‘The Persuaders’ celebrates its 40th Anniversary having debuted on British TV in September 1971. The stars of the show were Sir Roger Moore and the late Tony Curtis, who drove an Aston Martin DBS and a Ferrari Dino 246 GT respectively. Sir Roger Moore was re-united with the actual Aston Martin DBS used at a recent event, to commemorate the anniversary and the release of the series on Blu-ray DVD.

Photographs, film production records and correspondence relating to this classic Seventies TV series have come to light in the personal collection of the late Roger Stowers. Roger Stowers worked at Aston Martin Lagonda Limited from 1966 until 2000 and was for many years the company’s historian. The Archive team at the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust are beginning to catalogue and conserve this significant collection.

Read more at the BMIHT site.

Set against the impressive backdrop of the English Heritage site, dozens of club members got to showcase their pride and joy to admiring spectators, all with a common appreciation for the popular classic cars of yesteryear.

Among the impressive display was an MG Midget, a 1948 Riley 2.5 litre Roadster, an Austin Healy, a TVR and a Lotus Cortina. Overall winner on the day out of the 54 cars exhibited was George Dalgarno with his 1948 Riley Roadster.

Club committee member Mike Mitchell said: “The prize was handed out to the owner who had best maintained their vehicle. The rally is a great chance for owners to show off to the public what they’ve achieved, as well as showing off to each other. We were lucky with the weather – there were no breakdowns and we had a lot of people turning out to view the rally.”

Visitors to the priory, were also able to explore the ruins and learn more about the history of the site. The classic cars of MG and others were the perfect accompaniment to the location.

With almost 80 members, MG Northumbria is one of the largest areas within the MG Owners Club. Its members hail from as far north as the Scottish Borders down to County Durham, and west along the Tyne Valley. As an active club, it meets once a month at Backworth Hall, in North Tyneside, and stages regular events along with its own Heritage Run, attracting interest from all over the country.

He said: “I don’t have a driver’s licence. In London you just don’t drive because the traffic is terrible, so you get cabs to go everywhere, which has left me being 37 and still without a driver’s licence in Los Angeles.”

Although he can’t drive, the Take That star – who has teamed up with country music star Bob Paisley to record ‘Collision of Worlds’ for the forthcoming ‘Cars 2′ movie – is fascinated by cars and loves watching motor racing on television.

In an interview organised by Disney and posted on Robbie’s official website, he said: “We have Formula 1 over in England, and it’s always been a very important part of growing up and seeing these heroes and respecting and admiring them and the glamour that surrounds them. It’s exciting.”

The ‘Flood’ singer also admitted he thinks of himself as a “steady and reliable” minivan.

Asked what type of car he thinks he is, he said: “I think I’d be a van, to be honest. Nice and comfortable, steady, reliable. I’d like to consider myself like something sporty, but I’m not. So yeah, a minivan with a plasma screen inside, big relaxing chairs and comfort. That would be me.”

Simon photographed his car at the plant alongside Doug Adams, 91, who worked on the Mini prototype alongside its creator Sir Alec Issigonis, when the two men became friends. Doug still lives on the Longbridge Estate in Birmingham, established by the Austin motor company at the end of the First World War.

The photos by Simon will be on public display at the University’s Markeaton Street site in Derby as part of its annual Degree Shows, which began on Saturday (June 4) and runs until Saturday June 11. Hundreds of students’ work in crafts, fashion, textiles, fine art, film, design, theatre, visual communications, architecture, music technology, creative expressive therapies and art therapy will be on display for the public to come and see for free at the University’s Markeaton Street and Britannia Mill sites in Derby, and elsewhere.

Simon, 25, originally of Henllan in Wales, said: “I’ve always been interested in Minis. My dad used to race them and when I learned to drive I bought a 1960 model. “I learnt about the history of the Mini’s production. Two years ago I was at an event at the Heritage Motor Centre for British cars, in Gaydon, in Warwickshire, when I met Doug and heard all about the car’s early design. “We kept in touch and, when I was putting together my degree project, it seemed only natural to get Doug into the photos of where it all began.” Doug added: “It was interesting to see how the plant had changed. I remember being there with Sir Alec Issigonis, who was quite a character.” Simon was helped with his project by MG Motor UK Ltd. It is now based at the Longbridge site and gave him access to the original Mini factory site, much of which is still standing.

