Honda launches new advertising campaign that includes planes, bikes, cars, F1 and more (& the new NSX)

Honda’s latest brand campaign, entitled Ignition, is set to launch this Friday on Channel 4 during Eight out of Ten Cats Does Countdown.

The 90 second film, which is available on Honda’s YouTube channel, pays homage to space flight and opens on ASIMO, the camera reveals the new 2015 Honda fleet on a runway which when viewed from above mimics the shape of a space shuttle or rocket, and as the film unfolds more of the fleet and drivers is revealed.

  

Honda’s rich heritage is woven throughout the film, with the driver of the new NSX captured looking at a picture of the original 1990 NSX held in his hand. Keen viewers will also spot a very special cameo from McLaren-Honda driver, Jenson Button and the voice of the late, great Ayrton Senna.

As the film, which was shot on location in Ukraine, reaches its crescendo the Honda fleet looks set to take off, with smoke, mist and frost billowing from the rear of the rocket formation, symbolising the current position the Honda brand currently occupies, with the entire range refreshed or new since the start of the year.

The brand campaign is supported by 10 second teasers on TV that will build excitement ahead of the premiere.  On social, five to ten second teasers have been rolling out in the week building up to the campaign launch, while on mobile, smart phone users will feel the vibration of the rocket, with phones vibrating in sync with sound and vision.

The creation, delivery and implementation of the Ignition marketing campaign has been led by Kate Barrett, the Honda UK Marketing Communications Manager.  Planning started at the tail end of 2014, with Barrett briefing in Wieden + Kennedy and Starcom MediaVest to deliver a highly impactful campaign which signifies the importance of 2015 for Honda.

Philip Crossman, Honda UK Managing Director commented: “In March we had the oldest product line up in the industry but come the start of September we will have the newest.  This Ignition campaign is the perfect representation of where the brand currently sits and what we are about to experience.  We have a rich heritage in creating unique and memorable advertising campaigns which engage and excite, and Ignition is the perfect platform to build on this.”

Wilton Classic Car show this weekend is going be a great event.

Visitors to this weekend’s (June 6/7) Wilton Classic & Supercar show are set to be wowed by some of the most extravagant, historic, expensive and amazing cars in the world.

The two day event in Wiltshire will showcase millions of pounds of classic cars and supercars. There will also be the most impressive Bugatti collection ever assembled and the first appearance together of the McLaren of Senna and Prost’s Ferrari since they famously crashed in the Japanese Grand Prix 25 years ago.

The 10^th anniversary of the Bugatti Veyron will be celebrated in style with 16 of the world’s most amazing exhibits in the CARS Bugatti Display.

The collection ranges from the oldest Bugatti racing car – Ettore Bugatti’s 1913 Type 18 which is a five litre chain driven car right through to the Veyron Pur Sang.

The Bugatti line-up includes the 1926 Type 41 Royale which has been painstakingly built around the original chassis. There is also the 1931 Type 54 Grand Prix car, one of only four examples in existence and the most original.

Highlights of the Wilton Classic & Supercar with Castrol EDGE are also set to include a LaFerrari, Porsche 918 Spyder, the Koenigsegg One:1, Ferrari F40 and Lamborghini Aventador together with a Ferrari 250GT California Spyder and Alfa Romeo 8c.

There will also be the first public viewing of an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Zagato Prototype which was discovered recently in the USA after 50 years and the Bloodhound Project car ahead of its world record attempt later this year. 

Bloodhound driver Andy Green will be at the show on the Sunday to talk to visitors about the amazing project.

“The line-up this year is truly outstanding,” said Lord Pembroke who hosts the event in the grounds of his Wiltshire home – Wilton House. 

“Every year we attract more and more of the world’s most exciting and exotic cars and we have had to expand to become a two day event to accommodate so many wonderful cars.”

In addition to the cars there will be interactive displays, a live car restoration project, live music and a wide range of exhibitors showcasing everything from the latest new cars through to motoring art.

There will also be arena displays from the Bolddog FMX Team, the UK's number one freestyle motocross team.

Event ambassador Tiff Needell will be on hand to host the daily parade interview sessions and talk to visitors about a whole host of motoring-related topics.

