Audi confirms new TT

THE first new Audi TT in almost a decade will be unveiled at next month’s Geneva Motor Show, it has been confirmed.

While Audi is remaining tight-lipped until the show about the prices and specification of the new car, a teaser sketch released by the German firm reveals elements of the car hark back to the original TT of 1998.

The new car will replace the current version of the TT, originally introduced back in 2005.

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Walking around the NEC Classic Motor Show? There must be another way

Originally published in Classic Car Weekly, 27 November 2013

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Passion for Power Classic Motor Show 2013

YOU can check out everything from souped-up Minis to brand new McLaren supercars at a celebration of classic and performance cars taking place in Manchester this weekend.

The Passion for Power show at Event City, a stone's throw from the Trafford Centre, takes last year's North West Indoor Show, expands it by about a third, gives it a slightly more full-throttle flavour and then invites classic car clubs from right across the north of England to show off what they've got to thousands of enthusiasts.

Life On Cars took these pictures at the show today:

Passion For Power continues throughout tomorrow (April 7) at Event City, in Manchester.

More pictures and a full report on this weekend's show can be found in the next edition of Classic Car Weekly, published on Wednesday, April 10.

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The real world stars of the 2013 Geneva Motor Show

YOU'D be forgiven for thinking the Geneva Motor Show has been packed with millionaire motors, given the amount of shiny new supercars that have been grabbing the headlines.

The Swiss show is one of the biggest dates in the car calendar for new models and announcements, and while the Alan Sugars and Kanye Wests of this world can gorge themselves on a smorgasboard of new Ferraris, McLarens, Porsches and Astons, there's also scores of stunning new arrivals which are aimed firmly at real world motorists.

Take, for instance, the new estate - sorry, Tourer - version of Honda's Civic, which you'll like because it's reliable, roomy and reasonably priced but I like because I think it looks as good as it does. There's also confirmation there's a new Civic Type R on the way, which is great news for hot hatch fans who aren't taken by the new VW Golf GTi, which was also unveiled at the show.

Renault, meanwhile, are eyeing up a slice of the sales cake currently enjoyed by Nissan's Juke, with the new Captur proving to be a high-rise, smartly-styled spin on the firm's recently reinvented Clio. It'll have tough competition, however, with Peugeot trying a similar trick with its new 2008 model.

Ford are hoping to find their feet at the show with the Ecosport, a small off-roader which uses the company's clever Ecoboost engines and slick styling which the Blue Oval are hoping will help it repeat the success the model has already enjoyed in South America.

There's also a lot of fans of al fresco motoring which has been newly unveiled too, including the convertible version of the Toyota GT86 Life On Cars touched on a few weeks ago, and the Cascada, a full-sized four seater which Vauxhall are hoping will win plenty of fans.

Oh, and there's the new V8 version of Jaguar's F-Type, the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever produced, a replacement for Bentley's Flying Spur, McLaren's successor to the F1, the imaginatively-titled P1, a new Porsche 911 GT3 and the LaFerrari, the fastest, most powerful Ferrari to date.

Not that any of you real world motorists would be interested in any of THOSE, of course...

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Qoros to launch new saloon at Geneva

ANYONE remember our exclusive piece on the talented designer from Merseyside who landed a job helping a Chinese firm to create its latest cars?

Well, this is that company's first European model - the Qoros 3 saloon, which is being officially launched at the Geneva Motor Show next month.  The company hasn't given much indication of how much involvement Alex O'Brien, from Thornton, has had in the design, but did say it's the first in a series of a models which will draw on young automotive talent from across the globe.

A spokesperson for the company said: "The new range of Qoros models is being designed and engineered by an international team of experienced specialists and new, young automotive talent, and has been developed with the support of internationally-renowned suppliers.

"Rapid expansion of the model range will be achieved thanks to an innovative modular vehicle architecture developed in-house at Qoros.  The clean, elegant styling direction – drawing heavily on contemporary European themes – has been developed to give all Qoros models an unmistakable brand identity."

Qoros, which is based in  Changshu, China but already has several facilities both over there and in Europe, says it is keen to launch a new model every six months.

For what it's worth I reckon it's not a bad looking car, and definitely better than its Chinese counterpart, the  Geely Emgrand EC7 which completely failed to win me over this time last year. What do you think?

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Toyota in convertible GT86 shocker

IT WAS only a matter of time. Toyota is considering putting a convertible version of its fabulous GT86 into production.

The Japanese car giant will unveil what it's calling the FT-86 Open at this year's Geneva Motorshow in a few week's time, and while it's calling it a concept car I wouldn't be fooled; if the original FT-86 concept coupe was anything to go by, I'd put my money on an al fresco version of the rear-drive enthusiasts' favourite being in the offing.

It's one of two concepts the company's showing off in the Swiss city - the other being what's billed as Toyota's response to the Renault Twizy - and while the official line is that it'll only decide to put the FT-86 Open into production if the public likes it, chances are it will. What's not like about the inevitable but inviting prospect of one of the great drivers' hits of the past decade?

The coupe version of the GT86 is a bit of a Life On Cars favourite, blending sleek coupe proportions, keen pricing and old fashioned rear-wheel-drive, oversteer-happy dynamics to create something that offers as much fun as some sports car costing two or three times its £25,000 price.

