An ex-F1 owned and Ex ITN News correspondent Range ROver Classic is up for sale.

• Range Rover driven 14,000 miles from Johannesburg to Somerset by ex-ITN Chief Foreign Correspondent now for sale at JD Classics
• Michael Nicholson of ITN News embarked on the epic five-month journey with his family in 1981
• The car also comes with a copy of the book, Across the Limpopo, in which Nicholson chronicled his incredible journey
• First owned by ex-Formula One racer Duncan Hamilton, and recently restored to perfection, this Range Rover has an impeccable history

A 1973 Range Rover driven on an epic 14,000-mile, five-month expedition from Johannesburg to Somerset is on-sale now at JD Classics. Undertaken by ex-ITN Chief Foreign Correspondent, Michael Nicholson in 1981, this Range Rover has survived the Nyaki Mountains in Malawi and elephants in Dar es Salaam – all chronicled in Nicholson’s book Across the Limpopo.

Nicholson was sold the Range Rover by its first owner, none other than Le Mans-winning racing driver Duncan Hamilton, who specified it in Lincoln Green with a Palomino interior and a number of factory options. 

Full leather upholstery and a Webasto sunroof were both fitted as extras by Nicholson who bought the car in 1976, before shipping it to Johannesburg where he was working as ITN’s Chief Foreign Correspondent.

After four years of daily use in South Africa, Nicholson was due to head back to England but couldn’t face the thought of simply waking up in the UK the next day. Instead of the 16-hour flight, he packed his family and their belongings into his Range Rover and set off for home.

From South Africa, Nicholson headed through Zambia to the Nyika Plateau of Malawi, where he camped fearing for his family’s safety, staying up all night with a machete at hand. The Range Rover took them through Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Conversation Area, where they travelled side-by-side with wild rhinoceros, and saw them through dangerous encounters with bull elephants in Dar es Salaam.

Nicholson’s unstoppable Range Rover then crossed the Serengetti to Kenya, where it had to tackle the Weiwei Drift, a series of boggy washed away bridges where the average speed was 2.5 hours per mile.

Following its final route through Egypt, Sudan, Greece and the rest of Europe to the UK, the car was dry stored for many years. Recently it was subjected to a comprehensive bare shell restoration, completed by Range Rover specialists Bishops 4x4.

JD Classics Managing Director, Derek Hood, said: “The classic Range Rover market is hugely popular at the moment, and this is a wonderful opportunity to own a very special part of it. From its Le Mans-winning racing owner to its incredible journey through Africa – chronicled in a book and many photographs accompanying the car – this Range Rover has perfect provenance. Add to that the recent impeccable restoration, and it’s easy to see why this Range Rover is perhaps the most desirable on the market today.”

Lotus produces its fastest and quickest road going car ever, and its not the Evora 400, read on to learn more.

• Lotus 3-Eleven covers over 2,000km in Nürburgring testing
• The quickest and most powerful production Lotus road car ever
• Ongoing development for model entering production in early 2016
• One of the fastest ever drives of the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit

The new Lotus 3-Eleven marked its first public outing with a successful two-week test session during the industry pool test weeks at the renowned proving ground of the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit, in which over 2,000kms were covered as part of a comprehensive test and development programme.

Jean-Marc Gales, Chief Executive Officer for Group Lotus plc, commented, "The success of this test session is proof that our development philosophy for the 3-Eleven is the right way to go. 

We’ve always said that to make a car faster you must make it lighter and this new car carries that philosophy to a new level. 

APOLOGIES FOR THE POOR QUALITY OF THE PICTURES, THESE ARE WHAT WERE SUPPLIED BY LOTUS CARS - AND THEY GENERALLY SUPPLY POOR QUALITY PICS.

It condenses all of our engineering know-how into an undiluted performance-focused package and we’re pleased to showcase to the world, the quickest and most powerful production Lotus to date. 

The 3-Eleven achieved one of the fastest ever lap times around the Nürburgring for any class of car and faster than many other supercars”

Heralding a new generation of Lotus high performance sports cars, the 3-Eleven features an all-new lightweight body, with an open cockpit design and a V6 supercharged engine developing 450 hp. 

The 3-Eleven re-affirms Lotus core values, offering the ultimate pure driving experience and providing the perfect demonstration of "faster and lighter" which comes from Lotus’ roots in competitive motorsport and underlines the company’s ability to deliver benchmark handling.

In what was its first turn of a wheel outside of Lotus’ Hethel HQ, the new 3-Eleven was piloted by three different drivers with individual areas of expertise and vehicle set-up with specific focus – aerodynamics, engine calibration, chassis tuning and suspension geometry.

Gavan Kershaw, Technical Manager for Lotus Motorsport and Lotus 3-Eleven Development Driver, commented, “It has been a hugely successful test for us in which we have thoroughly investigated areas of the car which are a specific focus for high performance driving. 

We have methodically worked through a test matrix concentrating on, aerodynamic balance, suspension settings, tyre and brake development, optimising engine calibration and throttle mapping to reach the required benchmark for performance.”

With clear running on the circuit an inhibiting factor over the course of the two week period – in which the track was not designated solelyfor the use of Lotus – the 3-Eleven lapped regularly on or below the target simulation time. 

By combining the quickest sector times achieved during the fastest 2 laps on the “Sport Auto” magazine lap configuration, a total lap time of 7 minutes 06 seconds was recorded by the vehicle’s data logging acquisition system.

Marc Basseng, Lotus 3-Eleven Driver, stated, “I know the Nürburgring Nordschleife very well and have driven many cars around the circuit. I can say that the 3-Eleven is the perfect car for a fast lap here. 

It is so sharp and so focussed; a true weapon! This was proven in the sector times set and I’m sure, with the track completely to itself, the car could push towards a 7min flat lap time.”

The new Lotus 3-Eleven will enter production in February 2016 with deliveries scheduled to commence in April 2016. Production will be limited to just 311 vehicles in total.

Prices start at £82,000 for the Road version (including VAT and on the road costs) and £96,000 excluding VAT for the Race version (£115,200 including VAT). The 3-Eleven will be sold in all markets as a race car and in Europe and Asia as a road car.

Those wishing to register their interest in the Lotus 3-Eleven, should 

visit: http://www.lotuscars.com/3eleven

Official fuel consumption figures and CO₂ emissions figures for the Lotus 3-Eleven are not currently available. They will be provided on the Lotus website www.lotuscars.com as soon as they are available.