“The event has become a real mecca for motoring fans and families looking for a great day out and the line-up this year should offer something for everyone,” said Lord Pembroke.

More than 500 cars will be on display throughout the weekend with 150 classics on the main lawn on the Saturday and 150 supercars taking centre stage on the Sunday.

McLaren to take part in Oldtimer Grand Prix.

• Prominent models from past and present on static display at McLaren House
• Iconic racing cars to include Denny Hulme’s M14, the championship winning M23 of Emerson Fittipaldi and MP4-8 – the last Formula 1™ winning car of Ayrton Senna
• McLaren 650S Coupé and Spider to complete the display spanning over 50 years of innovation and race-winning heritage

McLaren will be exhibiting at the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix 2014, the most important German historic racing event taking place at the Nürburgring circuit this weekend, 8-9 August. The 42^nd edition of the event will see some of the most significant cars from the brand’s legendary racing history alongside the new groundbreaking McLaren 650S Coupé and Spider.

McLaren House, situated within the Mercedes Arena, is a celebration of the continued success of the team over 50 years, and the race-winning heritage from McLaren. This constant drive for improvement enabled the young New Zealander, Bruce McLaren to lay the foundation for the company that became one of the most successful names in global motorsport. The passion which drove Bruce to build his own race cars are still deeply embedded in the brand’s philosophy. This strong pursuit of innovation combined with the ultimate desire to win resulted in unparalleled success in major motorsport championships including Formula 1™, Can-Am, Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Three historic cars displayed at the McLaren House symbolise different stages of the brand’s journey competing at the highest level of motorsport.

M14 – 1970:  One of the last cars driven by Bruce McLaren

Bruce McLaren Motor Racing was established in 1963 and in 1966 ventured into the competitive world of Formula 1™. The M14 was the last Formula 1™ car to be driven by Bruce McLaren. His final appearance in the 1970 Monaco Grand Prix was 12 days short of four years since his first Grand Prix in a car bearing his own name on the nose. Less than a month later, Bruce McLaren was killed testing a new Can-Am racing car at Goodwood Circuit.

Bruce’s legacy was continued by undeterred Denny Hulme who carried on racing in the M14. Despite an emotional distress and serious burns to his hands resulting from an accident earlier in the year, Hulme went on to claim the 1970 Can-Am championship, and secured a credible fourth in the Formula 1™ championship. 

M23 – 1974: The first Formula 1™ championship winning car of McLaren

McLaren secured its first Formula 1™ world championship in 1974 with Emerson Fittipaldi behind the wheel of the M23. The car was one of the most outstanding designs of its era and its unrivalled combination of performance, reliability and controllable handling left an indelible mark in the record books.

MP4/8 – 1993: The last Formula 1™ winning car of Ayrton Senna

The MP4/8 was the first Formula 1™ car to feature the McLaren ECU system and gear paddles on the steering wheel. The car used an early form of GPS to recognise its position around the track and automatically adjust the active suspension to create a performance advantage. The value of the system was quickly acknowledged following the pre-season testing at Silverstone, where the car driven by Ayrton Senna started setting the quickest lap times. 

Concluding this remarkable display will be the latest chapter in the McLaren brand’s journey: the ground-breaking McLaren 650S that debuted at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.  With 650PS, 678 Nm of torque and a power-to-weight ratio of 500PS per tonne, the McLaren 650S has been developed to give the enthusiast driver the ultimate in luxury, engagement and excitement on both road and track.

TMW - LIVE FROM GOODWOOD (well almost) DAY 2

Again, apologies for the fact that this report is a little late, issues with the ipad and connectivity meant that all the info and pictures i posted as the days wore on, was lost and i have had to re-create it again, but it gives me the pleasure of looking at the near 400 pictures and relive the events of the best weekend at Goodwood yet.

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Day two, and with our grateful thanks to Ford, we had a chauffeur take us from our parked car into the site, it saved about 20 minutes walking and in the Kuga, we had a reasonably comfortable drive, well, until half way there we realised that the access tickets were still in the car, DOH !, so ten minutes later we were back on site and on our way to another great day.