Ian Pogson, MG Motor UK Ltd’s Chief Engineer (After Sales Engineering), said: “MG Motor UK is well aware of its proud past associated with the Mini and Sir Alec Issigonis, and has preserved some original Minis in a small museum which also includes Lord Austin’s office.

“We were able to allow Simon very special access to these areas and for Doug Adams to once again walk into the old Mini Design Studio. Simon was able to photograph his Mini alongside the assembly line of the recently launched MG6, causing quite a stir amongst our assembly team.”

The University of Derby is also proud to be part of Universities UK-led Universities Week, which will run from June 13 to 19, 2011. It will be getting involved with national activities highlighting the surprising links and relationships that universities have with the people and businesses in their local communities, of which this story is just one example.

When you are going for a leisurely drive, or even just your daily commute, it is nice to listen to some music instead of listening to people talking and laughing on the radio. But what songs are particularly popular to listen to while driving, and why? We’ve found five songs which are played in cars all over the UK, on the motorway, driveway, and probably in the line at a fast food drive through too.

The Boys are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy

This song is featured on the Top Gear Seriously Cool Driving Music CD set (1), and it is easy to see why. It’s a sing-along tune known through the generations. Of course this song works particularly well if used by a group of men who are literally back in town!

Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen

One to sing your heart out to, Don’t Stop Me Now is another classic driving song. You would find it hard to be feeling angry listening to this, even if you were stuck in a traffic jam.

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic – Sting and the Police

Sting seems to be a popular choice for a more chilled out journey in the car, but doesn’t skimp on the catchy lyrics front either. Just because it topped the UK charts in November 1981 (2), it doesn’t mean it isn’t still cool today.

Wouldn’t it be Nice – The Beach Boys

Another upbeat song! This song makes us want to roll down the windows (or a convertible roof) and drive next to an ocean on a warm summers day. Although once you listen to one Beach Boys song it is easy to get into the mood for the whole album.

Don’t Stop Believing – Journey

There have been a couple of covers of this song in the past year, but the Journey one is the most classic. Like the other songs above, Don’t Stop Believing is just as catchy and easy to sing along to. In fact, this seems like a recurring theme when it comes to driving music; if you can sing along to it, and it makes you happy, it is destined to be a song for your journey.

About the author: Hannah Warder writes for MediaVest (Manchester) on a number of topics, including car insurance.

References

(1)  Amazon – Top Gear Songs.

(2) Amazon – The Police.

But there’s one phone application made specifically for use on the road — GPS navigation. Already, several car nav programs for mobiles are available, but today the most highly anticipated of them arrived: the TomTom app for iPhone, which was announced in June.

The app was designed to closely emulate GPS navigation units for cars, and indeed it has turn-by-turn directions, voice instructions, touch-screen commands, a choice of 2D or 3D mapping, day/night screen choices and coverage of the U.S. and Canada.

The price is not cheap — $99.99 — but that’s less than the cost of the vast majority of dedicated car navigation units. Of course, the iPhone screen is smaller than the ones on most car units.

The tech blog will have a full review of the app, upcoming, but early buyers who posted online had one main complaint — the vocal directions on the TomTom iPhone app do not include street names.

At the June announcement of the product, TomTom said it also would make available a windshield mount for phone. No word yet on when that would be available or at what price.

BTW, if you still need convincing of the dangers of texting while driving, view this public service commercial recently released in the U.K. It does have graphic content: It takes a much stronger stomach than any slasher flick.

– David Colker in the Los Angeles Times

As proof, check out the new fansite dedicated to Top Gear at site www.topgearshow.com. With subject ranging from the recent Stig reveal controversy to the reviewed cars themselves, there is a ton of good information on the site. (Let’s just hope they devote a nice section to Oliver, my favorite car from the show.) They are trying to create the ultimate fan site that is dedicated to classic moments of May, Clarkson and Hammond, so stop by and take a look.

