Award-winning automotive community REVS and automotive PR and communications agency loop have teamed up to host a ‘quick ‘n’ dirty’ display of rally and race inspired machinery at the first Bicester Heritage Scramble of 2022.
Category: News
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To celebrate the June Scramble at Bicester Heritage, the first in 18-months, loop wanted to do something special.
Generating content and coverage for its clients, and promoting the Scramble events in general, loop put on a display of outstanding vehicles on the ‘loop lawn’ under the theme: Road & Race.
With heritage models from Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ford and Renault: each car was either a racer, a homologation model or built by a motorsport division.
With an estimated value of more than £26Million in total, the loop lawn proved a massive hit with visitors during the day.
The agency also organised for relatives of famous Bentley Boy Sir Henry Ralph Stanley ‘Tim’ Birkin to attend, so that they could be united with the original Blower Bentley Team Car No.2.
Acknowledged as the most famous, and most valuable, Bentley in exitance, UU 5872 was campaigned by ‘Tim’ Birkin and competed in a number of high-profile races, including the 1930 24 Hours of Le Mans.
- D2H releases images of two new body styles for affordable, zero-emissions-in-use Tuk-Tuk replacement
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D2H Advanced Technologies, the UK-based specialist engineering and technology company developing an innovative new, low cost electric vehicle (EV) chassis, has unveiled a durable, lightweight body concept for the chassis. The vehicle is being designed as an emissions-reducing option for markets in India, Asia and South America, replacing the traditional Tuk-Tuk. Two low cost options, flat-bed and box-van, have been shown for the modular platform, providing a solution for a range of uses.
Leading electrified powertrain engineering consultancy, Drive System Design (DSD), will challenge accepted views on motor topology at The Battery Show & EV Tech Digital Days, a virtual conference and expo scheduled for November 10th-12th. Paul Sims, Chief Technical Specialist, DSD, will present an in-depth study showing that, under certain conditions, an induction machine can be superior to its permanent magnet equivalent.
Saietta, a UK tech company that has developed a proprietary new electric motor for all forms of transport, is ready for the end of the ‘ICE Age’ as the UK government announces a ban on the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles in 2030.
The Oxfordshire-based firm is ready for the ‘EV Era’, with full-scale production of its highly efficient motors at its UK facility, and will be looking to recruit 250 new workers at a new facility to meet the demand this new legislation brings.
Having just won a major research contract through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), Saietta will fast-track the production process for its innovative Axial Flux Traction (AFT) electric motor and is now planning how it can help the UK gear up for the switch to pure EVs (electric vehicles). With a number of key projects in progress, the company is developing technology for global markets as well as the UK. As part of this, Saietta will shortly announce a partnership that’s developing a four-wheel, final-mile delivery vehicle designed for use in urban environments.
Wicher Kist, Chief Executive Officer Saietta Group, said: “We are ready for the future of transportation by stepping in with modern, lightweight electric motors as traditional internal combustion engines fuelled by petrol and diesel reach the end of the road.
The radical new motors Saietta makes are highly efficient, lightweight, affordable and can power a range of broad range of EVs with sufficient range for day-to-day use. Saietta has been identified a leader in its field and, thanks to government support, is already working on mass production with manufacturers and tier 1 suppliers. With a development plan in place, the company is extending its range of motors to cover everything from scooters to buses as well as marine applications and wind turbines.
“Kist continues: ‘There can be no doubt, global warming has ended the ‘ICE Age’ and the ‘EV Era’ has begun. We have engineered the right product, at the right price that is suitable for mass-market vehicles around the world.
“However, if the 2030 target is to be met, key decisions on future investment will need to be made quickly so companies like ours realise our full potential. That means more funding from UK government – and quickly.”
Along with the production of motors and the licensing of technology, Saietta Group is also able to provide integration services, durability testing and product development that will fast track the development of EVs for the UK and the rest of the world.
Prodrive is working with Volta Trucks to help engineer its revolutionary 16-tonne electric HGV designed, not only to meet zero emissions requirements, but also to help keep vulnerable road users safer in crowded urban environments. The Volta Trucks concept HGV positions its driver low down, centrally and forward of the front axle, to give uninterrupted vision at street level through 220 degrees. Prodrive will help develop the design into a drivable demonstrator by early summer 2020.
