As a child of the early post punk era, who still holds 1982 dear, I still hang on to a thread of integrity in the nastiness of alternative music. Ok, so I’m old and I like Eminem, but I still remember what John Lydon and his mates were yelling about.
Forget about the Bollocks though, MINI is all about fun and what could be more fun than a make believe music label, hosted by the folks at MINI? Well, lots of things really. The whole thing is pretty lame, but I’m sure the MINI family had a lot of fun putting it all together and they’re hoping the MINI faithful will have fun with it too.
Maybe Simon Cowell could ad some edge to this new project from MINI, but only if he can convince Paula to sport a mowhawk.
Canadian fans of the classic Mini Clubman rejoice, for MINI has released most of the details you want about the new MINI Clubman that is coming to our shores. Taking the friendly face, style and performance that MINI owners love and mix in a bit of utility and you’ve got what looks like it will be a winning package. Continue reading →
Often, the most excitement of a pro race weekend is provided by the support series. That was definitely the case at the Steelback Grand Prix, where the Castrol Canadian Touring cars were every bit as exciting as the World Challenge cars and maybe more so than the Champ cars.
This weekend is the first ever Canadian Motorsports Expo, hosted by Glenn Butt who most enthusiasts know from his involvement with Mosport. With a many Canadian racing stars coming by for autograph sessions, it looked like a promising day, so I took a couple of the kids out for a walk around.
For the first year of the show, I think Glenn and friends did a great job putting together a nice gathering in a really great venue. While the show is still small, there was a bit of something for everyone. There were open wheelers, stock cars, race bikes, showroom stock sedans and even an off road race truck and buggy. The line up of racing stars is incredible, with names like Ron Fellows, Scott Maxwell, Pete Shepherd, J.R. Fitzpatrick, Shane Jantzi and even Chris Economaki. Continue reading →
Over the years, prices for original Minis have soared. It’s not uncommon to hear Mini enthusiasts selling mid Seventies Cooper S clones for well north of ten grand. So what happens when a really special car with a significant race history goes on the block? Easy, it doubles the estimated sale price and hits a whopping $197,000.
DJB 93B carried Rauno Altonen to a historic win in the 1965 RAC Rally in Great Britain. It also took part in the 65 Swedish and Acropolis rallies and in 66, before being retired and going into hiding until the Eighties. Through the Nineties, the car has been fully restored to it’s former glory and has seen competition in hill climbs and vintage events.
If so, the folks at BMW MINI are getting a handle on the viral marketing thing. A few other manufacturers have tried their hand at the concept already, so it will be interesting to see if anyone is actually paying attention.
The has been a fair bit of speculation about what the MINI shooting brake will be named. While several possible monikers have been tossed about, it seems that the product planners have used their heads and given the nod to history. It has been announced at Geneva that the stretched MINI will indeed be called the Clubman.
Jaguar’s of the last few years have gone a long way to reclaiming some of the marque’s previous glory. At the forefront of this renaissance is the Jaguar XKR, which has built a mystique of it’s own that’s worthy of it’s heritage. Jaguar is determined that the XKR should stay at the pinnacle of automotive lustability, and with that in mind, they are offering the 2008 XKR Portfolio.
An all aluminum, supercharged, 420 hp V8 feeding a six speed automatic with paddle shift, twists the 20 inch Cremona 5 spoke wheels. At 4.9 seconds zero to sixty, the cat is slowed by the biggest brakes ever fitted to a production Jaguar. Odd then that the top speed is electronically controlled to a lowly 155 mph. Surely society can accept a British sports car with a wicked top speed. Perhaps Jaguar are hiding their potential for the 2008 Le Mans event!
Quattro. The name evokes thoughts of white, yellow and black Group B rally cars cresting wet yumps at the 1000 Lakes Rally, or drifting past stone houses in the hills above Monaco. With the evolution of the Quattro, that beast has become known as the über Quattro. Every AWD Audi since has been a Quattro, but never as outrageous as that early Eighties monster. Until now.
Audi has combined modern German technology with German/Italian motivation to create the ultimate road going Audi. Audi’s Quattro system, aluminum construction and a high revving V8 shared by Lamborghini, this really may be the new über Q. Time will tell if this model will back up the motorsports dominance that the original Quattro displayed. What is certain, is that Audi has built a hyper performing, road holding new über Quattro that could be an equally important part of the Quattro legend.
Visit our gallery of shots from the Canadian International Auto Show, taken by Jaimie from Random
This has got to be the ultimate automotive office gadget. These British built desks may involve the destruction of a perfectly good Mini, but they are so cool it doesn’t matter. Red ones, Blue ones, Stamped steel wheels or Minilites. Continue reading →