The initial impression I got when I drove it last year was that it's a Mazda MX-5 on a 1.5 times scale with metal rather than fabric over your forehead but that's selling it short. It's somehow meatier and more challenging, but more thrilling too.

Of all the cars I drove last year, this was by far and away the one I had to fight my way past other journalists to get a go in, and I can understand exactly why. I can also also understand exactly why Jeremy Clarkson said the GT86, of all the four billion cars he drove last year, was his favourite. In an automotive landscape where everything is anodyne and the loudest sound you're likely to hear is the chime of a seatbelt safety warning, the GT86 is a motor with a sense of mischief. It's a laugh.

Throw in open-top thrills (without ruining too much of the coupe's dynamics) and I reckon they'll have a bit of a roadster hit on their hands.

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Get set for a year of great motoring events in 2013

A SUMMER of motoring fun is just a few months away, if the list of exciting events across the north west and further afield is anything to go by.

Fans of classic cars and bikes will be spoilt for choice when a host of events get underway, with draws including the Ormskirk MotorFest - now in its third year - on August 25, the Lydiate Classic Car Show on July 7, and the Bank Hall show in Bretherton on July 28 among others.

It's also hoped that the Woodvale Rally, a longstanding favourite with car and bike fans, will return to its traditional home at RAF Woodvale for 2013, after concerns about asbestos at the site prompted a change of venue to Victoria Park last year. The show's organisers are still awaiting confirmation, but the event is provisionally set for the weekend of August 3 and 4 so keep an eye on their website at www.woodvalerally.com for any further announcements.

A little further afield there's the return of the North West Indoor Classic Car Show, after the inaugural event proved to be one of last year's surprise hits. This year's show takes place at EventCity in Manchester - a stone's throw from The Trafford Centre - so make sure you've got the weekend of April 6 and 7 in your diary.

A couple of other big draws to make a note of are the Classic Car Spectacular, due to take place over the first weekend of June at Tatton Park in Cheshire, the Classic, Vintage and Sports Car Show at the same venue on August 17 and 18, the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power between June 14 and 16, the Gold Cup at the Oulton Park race circuit over the August Bank Holiday. There's also word that CarFest - a motoring event organised by Radio 2 DJ and Ferrari nut Chris Evans - will get the green light for a 2013 event, so while there's no official dates yet don't bet against it being hosted at some point in August or September.

There's also - if you're prepared to hop in the car and venture even further - all manner of national events being held at Goodwood, the NEC, Beaulieu, Silverstone and Santa Pod to name just a few, but even if you can't it looks set to be a vintage year for automotive outings.

If you're organising a motoring event or show why not share it with Life On Cars? Get in touch with David Simister, our motoring correspondent, by sending an email to david.simister@hotmail.co.uk or leave a comment below.

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The Footman James Classic Motor Show was enormous but enjoyable

CLASSIC cars in industrial quantities. That's what you would have got if you'd joined me and thousands of others at the NEC last weekend.

Anyone familiar with the Footman James Classic Motor Show will know it's a big deal - it is, arguably, the only show that caters for fans of all things a bit old and oily on a national scale - but this year the organisers, freed from the constraints of having to share a gig with Top Gear Live, really pulled out the stops to make it bigger and bolder than ever before. It was massive.

Simply getting in is quite unlike any other show I've been to. You park up and get on a bus, which takes you to an elevator, followed by a Heathrow Airport-style moving walkway that seems to go on forever, which leads on to a labyrinth of corridors which in turn brings you to the back of the queue for tickets. This, I think, is deliberate; it's to prepare you for the sheer amount of walking the show itself involves.

Last weekend was a giddying array of just about every vaguely old vehicle ever made - yes, there were Hillman Imps and Ford Anglias at one end and Astons and Ferraris at the other, but if you're the sort of person who lies awake at night dreaming of owning a Vauxhall Nova then you were well catered for too. But our party must have walked miles checking out the seemingly endless sea of classic cars. If anything, it was slightly overwhelming. I stopped taking photos after the 175th click out of sympathy for my camera, but one classic car buff I spoke to had taken hundreds of shots.

I emerged seven hours later with cream-crackered feet and weighed down with bags of freebies, and with the prospect of the long drive back from Birmingham to look forward to. If I'd known just how big it was going to be I would've made a weekend of it - one day for the cars, another for the autojumble - because just the one day is nowhere near enough to take it all in.

It's great to think that even in an age when Britain's turned its back on national motorshows, with the motor makers favouring Frankfurt and Geneva instead, we can still put on an automotive extravaganza on this sort of scale. I'll just make sure I bring comfier shoes next time.

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Footman James Classic Motor Show 2012

THOUSANDS of motoring fans will be making the trip to Birmingham this weekend to check out one of the nation's biggest classic car shows.

The  Footman James Classic Motor Show, held at the National Exhibition Centre, attracts scores of traders, clubs and enthusiasts from all corners of the country to see classic cars and bikes of all ages, in a show guaranteed to have something for just about everyone.
  
Life On Cars took these pictures at the event:

 

The show continues tomorrow (November 18). For more information visit the show's website.

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