According to the London Mayor’s office, 23% of pedestrian and 58% of cyclist deaths in London involved a Heavy Goods Vehicle, despite HGVs making up only 4% of road miles in London*. By positioning the driver in the centre of the cab at eye level with a pedestrian; using extensive cabin glazing and replacing conventional rear-view mirrors with cameras, dangerous blind spots are eliminated. Passenger seating is arranged behind the driver, on either side.
To further reduce potential hazards, the truck uses bus-style doors on both sides with a slide/swing action to minimise intrusion into the path of pedestrians or cyclists, and allowing the driver to easily access the central driving position. To maintain compatibility with existing loading bays, the rear of the truck and the tail lift arrangement follow conventional practice. This approach means the demonstrator vehicle can be created by combining an existing donor rear chassis ladder frame with the innovative cab and frontal arrangement.
Targets for the truck include a range of 100 miles, a top speed of 50 mph and a gradeability sufficient to briskly negotiate the on-off ramps and slip roads typical of urban elevated routes. To maximise payload, the new cab will be a composite-clad spaceframe structure, the composite panels using natural rather than carbon fibres. The vehicle can be produced in a range of sizes from 14-18 tonnes.
Such is the pressure to improve urban air quality as quickly as possible, that Volta’s target is to show the finished prototype vehicle in mid-2020 and make it available for driving demonstrations later in the year. In parallel with the demonstrator schedule is a program to manufacture a fleet of prototypes for field trials in London and Paris with interested parties during 2021.
During the manufacture of the prototype batch, Prodrive will gradually hand over build responsibility to the confirmed production supplier, but will retain engineering responsibility and oversee ongoing development. The target manufacturing volume is 2000 units per year.
Part of a nationwide campaign to mark Remembrance Weekend (6 – 8 November 2020) a REVS-Limiter team, led by Reverend Adam Gompertz, will be supporting Mission Motorsport in its Race of Remembrance #YourRoR Challenge by pushing a classic sports car round the track at Bicester Heritage for three hours.
Mission Motorsport’s annual Race of Remembrance (RoR) has been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, so the REVS-Limiter team sprang into action to support the #YourRoR initiative. Offering beneficiaries and supporters alike the chance to pick their own activity in order to engage and fundraise in a safe and responsible way, #YourRoR has been designed to help lift spirts through a host of leftfield and unconventional challenges.
With the cancellation of Mission Motorsport’s Race of Remembrance costing the charity £50,000 in lost output for beneficiaries and in fundraising, the #YourRoR campaign is essential in continuing the support it provides to ex-Forces personnel. Allowing beneficiaries and supporters to hold their own take on the annual race over this year’s Remembrance weekend, those taking part can raise both awareness and money.
With the support of Bicester Heritage, a REVS team comprising of Adam Gompertz, Charlotte Vowden, Jimmy de Ville, Matt Sanger, and Alex Goy, will be taking part in #YourRoR by lapping Frisky the MGA around the track at Bicester Heritage on the morning of Remembrance Sunday (November 8th). However, to make the challenge more interesting the team will be pushing, rather than driving, Frisky around the circuit.
Aiming to cover as many laps as possible within a three-hour limit, the team’s challenge will finish in time for Adam, as Chaplin of the Bicester Heritage site, to fulfil his main role of the day and hold a socially distanced Remembrance service at the former RAF base. On the day REVS-LIMITER’s Team will be sharing fundraising duties at Bicester with a group of occupational therapists, who work with Mission Motorsport and will be undertaking a sponsored 12-hour walk of the airfield’s perimeter.
Although not an obvious vehicle for a charity challenge, journalist Charlotte Vowden’s car ‘Frisky’ shares a bond with the day, as its previous custodian, Charlotte’s grandfather, saw service with the RAF during World War 2. While not heavy by modern standards, it still weighs nearly a tonne and the small team will have its work cut out in maintaining a steady pace for the three hours of the trial.
