger rides and a chance to take to the GP circuit in the lunchtime parade lap.

Away from the track, around 3,000 MG models spanning over 90 years of motoring heritage will be on display from the Club's various registers, along with a collection of models that have all made their mark in motorsport.

There's also the Live Arena hosted by Wheeler Dealers' Mike Brewer and Ant Anstead, with plenty of fun and games including a human gymkhana, relay race, and daily car clinics. The arena also boasts stunt driving legend Russ Swift's only UK performance this year, marking 30 years since his first appearance at Silverstone.

The Trader village offers parts and spares as well as motoring memorabilia while the Lifestyle Marquee has a mixture of arts, crafts and hand-made gifts. If you fancy clearing out your garage, you can book a space in the ‘Silverstone Sort Out’ which is a motoring car boot sale.

MGLive! is as much a social event as a haven for motoring fans, with the new Village Green area offering live musical entertainment through the weekend so people can relax and enjoy the festival vibe.

Saturday will see performances by retro harmony group The Candy Girls along with leading covers band, The Shadow Monkeys. On Sunday, it's the turn of all-girl group, The Glamophones and Dammit Jack, who will be playing songs from the 60s through to present day.

Those wishing to make a weekend of it can stay overnight with camping facilities on offer from as little as £35 for a tent pitch and £40 for a caravan/motorhome, with a choice of general or family camping areas for those wanting a quieter part of the venue. Those staying onsite can also dance the night away to music from part band TFI Live as well as a DJ into the night.

Brian Johnson visits Longbridge for his Cars That Rock TV Show, to see how MG hs evolved.

AC/DC frontman and car fanatic, Brian Johnson, has returned to TV screens for a second series of Cars that Rock and this time round he has chosen to explore MG; the much loved British marque.

As part of his second series, Brian Johnson is focusing on some of the world’s most iconic cars. On Thursday 21 May, viewers will get an insight into MG and get to take a look behind the scenes at the iconic Longbridge site.

For almost 90 years, MG has produced sports cars and created an automotive heritage that has captivated people worldwide. In the episode that airs on Thursday, Brian visits the MG factory and takes a look at the brand’s roots with a ride in MG’s very first race car. He also catches a glimpse of how the marque has been revised.

As well as getting an insight into the history and future of the beloved marque, he gets the chance to give the MG3 the ultimate test drive, meets two MG enthusiasts who celebrated the brand in their own way, and races in one of the fastest MGs ever made; resulting in a close shave with a concrete wall!

Watch a preview below and tune into the full episode on Quest TV (Freeview channel 37, Sky channel 167 and Virgin Media channel 172) on Thursday 21 May at 9pm.

Vauxhall joins in with it's parent companies half a billion car sales celebrations.

• GM celebrates 500 million vehicles produced
• Vauxhall has made ‘a significant contribution’ after 90 years of GM ownership
• GM & Vauxhall continue to innovate after more than a century in business

General Motors today became the first car manufacturer in the world to produce 500 million vehicles, as Vauxhall in the UK – GM’s fourth largest market – celebrated 90 years of ownership by the US company.

‘During 2015, we expect to sell more than 1,000 new vehicles per hour, 24 hours per day,’ said Mary Barra, GM’s CEO. 

‘This adds up to nearly ten million vehicles, the most in our history. I look at this extraordinary volume as ten million opportunities to prove what kind of company we are and to say thank you.’

The landmark figure came 90 years after General Motors purchased Vauxhall in 1925 in what was the American company’s first overseas acquisition. Luton-based Vauxhall, which is Britain’s oldest surviving car manufacturer, very quickly repaid GM’s investment and to date has sold nearly 14.5 million vehicles in its own right.

Like its parent company, which pioneered the automatic transmission, the V-8 engine and the first airbags in a production vehicle, Vauxhall has a long history of innovation too. Just 10 years into GM ownership it produced the DY and DX models, the first British cars with independent front suspension. Two years later the H-type was launched, the first British car to have an integral body and chassis.

But perhaps the most significant achievement for Vauxhall is its 112 years of continuous vehicle production, even during both World Wars when it manufactured the D-type Army Staff Car and Churchill Tank respectively from its Kimpton Road plant in Luton. Today, Vauxhall’s Vivaro van is still built on Kimpton Road, with a further five million vehicles produced by the company’s Ellesmere Port plant since it opened in 1964.

‘Vauxhall has made a significant contribution to GM’s success, and we are very proud to be part of its global family,’ said Tim Tozer, Vauxhall’s Chairman and Managing Director.

Repetitive and Physical: 90 Years of Durability Testing

GM Milford Proving Ground milestone birthday today

In 18 months, the durability team at General Motors’ Milford Proving Ground can put a vehicle through an entire lifecycle. Durability tests are long, repetitive and physically demanding.

“In 90 years, what hasn’t changed is that durability testing is physical,” said Stephen Jenkins, director, Global Proving Ground Operations, Test Labs and Vehicle Material Engineering. “We can mathematically calculate how well a part should hold up under certain conditions, but it isn’t until we get a driver in the product and test over and over again that we can be sure.

Here are some of the benchmarks a vehicle must endure before the Milford durability team will release it for production.

• 100,000 miles of customer use – the team drives a test vehicle up to 25,000 miles, though it is in such extreme conditions that it represents 100,000 miles of customer use
• Extreme tests – Belgian Block Loop, pothole drives, chatter bumps, twist ditches, speed bumps and more are driven for entire days testing various parts of the vehicle
• Humidity chambers - Built in the late 1960s with new ones added in the 1980s, every car is soaked in humidity chambers. On numerous occasions cars will go in these corrosion booths for hours at a time and endure high temperatures and humidity

“We are always pushing ourselves to test even the smallest part of a vehicle to ensure that the entire product from the engine down to the screws and bolts are tough enough to handle the driving our customers need,” Jenkins said.