A family from Kent have devised a very special goodbye to their beloved ŠKODA this Christmas.

• The Charnleys will travel to Lapland in their ŠKODA Octavia vRS for its final journey
• The journey will take three days across Northern Europe clocking up over 4,500 miles round trip
• The Octavia has been part of the Charnley family for two years

A family from Kent have devised a very special goodbye to their beloved ŠKODA this Christmas, embarking on a 4,696 round trip to Lapland. 

Chris and Gemma Charnley and their two sons Jake (10yrs) and Euan (8yrs) will be driving from their home in Maidstone, Kent, to Lapland as a final send off for their ŠKODA Octavia vRS, which will be traded in for a new model in the New Year.

To date, the Charnleys’ Octavia vRS has played the typical role of family car, with many special memories created, including holidays to Europe, collecting their dog for the first time, and countless school runs and collections following after school activities. 

Creating a memorable trip for their boys before saying goodbye to the faithful car for a ŠKODA Superb Sportline seemed like the perfect ending.

Their adventure started at 5am on Tuesday 20^th December with a drive through France, Belgium, and the Netherlands and into Bermen, Germany, just in time to catch the traditional Christmas market. 

They will then continue on to Denmark for the first night’s stay, before a 14-hour journey from Denmark, travelling north through Sweden for a stopover before the final day towards Lapland where they will spend Christmas.

ŠKODA owner, Chris Charnley, said: “We’ve had some amazing journeys with our ŠKODA Octavia vRS and it’s been an old faithful; always performing well and ensuring we deliver our most precious goods safely at the other end. 

Our trip to Lapland will definitely be one of the most memorable. Although we are sad to see it go, we are all excited to take delivery of our new Superb Sportline in the New Year. I’ve always been impressed with the brand and can’t wait to continue making family memories with our new ŠKODA.”

An unusual Volkswagen pick-up truck, which belonged to a member of the Porsche family is up for auction/

An unusual Volkswagen pick-up truck, which belonged to a member of the world famous Porsche family and designer of the iconic 911, will be auctioned by Silverstone Auctions at The Classic Race Aarhus motorsport festival in Denmark, on 28^th and 29^th May.

This 1989 Volkswagen T3 double cab pick-up truck was owned by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, also known as “Butzi”, the son of "Ferry", and grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, founder of Porsche and Volkswagen and creator of the VW Beetle.

After it was decided to change the Porsche legal structure and to keep the family out of its management, Ferdinand Alexander went on to found his own company, the Porsche Design Studio in 1972. 

Initially based in Stuttgart, the company was later moved to Zell am See, Austria, close to the Porsche family estate, Schüttgut. It was for use at this company that “Butzi” bought the T3 Doka pick-up. Purchased on 12th December 1989, the truck was used on the estate for various purposes in the daily running of the business.

The truck was purchased by the current vendor, a Porsche racing driver with long-standing links with the Porsche family, in 2014. After a bare metal restoration process of over 700 hours carried out at his Porsche racing garage, the truck presents today in superb condition. With a total of 141,000 kilometres recorded, and supporting paperwork clearly listing Ferdinand Alexander Porsche as the first owner, the truck will be offered at auction with an estimate of between €60,000 and €80,000.

Speaking ahead of the sale, Nick Whale, managing director of Silverstone Auctions, commented, “The Porsche family is automotive royalty and it’s an honour to have a vehicle in our auction with the distinction of being one of the few cars registered privately in the Porsche family name. This is a superb opportunity to add a quirky and historically significant vehicle to an ultimate Porsche collection.”

The youngest in the lineage of Porsche family engineers, Ferdinand Alexander, affectionately nicknamed "Butzi", meaning ‘baby’ in German, was chief designer of the styling department at Porsche. He played a fundamental roll in the design of the iconic Porsche 911, as well as the 904 and 914, establishing a design culture that continues to shape the manufacturers sports cars to this very day.

Nick Whale added, “This is a very special addition to our first international sale in Denmark, and though pick-up trucks do not come into our sales often, we feel this is a very special exception.”

1974 Time Warp VW Beetle in mint condition with just 90km's on the clock is going up for auction.

A 42 year old Volkswagen Beetle,that has covered just 90 km, has been discovered in time warp condition and will be sold at Silverstone Auctions’ Classic Race Aarhus Auction in Denmark on 28^th and 29^th May.

Unique is a word often used incorrectly, but in the case of this 1974 Beetle, it is not inaccurate. With just one owner from new and only 90 kilometres on the clock, this little car must be one of the lowest mileage examples in existence still in its original condition.