Over the course of the morning, the team will be sharing updates on the REVS-Limiter Facebook group, which is now followed by nearly 6,000 people, and via other social media channels. Should viewers wish to donate to Mission Motorsport as a result of their suffering, they can do so via this handy link: www.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/YourRoR
Reverend Adam Gompertz, REVS-Limiter’s organiser, commented: “We want to support the community of Mission Motorsport beneficiaries, and thought it entirely appropriate to base our challenge here at the former RAF bomber base, Bicester Heritage. Of course, this is a significant day where we remember and give thanks for the sacrifices that so many service personnel have given over the years.”
James Cameron, Mission Motorsport CEO, added: “Cancelling Race of Remembrance was a tough decision and its impact on our beneficiaries, our supporters and those who love the event is acute. We conceived of the #YourRoR campaign to keep the spirit of the race alive in these difficult times, and the classic car push captures that spirit absolutely. We’re also enormously grateful to Bicester Heritage who, yet again are demonstrating their unstinting support to the charity”.
The world’s most successful independent motorsport constructor establishes its official restoration programme as interest builds in its historic cars, including Subaru Imprezas, BMW M3s and Aston Martins.
Prodrive is seeing a growing demand for its historic race and rally cars and has launched Prodrive Legends, a new operation dedicated to the authentication, restoration and support of these cars.
The creation of Prodrive Legends is a direct response to a significant rise in requests from vehicle owners to verify the provenance and then restore race and rally cars that Prodrive has constructed over the last three decades. There are also an increasing number of opportunities to race historic competition cars and a dramatic rise in values, especially for vehicles that have won high-profile events, fuelling the market for historic cars.
Since its formation in 1984, Prodrive has built more than 1,100 race and rally cars, from the first Porsche 911 SC RS to the latest Aston Martin Vantage GT cars. These cars have won titles across a range of motorsport disciplines, from World Rally titles for Subaru with Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Petter Solberg, to world sports car and Le Mans titles with Aston Martin and Ferrari; and British Touring Car Championships with BMW and Ford.
“Many of these cars are now appreciating classics with immense value to their passionate owners,” says Paul Howarth, head of motorsport operations. “With the formation of Prodrive Legends, owners can now bring the cars home to the same company – and even many of the same people – who originally designed and built them and took them to multiple wins.”
The programme, which only covers Prodrive vehicles, includes: a ‘fixed price’ authentication service that will verify whether a chassis is a genuine Prodrive car; factory specification engine rebuilds in Prodrive’s new powertrain centre; and whole-vehicle work from servicing and race preparation to ground-up restorations to the original Prodrive specification.
Over the years, Prodrive has built more than 700 Subaru rally cars, including nearly 100 Impreza and Legacy Group As and 160 Impreza World Rally Cars. In the 1980s the company also built nearly 40 BMW E30 M3s and, more recently, nearly 50 Aston Martin racing cars based on the DB9 and a further 180 on the previous generation Vantage.
All restoration work, including chassis, engine, transmission and bodyshell preparation, is carried out in-house at the company’s world-class engineering facility in Banbury.
For owners of ex-Prodrive vehicles or those considering purchasing one, utilising the expertise of Prodrive Legends offers numerous benefits, as Howarth explains: “Quite simply, there is nobody in a better position to rebuild a Prodrive car – we literally know them inside out and many of the people we have on the Prodrive Legends team built the cars originally.
“What’s more, we have all the original build data and also hold the rights to reproduce key parts of the cars, while sourcing genuine components that are notoriously hard to find doesn’t pose an issue thanks to the network of contacts we have established since the early 1980s.”
He continued: “The level of our work pays dividends for customers who wish to compete with their car and those that lean more towards seeing it as an investment. Some owners choose to run their cars in less demanding exhibition events or merely show them, but any car that leaves us will be turnkey and ready to run competitively.
“For those that wish to optimise the value of their car, as well as its performance, having Prodrive Legends authenticate and rebuild it ensures that it meets market expectations, where only the cars with the most impeccable provenance command the highest prices. The difference between two cars that are similar in all respects other than provenance can run into tens of thousands of pounds or, if there is evidence of significant competition success, even six figures.”
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