Cars And Tuning

Austin

Austin Motor Company

Founded
1905
Headquarters
Longbridge, England, UK

1975 Austin Princess 1800.

Austin Montego, launched in 1984.

Austin Maestro, launched in 1983.

Austin Metro, launched in 1980.

Publicity shot of the Austin Allegro from 1973.

1963 Austin Mini Cooper S.

1954 Austin A30

Austin A40 Sports, ca 1951

The rights to the Austin name passed to British Aerospace and then to BMW when each bought the Rover Group. The rights were subsequently sold to MG Rover, created when BMW sold the business. Following MG Rover's collapse and sale, Nanjing Automobile Group owns the Austin name and Austin's historic assembly plant in Longbridge. At the Nanjing International Exhibition in May 2006, Nanjing announced it might use the Austin name on some of the revived MG Rover models, at least in the Chinese market. However, Nanjing is for the moment concentrating on reviving the MG brand. The MG brand is traditionally used for sports cars and Nanjing has no rights to the Rover name, so a revival of the Austin name would seem a logical brand for selling more standard cars. It might also be argued that a British name would be more respected in the European market than a Chinese name.

Audi

Aston Martin

Aston Martin Lagonda Limited

Founded
1913
Headquarters
Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom

2007 V8 Vantage

2006 Aston Martin DB9 Volante (convertible)

2003 DB7 Zagato (coupé) and (roadster)

Aston Martin V12 Vanquish

DB AR1 roadster

2004 Aston Martin DB9 coupé

2001 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage

1967 - 1989 DBS and later V8s

Part of Aston Martin's current racing program, Charouz Racing System competes with sports prototype powered by an Aston Martin V12

A Group C Nimrod NRA/C2 which used Aston Martin's V8 engines in the 1980s.

Aston Martin's 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans winning DBR1.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage from The Living Daylights

1958 Aston Martin DB Mark III

Aston Martin 2-Litre 2/4-Seater Sports 1937

Aston Martin Mk II 1935

2009 - Return to Le Mans
In January 2009 it was announced that the company was entering the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours race as a factory team in the prestigious LMP1 division. After competing throughout the 2008 season with a Lola B08/60 LMP1 Coupe under the Charouz Racing banner, Aston Martin will use a slightly modified Lola LMP1 design for their programme. Three Lola-Aston Martins have been entered in the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours by Aston Martin but only two have been confirmed with sponsorship. Aston Martin will also compete in the complete Le Mans series with the Lola-Aston Martin LMP cars, starting at Barcelona in early April. The programme got off to an unfortunate start at the pre season Paul Ricard test on March 8 when Tomas Enge destroyed the 007 car in an accident. Aston Martin Racing have subsequently taken delivery of a new Lola to replace the written off chassis.

Ascari

Ascari Cars Ltd.
Founded
1995
Headquarters
Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom

2007 Ascari A10

An Ascari KZ1 (foreground) and Ecosse on display.

Ascari FGT

The production version of the Ecosse was given a BMW V8 powerplant in place of the Chevrolet and Ford units, although this was further tuned by Hartge. The 4.4 liter engine produced around 300 hp (220 kW), while later larger 4.7 liter units produced around 400 hp (300 kW).
The spaceframe chassis and wishbone suspension carried a lightweight fibre glass body, weighing in at just 1,250 kg (2,756 lb). The Ecosse, with the larger 4.7 liter engine, was capable of going from zero-to-sixty mph in 4.1 seconds while top speed was achieved at 200 mph (322 km/h Only 17 examples are known to have been produced, however only nine of these remain today as the other eight have all been destroyed.
The Ecosse would eventually be replaced by the Ascari KZ1 in 2003.

Artega

Artega GT

The Artega GT is a mid-engined, rear wheel drive 2-seat sports car produced by Artega. The GT is currently Artega's first and only model for sale. First shown as a mock up at the 2007 Geneva Auto Show; the Artega GT debuted a year later at the 2008 Geneva Auto Show. The car is designed by Henrik Fisker. The two seater has an aluminium space frame and carbon fibre reinforced body for a light curb weight of approximately 1100 kg. The engine is a Volkswagen sourced direct injection 3.6 L (3597 cc) V6 producing 300 hp mated to a 6-speed DSG transmission. Acceleration from 0-100km/h is expected to be under five seconds, top speed is estimated to be over 270km/h. EDIT: Problem with rear wing found, fixed. More poly's added to area around wheels. Problem with rear lights found and fixed.