MITSUBISHI TRITON TO THE RESCUE

Land support is crucial for a successful sea rescue operation and there are multiple ways in which the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) in the Eastern Cape will benefit from their two recently donated Mitsubishi Triton bakkies.

MBSA’s vice president of manufacturing at the East London plant, Rainer Ruess said Mitsubishi Motors were delighted to hand over the Tritons to the East London and Port Alfred stations of the NSRI.

FORD FIESTA WRC RALLY CAR UNVEILED

Ford's new challenger for the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship, the all-new Fiesta RS World Rally Car, made its first global public appearance at the Paris Motor Show today.
The Fiesta RS WRC will make its competition debut in Rally Sweden, the opening round of the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship, on 10 - 13 February. 
For Paris, the preview model has been finished in a striking blue and grey livery, specially developed for the show by Ford of Europe's design team.  The new World Rally Car, derived from the best-selling Fiesta road car, is being developed by Ford of Europe and its rally partner M-Sport.  

PEUGEOT'S HR1 CONCEPT IN PARIS

With the HR1, Peugeot once again reshuffles the pack in terms of the individual car segments. The HR1 is an exclusive and innovative urban concept car that blends together a number of genres (city run-around, coupé, SUV …). It is targeted at active young city dwellers smitten with design and innovation that are in search of a vehicle that matches their profile. 

GMSA ADDS SPARK TO PORT ELIZABETH PLANT

General Motors South Africa announced today that it will be building the new Chevrolet Spark at its Struandale Plant in Port Elizabeth.   
This trendy entry level vehicle will become the third vehicle platform, in addition to the class leading Chevrolet Corsa Utility and the very successful Isuzu KB.  The vehicle will initially be produced for the local market as well as for markets in Australia, New Zealand and other Asia Pacific right hand drive markets.   

CLASSIC AUDI QUATTRO UPDATED?

As part of celebrating 30 years of the quattro AWD system, Audi unveiled this brave quattro Concept car at the 2010 Paris International Motor Show. Based on the RS 5, the concept car comes powered by a 2.5-litre turbocharged engine with 5 cylinders. It is worth 300kW in power and 480Nm in torques. Audi says it will accelerate from 0 – 100km/h in 3.9 seconds.

PARIS 2010: JAGUAR'S ELECTRIFYING SUPER C-X75

Jaguar has stunned the 2010 Paris International Motor Show by unveiling the C-X75 Concept car. The British marque is famous for going to auto shows and revealing concept cars with names starting with a C. A couple of years later we see these cars on the roads. I expect the same of this electric supercar.

2010 OPEL ASTRA ARRIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA

Turbo power is delivered in a linear fashion, very little drama, no theatrics. Each road curve reminds me that this is not a sports hatch, let alone a sports car. It is in fact, a family car. The all-new Opel Astra is poised and composed, moving neither left nor right. Straight on then as the road dips through yet another magnificent mountain pass in Mpumalanga.

NO FINES FOR RUNNING EMPTY

Rob Handfield-Jones, MD of driving skills company, driving.co.za, has issued a rebuttal to JMPD spokesperson, Wayne Minaar, who has claimed it is an offence to run out of fuel and that a fine of between R500 and R1 000 will be issued in addition to towing and recovery costs. A 'special team' is said to have been formed by the JMPD to deal with the issue.

OFFICIAL: BMW WILL SUPPLY ENGINES TO SAAB

The BMW Group has received a major order from Swedish automobile manufacturer Saab to provide petrol engines. The contract for delivery of the engines as of 2012 was signed on Wednesday by Ian Robertson, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Sales and Marketing, and the CEO of Saab Automobile, Jan Åke Jonsson, in Trollhättan in Sweden. The 4-cylinder engine with latest fuel savings technologies is intended for a new Saab model series. Both companies have agreed not to disclose any financial or contract volume details. 

EX F1 STARS TO DESCEND ON KHAYALAMI

Among the 17 entries expected for the final round of the international Superstars Series for 373KW (500 bhp) V8 production saloon cars, to be held at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand on November 28, are several drivers who have already made their names in other motor racing categories and who have previous experience of South Africa’s premier motor racing circuit.
 

SAAB / SPYKER IN TALKS WITH BMW

Spyker cars released a statement yesterday to the effect that it’s talking to the BMW Group about “a possible supply relationship”. That could mean a number of things which we can speculate about. Spyker is an automaker based in Holland, which produces mainly high-end sports cars. But it also now owns SAAB Cars, which are famous for their 9-5 and 9-3 premium vehicles.

OPEL ASTRA GTC REVEALS POWER

Opel will release the most powerful Astra ever made at the 2010 Paris Motor Show this week. The new Astra GTC is powered by a new 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine with direct injection and 213kW on tap. Drive is provided by the front wheels which are connected to a limited slip differential.

PEUGEOT 308 GTI ANNOUNCED

It’s not just Volkswagen who boast the GTI moniker. Even Peugeot, the French automaker, has a relatively proud history with the famous badge. Of course it’s not as proud as VW’s but it certainly has its place. And that place is being renewed with the announcement of a new 308 GTI performance hatch.

SOLD-OUT FERRARI SA APERTA REVEALED

Maranello has unveiled a roadster version of its successful 599 GTB called the SA Aperta. They are really milking this car, and considering it’s only four years in production, there could still be more versions appearing in the near future. If this is the first time you’ve heard of it, chances are you aren’t on the list of 80 lucky owners to which it is destined. That means it’s been sold out.

GAUTENG MOTORISTS WARNED OF UPCOMING SLIPPERY ROADS

Rob Handfield-Jones, MD of driving skills company, driving.co.za, has commented that Gauteng’s motorists should take extra care driving in the upcoming rainy season. 
“Gauteng hasn’t had rain for several months,” Handfield – Jones commented. “This has been good for traction, because it has meant that rubber transferred to the roads as a result of tyre wear during the dry spell hasn’t been washed off. However, it also means that

VAN DER LINDE TAKES JUNIOR KART CROWN

Former Mini Max national karting champion Kelvin van der Linde (Vanderlinde Developments Birel) added the Junior Rok title to his list of achievements when he completed a convincing performance in the final round of the 2010 Engen SA Karting Championship at Vereeniging’s Bridgestone Adrenaline Raceway on Saturday.