Suzuki Lt250r Quad Racer 1987 Wiseco 552p1 67.25mm Oversize on 2040-parts.com

MINI celebrates 100 years of car production in Oxford

MINI will be celebrating a century of car production in Oxford on 28th March 2013, 100 years since the first Bullnose Morris Oxford was produced. It’s 100 years since the first Bullnose Morris Oxford rolled out on 28th March 1903, since when 11,655,000 cars have been built – with as many as 28,000 people employed in its heyday – and even Tiger Moth planes and Iron Lungs built alongside 80,000 repairs to Spitfires and Hurricanes during WWII. What is now MINI’s Plant Oxford was founded by William Morris – and Morris Motors kept control until 1952 – and has been owned and run by BMC, then British Motor Holdings (when Jaguar arrived), British Leyland (when Leyland Trucks, Triumph and Rover joined), nationalisation in the 1970s saw a variety of names, Rover Group arrived in 1986 and was subsequently privatised and sold in 1994 to BMW.

Renaultsport Megane (2011) Nurburgring teaser video

Renaultsport have released a teaser video, showing its development team preparing a new Renaultsport Megane for track-testing at the Nurburgring. Under the title 'Save the date: June 17', the video shows a previous-generation Renaultsport Megane R26.R in addition to the track-focused, luridly-painted current Megane. Renaultsport is believed to be preparing a harder-edged, more powerful RS Megane, to sit above the current RS250 Cup model. The current car is no slouch, winning general acclaim from CAR when it was included in our PCOTY 2011 convoy through France. But it looks like the fast Renault wizards from Dieppe have decided to send their latest car to the Nurburgring in order to attract the attention of the trackday brigade.  

Hyundai ix35 hydrogen FCEV gets a thumbs up for Fleet buyers

The Hyundai ix35 FCEV on London’s roads Hyundai has been delivering the first ix35 FCEV hydrogen-powered compact SUVs in recent months, and one of the first recipients in the UK was fleet management specialist Arval UK. The reason for Arval getting to play with the ix35 FCEV early doors was to get feedback on the practicality of running a hydrogen-powered car on a company fleet as, with its zero emissions, the ix35 FCEV could find a big market with fleet buyers. What Arval found was that the ix35 FCEV – with 0-62mph in 12.5 seconds and a 369 mile range – was, to all intents and purposes, just like using a conventional ICE powertrain and could be refuelled in just three minutes.