SPECIAL EDITION JAGUAR XKR BREATHES FIRE

Jaguar Land Rover's new CEO, Dr Ralf Speth, initiated the challenge to the Jaguar engineering team to construct an XKR to celebrate Jaguar's 75th anniversary, which would deliver a combination of enhanced performance, superb chassis and steering control and grip levels to inspire the driving enthusiast to explore the true potential of the XKR's capabilities.

Mike O'Driscoll, managing director, Jaguar Cars, said "The XKR 75 will provide owners with exclusivity, excitement and a hint of Jaguar's great heritage. This is a fitting way to celebrate the sporting credentials of the XK marque in the 75th year of the Jaguar name", he continued.

FIVE SPECIAL FORD FOCUS RS MODELS PAY LE MANS TRIBUTE

Ecurie Ford France, one of the partners of the popular  Le Mans Classic event which takes place between July 9th and 11th, has prepared a collection of just five Focus RS cars in unique colour schemes, each paying tribute to the Ford cars which made 'blue oval' history at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

                                                                                        

Each of the five Focus RS Le Mans Classic vehicles will be finished in the colours of one of the Ford cars which made 24 Hours history for Ford. During the event itself, they will even carry the race number of the cars to which they’re paying tribute:

VIDEO: HAMILTON AND BUTTON TRACK TEST MCLAREN MP4-12C

With South Africa confirmed as one of the destinations to which the McLaren MP4 12C is headed, it is now down to guesswork as to who gets the contract and where the dealership will be based. I still say Sandton, some people have suggested Cape Town. McLaren’s offices in the UK were not helpful either, only telling me that an announcement will be made in due course. Very PR indeed.

Meantime let’s check out McLaren F1’s racing Champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button as they take the supercar through its paces on this awesome video. Both seem exceptionally impressed of course, as I suspect they should.

CLICK HERE to watch the video.

MERCEDES-BENZ WOW POLOKWANE TAXI RANK

As the national Taxi Recapitalisation Programme (TRP) gains momentum, taxi operators are looking for vehicles that not only meet TRP safety specifications but bring new levels of comfort, reliability and profitability to their fleets. While the local taxi industry has historically been dominated by Asian mini-bus derivatives, European ‘people-movers’ have entered this market following the implementation of the TRP in 2005, largely due to their greater carrying capacity and dual wheels on rear axles.

PEUGEOT 207 S2000 SEEKS SINK YPRES

The best qualified driver to talk about the Belgian event is the 2009 winner and defending IRC champion Kris Meeke.

"Last year, when I first discovered the route during recce, I wondered where I had landed. It's such a strange, unique event," recalls Kris Meeke. "It's not until you actually get to do the stages in anger that you realise what a challenge they are. The roads are very fast, but also incredibly narrow, so your driving needs to be extremely precise and it isn't easy to pull out any real gaps. You have to hit the ground running and keep up a quick pace all the time, otherwise you can soon end up losing two or three places."

SUZUKI HATCH NOW EVEN SWIFTER

Suzuki Auto South Africa has some exciting news for performance-minded local motoring enthusiasts: the Suzuki Swift Sport is coming to town!

Widely lauded as one of the most entertaining, involving and exciting hot hatchbacks in the subcompact sector, the Sport is a welcome addition to Suzuki Swift line-up in SA.

OLD CHEVROLET SPARK REINCARNATED INTO LITE

The Chevrolet Spark, General Motors South Africa’s offering in the sub-compact passenger car sector has received a new lease on life ahead of the launch of the hot new Spark. The current Spark continues in the Chevrolet line up as the Spark Lite which will be sold alongside the new Spark when it arrives in South Africa later this year.

“The Chevrolet Spark Lite which offers an excellent value proposition will serve the market with two models priced under R100 000,” says Chevrolet Brand Manager Tim Hendon.