I forgot to add on day one, that as we were leaving, we were greeted by the McLaren P1, now, were not sure if it had broken down, but it suddenly stopped and the driver got out and got on his phone, within minutes the car was swarming with people, but as were were already there we got a some good pictures, so enjoy those, before i do start on day two.

Is that not a beautiful car, more on McLaren later, but we will start with Mazda, the company is riding high on the crest of a very large wave of late, all of its products have either been replaced or refreshed or about to be, and sales are really flying, the Mazda 3 and Mazda6 are doing really well, as is the CX-5, the Mazda2 and MX-5 are not far from new models, and with the concept of the Mazda2 on display here, and if it comes out like this, then sales will continue to grow.

 And then to Volvo, where we had a little wait for the #bravethestorm experience, and it was so hot outside, once we got into the box, which had a Volvo XC60 inside, it was so cool, it was lovely, the point of the #bravethestorm exhibit was to show you that through sensors the car can detect people in front of the car, they did this by having the sensors in the roof of the building, and then making it rain, as you walked about the sensors picked up where you were going, and stopped the rain so you never got wet, well, not entirely, it was good, and it worked, however it is not a new thing, as I drove a Jaguar XFR in 2009 with the same system.

We though then, and reported it on this blog, that we felt it was dangerous, as the car would brake on its own, no advance warning, so anything could happen, if you were driving you could avid the bike by swerving, whereas the car would just brake, it could mean that another car would pile into the back of you, which was what nearly happened, it was frightening and unnerving that the car did this, you just felt as though your not in control.

Also, during the initial introduction we were in the XC60 reading text in the wall, and again Volvo have mentioned the Vision 2020, whereas Volvo would like us to believe they would like to have no deaths or serious injuries in a Volvo, OK, I asked about that, as it is a very bold statement to make, and one that I can not ever see happening, yes you can have a car so full of sensors and safety equipment that it will do its utmost to avoid any incidents, but you cant account for what other people do, or if you have a driver that wants to do harm, maybe this should be looked at again, and maybe adjusted, to state that the cars will do whatever they can to avoid all low speed impacts, that might be more believable, but i applaud Volvo for trying.

Yes, that is us, in the Volvo exhibit, NOT, getting too wet. and it was so cool in there we didn't want to leave.

The AA or Automobile Association has been around for nearly 110 years, and during that time they have assisted millions of drivers, and this year, was the first year that The AA has taken part in GFoS, and WOW, what a start, the AA will now become a major part of all GFoS and Goodwood Revival meetings for years to come, the display of classic AA vehicles was amazing, from Motorbikes, to trucks, Land Rovers to vans, all from many era's.

The AA stand was also THE place to go to, with free bottles of ice cold water, Free Ice Creams, many other giveaways and competitions, and we won, YAY, we never win anything as a rule, and we won, a Millican bag, not sure what that means, but apparently they are about £100 a pop, so it will be used as a laptop bag, so that was a really nice surprise, maybe we could win the VW Camper as well, but then that would be greedy wouldn't it.

The AA stand was brilliant, the guys on their were so happy to talk about the classics, they are looked after by themselves, not in a museum, and all in their own time, that's just so great, that they actually do this, each car, is genuinely an old AA vehicle, located, checked with company records and then put back into A1 order, they did say that they do not have any Transit vans on the classic fleet, so if you do know of a transit that was originally an AA fleet vehicle, please contact me or them and see how it can be placed back into full AA trim and used for these sorts of events.

Another pass by the Citroen stand and a few more pics of the funky looking C4 Cactus and the new C1, this time in bright sunshine they look even better, the C1 being part of the Triplets, 108, Aygo and Citroen.

It was now time to pop over the other side of the track to see what was going on there, the stunning Mercedes Structure that we over the house with two racing cars on is nice, but not the best structure, I think that goes to the Land Rover one from a couple of years back

2008 Land Rover sculpture, my favourite of all time.

And as we passed there we happened to see Mark Webber having some lunch, i feel so sorry for Mark and all the others here, the behaviour of these people was disgusting, shouting and screaming, waving books and pens, we, well we just took a picture from a short distance away, no hassles or inconveniences, yet others were behaving like animals.