Supplied new by G. Terragni Volkswagen, Genoa, Italy, on the 23rd January 1974, its first and only proud owner was an elderly gentleman by the name of Armando Sgroi. He had never owned a motorcar before and did not particularly want this one. However, he was a deeply religious man and walked every Sunday from his house in the hills to his local church. This was only a short distance, but it had become a struggle as he became more and more frail with age.

The car was used less and less as his church-going became more infrequent, up until the last outing in 1978, when the car was retired to a barn where it has remained for almost four decades. This little Beetle has recently been rediscovered, has been lightly recommissioned and will now be offered at auction. For sale for only the second time in its life, it will head to auction with an estimate of €35,000 to €40,000.

Speaking ahead of the sale, Nick Whale, managing director of Silverstone Auctions commented, “The VW Beetle is one of the most successful and loved cars worldwide, and we’re no strangers to them at Silverstone Auctions, but this one is a very special example and something we rarely see. With such an incredibly low mileage it is in virtually new condition, 42 years after it was first bought.”

Finished in blue with a black leather interior and all its original features, this left-hand drive, manual example still holds the original oil in the engine and is shod with its first set of tyres. The original books and invoice, along with its unwrapped tool kit, are also supplied with the car.

The car features as part of the Classic Race Aarhus Auction hosted by Silverstone Auctions and Lauritz.com at the prestigious motorsport festival in Denmark.

Honda to undertake 8,500 miles in a Civic Tourer to show it can achieve better than indicated fuel figures.

Honda will put the real-world fuel economy of its super-efficient 1.6 i-DTEC engine to the ultimate test in an 8,500mile drive across all 24 contiguous EU countries, with the aim of setting a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for fuel efficiency.

On Monday 1^st June 2015, two members of Honda’s European Research & Development (R&D) team will climb into a Honda Civic Tourer and set out on an epic journey from Aalst, Belgium. Heading towards the Netherlands and Germany, their trip will see them navigate the Continent in a clockwise direction, with the aim of returning to their starting point some 25 days later, on June 25^th, having covered a planned total of 8,459miles.

The GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title attempt comes on the back of several independent tests which have proven Honda’s 1.6 i-DTEC engine to consistently out-perform its quoted fuel efficiency in real-world driving conditions. Keen to once again underline this performance and in the challenging spirit for which the brand is famed, Honda aims to set a benchmark with a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title never before attempted in Europe.

Under the rules of the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title attempt, the same two drivers must be in the car for every kilometre of the journey. Step forward Honda R&D colleagues of some 18 years, Fergal McGrath and Julian Warren, based at Honda’s European manufacturing facility in Swindon, UK. The pair volunteered to take up the challenge and will be charged with driving an average 370miles, taking around 7.5 hours each day.

Fergal McGrath comments: “We are very much looking forward to the record attempt, and while we’re excited we’re both a little nervous about the scale of the task that awaits us. A huge amount of planning has gone into taking on this challenge and we look forward to what we hope will be a successful result when we return to Brussels on June 25^th. But we’ve got more than 170 hours behind the wheel to contend with first!”

The official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title is ‘Lowest Fuel Consumption – all 24 contiguous EU countries’, measured in litres per 100km and miles per gallon calculated over the entire journey. If successful the new record will apply to all cars, including hybrid and electric models. Based on strict and rigorous guidelines, the record attempt requires the car to enter each of the 24 countries specified, collecting a range of evidence including a fuel/mileage logbook, GPS readings, video, photographs and independent witness signatures to prove that it has done so.

To ensure accurate monitoring of the route, journey time and distance driven, the record car has been fitted with a tracking device, provided by fleet telematics and stolen vehicle recovery expert, TRACKER (part of the Tantalum Corporation). The unit will provide a superior level of journey information, in real-time to ensure that Honda can supply robust and reliable automated data-evidence to meet the requirements stipulated by GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS.  Supporters will even be able to follow the progression of the two drivers live by visiting 

http://www.tracker.co.uk/RealFuelChallenge.

The car which attempts the record must be a standard model in every respect, with no modifications to give an advantage. This will be judged by an independent witness at the beginning and end of the record attempt. The car can only travel by road, therefore the route does not extend to the UK, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta, which make up the remainder of the 28 EU countries. In order to ensure no unfair advantage by reducing weight, the tank of the car must be filled to the maximum at each fuel stop.

