Motorguide Big Water Gator Mount on 2040-parts.com

Gronholm makes explosive debut at Pikes Peak

By Alex Michaelides Motor Shows 24 July 2009 11:55 Finnish rally ace Marcus Gronholm averted disaster to make a promising debut at the 2009 Pikes Peak international hillclimb. The world rally champion’s attempt was severely hampered when the rear tyre of his Ford Fiesta exploded, forcing him to limp home to a still-respectable fifth position in a time of 11min 28.963sec. Japanese rally star Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima claimed first prize in his Suzuki SX4 with a time of 10min 15.368sec.

CAR Magazine South Africa launches ‘Design a Car’ competition

CAR Magazine in South Africa has announced its ‘Design a Car' competition, in an attempt to encourage aspiring South African designers. Entrants are asked to submit designs for a compact, environmentally friendly four-seater Jaguar that stays true to the brand's premium/sporty image for market introduction in 2015. Luma, the digital content creation company, will turn the winning design into a three-dimensional animation and it will also feature in a short promo film with a vehicle designed by CAR's own staff.

2015 Vauxhall Astra means new UK jobs

Vauxhall has announced that it will take on 300 new staff at its Ellesmere Port plant, ready for production of the new Astra in 2015. It follows the plant’s successful bid to build the 2015 Astra, which secured investment of £125 million for the UK factory in 2012. 20 reasons why Britain’s car industry is booming Read a Vauxhall new car review Meanwhile, in 2011, Vauxhall’s Luton plant received a £185 million investment to build the new Vivaro van – and now the Bedfordshire base is planning to create a further 250 jobs.