And don’t forget to tune in to Top Gear!

And that sets the tone for the World Of Top Gear section that opened last week, coinciding with the start of a new series of Top Gear today (June 21st).

The motoring programme has a huge following in 80 countries but this will be the only place in the world where you can see some of the vehicles that featured in Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May’s best-known stunts.

Cars such as the Reliant Robin Space Shuttle, Suzuki Swift that played ice-hockey and Toyota Hilux driven to the North Pole are almost TV stars in their own right and are expected to attract thousands of visitors to the museum in the New Forest.

Seen up close, the modifications to vehicles from the world’s most popular motoring show look amazingly crude. It’s easy to see why the 1,000ft stretch-limo Fiat Panda built by Jeremy to taxi Chris Moyles to a red-carpet celebrity event in London broke in half on the way there.

And you wonder why anyone would want to take to the water in the homemade ‘Dampervan’ and ‘Toyboata’. No wonder they drenched their occupants on the Top Gear amphibious car challenge. Other highlights include the humble Mini that was fitted with rockets and sent down an Olympic ski jump, and Richard Hammond’s Suzuki Vitara ‘police car’ with a DIY stinger device made from a rubber mat with nails hammered through it that hopelessly missed its target.

The Top Gear section is a refreshing change from the ranks of historic cars in the rest of the museum. Unlike the gleaming pristine classic cars in the main part of Beaulieu, many of Top Gear’s vehicles appear to have been simply cut up with an angle-grinder, then stuck back together with rivets.

One of the highlights is the Mercedes S-Class Cottage. Peep inside and you’ll see the driver sits in a wing-backed armchair (I seem to remember Hammond toppling over when it went round a corner). It also boasts stone tiles and rugs, bookcases, a fireplace and a fringed lampshade hanging from the ceiling.

Visitors can wander round a mock Top Gear TV studio complete with ‘fastest lap board’ – where the racing achievements of the show’s celebrity guests are recorded – and Cool Wall, where new cars are rated.

Big screens show a ten-minute film specially made by the Top Gear team. True to their irreverent form, it starts with Clarkson knocking James May’s elbow so his tea pours down his shirt.

After a fit of giggles, Jeremy announces: ‘We’re really sorry we can’t be there – but we literally couldn’t be bothered.’

From The Daily Mail

Join award-winning television comedian Dom Joly on an epic road trip around Britain in an attempt to fill his house from top to bottom with British-made products in the brand new series Made In Britain.

As part of this unique experiment, Dom will have his family home turned upside down and stripped of everything he owns that’s not made in the UK. He’s then challenged to go on a remarkable shopping trip, travelling the length and breadth of the country to try and replace all his foreign goods with British-made products.

Before the inspectors arrive, Dom’s quaint country cottage in the Cotswolds is a safe haven for foreign merchandise: the Italian coffee machine, a television manufactured in Japan and pants made in Taiwan. In no time at all the Joly family home isn’t looking quite so jolly anymore. In their bid to find out what’s British and what’s not, the experts have banished two thirds of everything they’ve looked at including his bed, laptop and, controversially, his wife’s cosmetics, and Dom is left with little more than his Savile Row suit, a pair of muddy Wellington boots and a lengthy shopping list for his trip.

Each episode of Made In Britain will see him tackling a different room in his house in a bid to replenish its contents with British-only goods and restore normality at home. Dom’s travels take him to Europe’s oldest waterbed company (turns out us Brits invented waterbeds!); a lava lamp factory in Poole where the psychedelic favourite was invented in a shed and bath products company, Lush, which is one of Britain’s global success stories.

Dom’s journey takes him to the heart of British eccentricity and ingenuity as he meets the quirky, colourful and charismatic characters who just won’t give up making products they believe in, all the while discovering what it really takes to be made in Britain. Find out more about Made in Britain and Blighty here www.loveblighty.co.uk

Follow Blighty on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Love_Blighty and join the Made In Britain Facebook group: http://bit.ly/2eAnb now.

The screensaver is available for both Windows and Macintosh computers and is available at http://www.astonmartin.com/gallery/screensaver.