Whilst waiting for the drivers to appear at the other side, everyone was waiting for Lewis Hamilton, i cant recall how many times the stewards and security forced the crowds back to that he could get through to his car, yet as soon as they made room, these idiots just barged back, I was nearly knocked down by some prat that grabbed his child and forced him through the crowd to get an autograph, even though everyone had been told there would be no autographs, you could clearly see that Lewis looked quite, not scared, but really not at ease with it.

As you can see from picture 4 above, Lewis was covering his face, and looked not too happy, added to this was the noise, it just got louder and louder, screaming people, and one guy who must have been in his 40's or older, was just running back and forth like a rabid rottweiler, with his F1 team gear on, and autograph book in hand, he looked like an idiot and behaved equally so, just barging people out of his way, he hit me once, and i saw him coming for me again so side stepped him, you can be sure that if hie did it again, i would have whacked him hard with my walking stick, it made me so angry that these people just assume they are entitled to behave this way, next time we go, there will be no one hit limit, push me, and you'll get a whack, end of.

Time was now winding away quickly so it was a bit of a mad dash to get around the rest of the exhibits, The Cartier Style De Luxe and Supercar Paddock will re produced in separate blog posts, but be assured there are a lot of brilliant cars in those sections. Maserati this year was in the courtyard, with a wild new Alfieri Concept sports car, the Ghibli and Quattroporte saloons, along with some stunning classic Maserati's.

 Some really stunning cars here, and it goes to show that classic Italian cars are alive and well, but will they ever get back to the stunning GT cars of yesteryear, I doubt it, very much so, these were from an era when cars like these ruled the roads, they had an aura about them that cars do not have today, you knew that whoever was in one of these cars was special, a celebrity or royalty, now, the Z-List celebs from crappy reality shows get ear vast sums for behaving like gormless idiots and get to own these sorts of cars, and that's a shame, as the mystique has been lost, and lost forever.

Time was now not on our side, so a very quick trip around the F1 stands, seeing the cars from differing era's but all in great condition and all ready to take on the hill climb at full chat, enjoy the pictures, there are a number of cars used by, probably one of the best F1 drivers that ever lived, Ayrton Senna De Silva, and the truly classic John Player Special Black and Gold Lotus, probably the best known, by looks, of any classic F1 car ever.

It's not quite over yet, as we stopped at one more stand, the Land Rover stand, where were greeted with the very first Discovery, and the XXV special edition Discovery 4 (LR4), along with many Range Rovers, Defenders, a lone Freelander 2 (LR2) and the star of the LR stand, the new Discovery Vision concept, the new look of the new Discovery family, I was earwigging with one lady giving one of the staff some grief about getting rd of the Freelander name, for which i fully agree.

She was not happy about the fact that Discovery was going to be used as a name brand like Range Rover and Land Rover, and i am still not to impressed at the fact that they have removed the base models, so now the cheapest is heading towards £30k, I just hope that they have not taken the wrong decision and will price themselves out of sales, because there is no way a lot of people can justify that sort of price, yet £23k-£25k is probably OK, and also the staff member stated that the Freelander would stop production at the end of the year, but they will have built enough to have stocks right through to the end of next year, I can assure you that i would not wish to have a 12 month old vehicle which has been sitting around in a field somewhere.

Here are our pictures of the new Discovery Vision, and thank you for taking the time to the blogs for the GFoS weekend, and remember, if you use any of my pictures for your own use, please do me the courtesy of linking them back to here, or an acknowledgement would be nice.

And it was back to our Chauffeur to take us back to the car, and it was the end of another great motoring event, Lord March works very hard every year, so that, the general public can take part, and get up close and personal with cars and drivers alike, and each year it gets bigger and better, but how can it get any bigger than this year, the manufacturers stands are huge now, and can only get bigger and better, the lack of land, and there is a lot of it, means that there is not very much space left for other brands to appear, and it would be nice for other brands to appear, so who was missing, well, FIAT, MG, Vauxhall, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Jeep and Ssangyong, all not in attendance, for some its easy to understand, but Vauxhall and MG, really, British Brands not attending the biggest motoring event of the year, thats just very sad.

TMW - Jon Mower