Andy665

They are starting to filter through on English E-Bay now, think I'll mod one of my extra ones and convert to Nugget Yellow

Just arrived home to find two more of the Revell models have been delivered - ordered months ago and forgot all about them - that makes four now - also got two Minichamps display cases to keep them nice and clean

Work for a consultancy company that do a lot of work with Volkswagen on the sales and finance side of the business. Worked a lot with Bob Newbold last year, think his current title is Head of Business Development - good bloke

Vindis? Did a lot of work with Vindis last year but mainly St Ives and Bedford

Lots of suspension travel for the Brazilian roads I suppose - surprised to see that the cheapers VW's now come with Kumho tyres fitted

Here we go

How about the time you fell asleep at Le Mans and we all took photos

Jim - its not that easy to tell them apart, very subtle tweaks, most easily identified by the new alloys, best bit by the far is the Interlagos cloth trim with leather bolsters, superb looking seat and very comfortable. They are selling but they are not proving as easy to shift as people expected - they made a mistake in not making it a numbered limited edition Rado K - where do you work?

I certainly wouldn't buy one - much rather have a decent quality used car than a cheap new one. Theres still a 16 week waiting list for a new Fox - people seem to like the idea of a cheap new VW - pity that most are bought by little old ladies that won't travel at more than 39mph

Its a damn sight more solid than the Aygo/C1/107 for similar money and the 3 cylinder engine is a superb little engine, last small car that made me grin so much was a Cinquecento Sporting

Its one of my favourites, long time since I've been up there and will be taking the Rado up there in a few weeks for a good thrash (early one Sunday morning I think)

Both on the Cat and Fiddle road, Fox 1.2 (3 cylinder) and Golf Edition 30 Edition 30 was very impressive, felt so planted and very quick but the Fox was way more fun, limited grip, had to wring its neck to maintain speed - a real giggle - much better than it looks, surprisingly solid and great value for money

.....Nikolai Smolensky :!: The company responsible for the sale of TVR has issued a statement naming the new owner of the marque's 'trademarks, vehicle stock, work-in-progress, and its manufacturing plant and equipment'; rather confusingly, it's Nikolai Smolensky. The Russian oligarch created Blackpool Automotive, the company that has (or rather, hasn't) just changed hands, in order to protect the company's assets before it entered administration earlier in the year. It had been reported that Smolensky's intentions were to hive-off TVR's trademark and its intellectual property into a separate company in order to be able to make a new start for TVR away from its Blackpool home. It now appears that, due to a mistake made somewhere down the line, the Russian has had to buy back that which he thought he could do without – the lion's share of the company he bought from Peter Wheeler in 2004 for £15 million, in other words – for 'an undisclosed fee' which Autocar understands must be somewhere in the region of £2 million. Uncertainty about the British sports car maker's future is sure to rumble on until Smolensky makes a statement about his plans for the company in light of this announcement. When he does, you can be sure that Autocar will bring you word first. Meanwhile, the entirety of the statement issued earlier by Blackpool Automotive's administrators, PKF Partners, is below. Thursday 22 February 2007 Blackpool Automotive Limited in Administration PKF Partners and Joint Administrators of Blackpool Automotive Limited yesterday evening completed the sale of the main assets of the company for an undisclosed sum to a company controlled by Nikolai Smolensky. The sale included the TVR trademarks, certain vehicle stock, work-in-progress, and the manufacturing plant and equipment. In a statement, joint administrators Philip Long, Kerry Bailey and Matthew Gibson said: "Having advertised the assets of the company to the open market, we are confident we have achieved the best possible price in the circumstances and we are now looking to return money to the creditors as quickly as possible. "While we had a significant number of companies expressing an interest, four demonstrated they had the funds required to enter a bidding process. Ultimately, Mr Smolensky's company came in with the highest offer." Ends.

....just won a pair on the Bay - £31 - bit of a bargain I think

Maserati is aiming a two-pronged attack at rivals like the Jaguar XKR, BMW 6-series and Porsche 911 with a new £70,000 Quattroporte-based coupe, to be launched in Geneva next month. The replacement for the current Coupe will be called the Maserati GranTurismo, and these are the first official images of the car. The new Pininfarina-designed two-door aims to match its rivals for sportiness, heritage and performance, while also offering full four-seat accommodation, and luxurious cabin appointments more like the softer, pricier Bentley Continental GT. The GranTurismo starts production later this year, with right-hand-drive versions reaching UK customers around September. It will be powered by the Quattroporte's 4.2-litre V8 with max power lifted about 5bhp (from 395 bhp) to clear the 400bhp threshold. Power will be transmitted through the paddleshift version of the ZF six-speed automatic gearbox just adopted for the Quattroporte, and also used in the Aston Martin DB9, and with a 49/51 front-to-rear weight distribution, the car's dynamics promise to be excellent. A proper four-seater This new Maser is only about 15cm shorter than the Quattroporte's 5.05 metres, and uses a very similar but re-rated suspension. The wheelbase is 40cm shorter than the saloon, which makes it about 15cm longer than the existing coupe. The new model (plus the Quattroporete auto) should boost total Maserati volume from the present 5500 cars to around 7000 in 2007 (including around 4000-4500 Quattroportes and 2000 new Coupes). The company reckons it will be in profit from the end of this year, but wants to be making 10,000 cars a year, including a third model line, by the end of the year. Hotter version to come This initial version of Maserati's new GranTurismo will be joined late next year by a 4.7-litre, 470bhp performance edition, possibly with a competition-inspired body by Zagato. That car will feature the rear-mounted 'F1 gearbox' on which the Quattroporte has depended until now. Maserati is keen to launch a performance line, similar to Jaguar's R-brand and BMW's M Division cars, and possibly using the MC initials (for 'Maserati Corse') it already uses on the highly successful mid-engined MC12 GT racer. The GranTurismo 'MC8' could be the car it uses to launch that brand.

The 3 series coupe is a lovely looking car -proves you can make a silk purse out of the sows ear that is the saloon

...might have to cancel my Aston V8 Vantage order now....this is glorious

They would not have come from Volkswagen UK, way too old - very rare for Volkswagen to have anything more than 12 months old

Just waiting for someone to transplant a TT dash and Audi flush door handles into one

Must agree that the thing oozes engineering quality, as it should for the asking price I like the relative subtlety of it but I'd rather have three LP640s and enough change left for a couple of RS4's as well

I think Trimsport may have stopped producing their rear braces due to the costs involved - lovely bit of kit and do the job superbly

I have been led to believe it was - belongs to a property developer

That one has been doing the rounds of Manchester City centre, Alderley Edge etc over the last few weeks

Also call in at the Ring on the way down to Italy - worth going just for the museum, the awesome model shop at the petrol station near the entrance to the new circuit and to soak up the atmosphere

Currently having a front end restyle to give it a more "corporate look" - I reckon it will be toned down, I have a deposit down on one but have a feeling I'll be getting a refund. The appeal of the concept was that it did not look like other Volkswagens, giving it a more corporate look is a big turn off for me. Launch is reckoned to be delayed to 3rd or 4th quarter 2008 now.