McLaren Automotive – Driven To Write

No Parking

The first McLaren badged road-legal car built in series production wasn’t named F1.

Mrs. Muscat had a parking problem: it was not a case of a lack of available spaces at the Ford Motor Company offices where she worked, but the company’s strict ‘no foreign vehicles’ policy meant that she was not allowed to park her car, a R107 Mercedes-Benz SL, on the premises. Having to find a parking space within a reasonable distance each day was of course an inconvenience, but she loved her SL and its al fresco option for sunny days. Thus she asked her husband, Maltese born engineer Peter Muscat, to Continue reading “No Parking”

The Ant and the Ox

Its makers openly cited the Africar as an inspiration for the Ox, but why not the Hormiga?

The Ox, the Africar and the Hormiga were specifically conceived to help countries in the developing world with a poor quality road infrastructure achieve and hopefully reap the benefits of improved mobility at the lowest possible cost. It may come as a surprise to some (as it was to your author when he discovered the fact) to realise that the nearest Third World country to the UK is the Republic of Ireland⁽¹⁾ but none of these three vehicles has likely ever been driven on or off the Irish road network.

Philanthropist, former toy manufacturer and banker Sir Torquil Norman came up with the basic idea of the Ox and, together with Gordon Murray⁽²⁾, developed the concept into fully functional prototypes under the GVT (Global Vehicle Trust) banner. Continue reading “The Ant and the Ox”

Yorkshire Grit

Nature and technology meet at Woking.

Huddersfield, set in the old West Riding which is now plain West Yorkshire since the 1974 border alterations, is a former mill town. In the very heart of England’s Backbone, the Pennine Hills, it’s a welcoming place. At times (locals say Always) the weather can prove bleak and those surrounding millstone grit hills can make for an ominous backdrop – when the rain isn’t horizontal.

Folk round here are rounded as well as grounded. They’ll call a spade a shovel and are open with advice and generosity. Patrick Stewart and James Mason were born and raised here – a few silver screen appearances between them. And a fellow named Wilson went on to Continue reading “Yorkshire Grit”