Philip Crossman, Managing Director of Honda UK comments: “Since its launch in 2013 we have seen the 1.6 i-DTEC engine consistently over-perform on real-world fuel efficiency in our Civic, Civic Tourer and CR-V models, and this is our opportunity to put it to the ultimate test on a huge scale. We are very confident of a great result and we wish the team all the very best of luck as they take on the challenge.”

The 24 countries which are covered in the route, in alphabetical order, are as follows: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Follow Honda’s record attempt and get involved at #RealFuelChallenge.

Ford Invests a further £1.8 million in their Driving Skills For Life Scheme in Europe.

• Ford invests £1.8 million to train 5,000 more young Europeans in 2015, increases Ford Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) investment to £4.7 million since launching in 2013
• The Ford DSFL program will be extended to 11 countries this year, with training taking place for the first time in Denmark, the Netherlands, and Turkey
• In Europe, car crashes are the leading cause of death in 18 to 24 year olds. Ford has so far trained more than 6,100 young drivers in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.
• Ford DSFL offers free-of-charge, hands-on training that covers hazard recognition, vehicle handling, speed/space management, and distraction awareness
• The Ford training also highlights phone and social media distraction and drinking and driving; special “Drink Driving Suit” shows students how alcohol impairs abilities
• Ford DSFL has provided training to more than half a million people globally through hands-on and online tuition since first being launched 11 years ago in the U.S.

Ford Motor Company today announced it will invest another £1.7 million in 2015 to provide free driver training to a further 5,000 18-24 year olds from across Europe. Ford of Europe has now committed a total of £4.7 million in training through its acclaimed Ford Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) program since 2013. 

This year, Ford will offer free training for the first time in Denmark, the Netherlands, and Turkey as well as continue successful training programs in the U.K., Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Russia, and Spain. Ford of Europe has now committed a total of £4.7 million for DSFL training in Europe since 2013.

Ford has received a highly positive response from the more than 6,100 18 to 24 year olds across Europe who have already completed the Ford DSFL driver training. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for Europeans in that age group*. 

Ford’s free, hands-on training covers skills including hazard recognition, vehicle handling, and speed and space management. The program also highlights the risks of distractions such as texting and taking selfies at the wheel, as well as the dangers of drinking and driving.

“Too many young adults are dying in car crashes caused by a combination of inexperience and poor decision making,” said Jim Graham, manager, Ford DSFL. “With this new £1.7m investment in young driver training for 2015, we can provide a further 5,000 young people with the skills and knowledge that could save their lives.”

Ford was the first car manufacturer to introduce free comprehensive advanced hands-on driver training for newly licensed drivers. In the 11 years since it was launched in the U.S., Ford DSFL has provided training to more than half a million people globally.

For DSFL, Ford has teamed with leading safety organisations including the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, the charity for road safety - BRAKE and the AA Driving School in the U.K., Association Prévention Routière in France, Deutscher Verkehrssicherheitsrat in Germany, the ACI in Italy, Road Safety Russia in Russia and Dirección General de Tràfico in Spain.

Training is designed to address some of the leading factors in young driver crashes. This includes showing students how they might recover from a slide, emergency braking techniques, and how to scan the road ahead for trouble. 

Attempting slow speed manoeuvres in a closed environment while using a mobile phone shows how distraction affects driving performance.

Last year, Ford introduced training to specifically highlight the dangers of taking selfies and other social media activity at the wheel, and employed a special “Drink Driving Suit” to show the degree to which consuming alcohol impairs abilities.

Consisting of tunnel-vision glasses; ear muffs, wrist and ankle weights; and padding to elbows, neck, and knees; the “Drink Driving Suit” makes even simple tasks – such as walking in a straight line – much harder; and demonstrates how much more difficult a more complex activity like driving becomes under the influence of alcohol.

In 2014, Ford also published the results of two surveys that showed more than one in four young people have taken a selfie while driving,** and that most young drivers in Europe report either have driven while drunk, or have seen friends drink and drive.***

Nearly all who attended 133 Ford DSFL training sessions in 27 venues across eight countries said afterwards that they felt more confident as a result of the training and would recommend the program to a friend.

“Newly qualified drivers still have so much to learn about safety on the road so we strongly urge young drivers to take advantage of Ford DSFL training,” Graham said. “It’s fun, free, informative, and because we constantly re-evaluate what we teach, it’s always relevant.”

Further details about the Ford DSFL program in the U.K. and to register interest in future training please see:https://forddsfl.co.uk/dsfl-contact