Bentley Motors

By Valerie Pope

When talking about sports cars, it is important to make the distinction between cars which have been produced solely for this purpose, and normal road-going vehicles which have been modified to achieve sports car performance. One notable example of such a vehicle is the popular Golf GTI series.

Generally speaking, the term ‘sports car’ refers to vehicles which have the following characteristics:

* 2 seats
* 2 doors
* Rear-wheel drive
* Light-weight
* Low ground clearance
* A powerful engine (although this is not essential)

Many classic British sports cars such as the MG series have lacked powerful engines. However, due to their light frame and chassis, they still managed to attain exceptional levels of ride, handling and performance.

True sports cars are vehicles which have been specially designed to be fun to drive, with great handling and ride together with high performance. In many cases, these qualities are attained at the expense of practicality, driver comfort and fuel economy. However, many modern sports cars allow the driver the full sports car experience, without compromising on practicality, reliability or comfort.

Sports cars come in a number of guises. In their simplest form, they are designed for an uncompromising ‘pure’ racing experience. One of the best examples of this type of sports car is the Lotus Elise. Although lacking in the kind of specification and equipment one would normally expect from a road-going car, the Elise is one of the most fun to drive cars around. Continue Reading

By T Kearns

You’ve bought a Blower Bentley and lovingly customized it a la California Kid: it is a customized vintage sports car and you are weaving in and out of traffic like a comet between common stars. Or you have already acquired the unique recent Marussia. The point is, nobody has a car like yours and now you have to ship it and you are not sure how to. You are reluctant to drive that mint-new beauty all those miles and it seems that for a magical car like yours only magic would do to teleport it to the destination.

But though they have been somewhat neglected by mystically inclined authors from Kafka to King and it is difficult to imagine anything sinisterly supernatural about them, auto shipping companies provide precisely the service you need, guaranteeing that your monetary and emotional investment will not be lost or so much as scratched.

Locate an experienced carrier. The average person does not require shipping services that often and it is unlikely that you are familiar with a reliable company by word of mouth. The best way to find what you need is either through a professional broker or through the internet. Numerous companies have websites nowadays, but that includes the old and established shippers who keep up with the world and who would be just right for you.

Compare a number of companies to make sure their terms make sense and that the companies have experience shipping your type of car. Contact them to carefully review their insurance policies and make sure that you precious property is fully covered.

Choosing an open trailer, insist and make sure that the vehicle is loaded onto the upper deck, where it is more difficult to reach and is thus safer from theft and vandalism. However, on the upper deck of the open carrier your car will still be exposed, especially so to inclement weather, birds, bugs, and any detritus that may be carried by gusty winds along stretches of interstate roads.

It is far better to book your car for a closed carrier and have it shipped immediately to the destination. In some cases this may only be possibly if you pay for the truck to leave at once without waiting for its standard minimal load. Otherwise, the company will take the car to a storage facility for an indefinite amount of time, which additional manipulation and waiting time at a general garage increases the risk of theft or damage. Continue Reading

By Catherine Gliddon

One of the largest and best attended exhibitions of the UK exhibition calendar each year, and one which never fails to impress visitors, is the British International Motor Show. This years event takes place in the ExCel Exhibition Centre in London Docklands this summer. Below we take a look in more detail at the British International Motor Show Exhibition.

The exhibition continues to expand and the expansion of the exhibition will now include the waterfront area which sites alongside the Excel exhibition centre. As well as cars, a number of luxury yachts and boats are now part of the exhibition. The NBS (National Boat Shows) is thus joining the Motor Show, making this event an even larger and more International show.

In recent years, more than half a million visitors have attended the Motor Show and with more than fifty-five motor and vehicle companies normally in attendance, it is not a surprise to learn that this is considered the biggest exhibition in the UK for consumers.

Just to give you an idea of the exhibitors list, all of the main and large companies are usually present. Bentley Motor Limited, Suzuki, Renault UK, Shell Europe, Top Gear and Vauxhall Motors are a few names you will and might expect to see at the event. Some names you might not original expect to see at the exhibition but will also includes British Sky Broadcasting, BUPA and CitiGroup.

One particularly impressive things about this annual exhibition is the number of areas within the show, including for example a Kids area, an outdoor living area and areas such as the Land Rover’s Ultimate Experience. The Land Rover’s Ultimate Experience section is one which is fun to visit, with the chance to drive (with an instructor beside you) up a ten metre pretend mountain. The mountain is very steep and with a large drop either side and a swift descent, is something you might or perhaps might not want to try out.

The ‘Test Drives’ area can be another area worth visiting, particularly if you are looking to buy a car in the near future. This area offers (which includes access to a 2.2km track) you the perfect opportunity to try out a few cars and to get a feel for the type of car you might want. Continue Reading