ENGLAND'S GREATEST VIEWS AND HOW TO FIND THEM BY ROAD

Time for a new blog header, this time one of the stunning photos from our brand new book, Roads with a View, this particular shot taken of Ribblehead Viaduct, just over the border from Cumbria into North Yorkshire.

Roads with a View is not just another travel guide. This has been written by a driver especially for fellow motorists, and provides detailed accounts of the best English roads to drive on, and the best places to drive to for that stunning front seat view. Features specially drawn maps, beautiful colour photography, and plenty of travel advice. More info

 

Priced £19.99 UK/$45.00 USA, this book is now in stock, and available to buy now.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BIKE IN THE WORLD – THE MV AGUSTA F3

The completely new and much anticipated MV Agusta F3 was recently launched at the world’s biggest and most important motorcycle show, EICMA Milan, where Motociclismo magazine organised a poll to find ‘The Most Beautiful Bike of the Show’. Of over 12,000 votes cast, the F3 captured 39%, nearly twice that of the next entrant and well ahead of every other new model at the show.

MV Agusta describes this new model as ‘a work of art on wheels’ and its exceptional styling and advanced technology will take this classic Italian marque into the middleweight supersports category, with all guns blazing. The competition is already nervously looking over its shoulders!

The F3 completely redefines this category and sets new standards that other supersports bikes will be compared to and judged by. Light weight, enormous power and sophisticated electronics ensure standards of performance that will push the concept of supersports to the extreme.

The styling, as with its bigger brother the F4, is pure MV Agusta genius, but the F3 is even more unique, with incredible attention to detail. For example, the exhaust system has a fabulously distinctive triple pipe, side exit muffler – just one example of design and function in perfect motorcycle harmony.

The three cylinder 675cc engine layout pays homage to MV racing heritage, with this famous marque having won an unprecedented number of grand prix races and world championship victories, in its racing history. This incredibly short and narrow engine, with its unique counter rotating crankshaft, is the most powerful and most compact ever seen in this category.

The electronics have been specifically designed for the F3. For the first time on an MV and on any middleweight bike, there is Ride By Wire, with multi-maps controlling the fuel injection to optimize power output in all conditions. Traction control has been incorporated into the engine management, raising the dynamic control to a new level.

Frame design is advanced, with a combination of a steel frame and alloy side plates, wrapped around the compact engine. A long single sided swingarm improves traction and gives maximum feedback to the rider. Other chassis components are up to the usual impeccable MV standard. Fully adjustable Marzocchi front forks complement the Sachs rear shock absorber. Brembo radial calipers and discs, activated by a Nissin master cylinder are simply the best available and set the standard for others to follow.

The new MV Agusta F3 fuses unrivalled history and high tech future, giving form to the most beautiful and technologically advanced middleweight supersports motorcycle that clearly marks the beginning of a new era.

For the first time in the UK the NEW MV Agusta F3 will be on show at Motorcycle Live, NEC, Birmingham 27 Nov – 5 Dec 2010.Visitors to the stand (Stand 221, Hall 3) will be the first in the UK to see the latest piece of Italian exotica up close.

Source: Carole Nash Motorcycle Live

Coming soon from Veloce!
The book of the MV Agusta Fours
By Ian Falloon

Always produced in small numbers, the MV Agusta Fours are now considered among the classic motorcycles of the 1960s and 1970s. These were the first motorcycles that made Grand Prix technology available to the public, albeit at an almost prohibitive cost. More info.

ART DECO AND BRITISH CAR DESIGN REVIEWED

Thanks to Classic & Sports Car for this thumbs up of new Veloce book Art Deco and British Car Design by Barrie Down.

Click here for more info about the book.

CALLING ALL PETROL HEADS!

With an amazing range of over 300 books on cars, motorbikes and trucks, which we're adding new books and apps to all the time, we're excited to let you know about our brand new Veloce News App, available now through the iTunes App Store.

The FREE 'Veloce News' app pulls all of Veloce's social media activity into one app giving you the inside track on what is happening in the automotive world. 'Veloce News' includes exclusive video interviews with authors, photos and much, much more ... More info

AVAILABLE NOW (for FREE!) through the iTunes App Store. 

GOODWOOD CONFIRMS 2011 DATES AND ANNOUNCES FESTIVAL OF SPEED THEME

Further to the recent announcement of provisional dates for Goodwood’s ever-popular motoring events, Lord March can now confirm the finalised dates for 2011. The Moving Motor Show will be held on 30 June, the Festival of Speed from 1-3 July, and the Goodwood Revival from 16-18 September.

The theme for the 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed, from 1 to 3 July, will be ‘Racing Revolutions – Quantum leaps that shaped motor sport’, celebrating the ceaseless quest for increased power; greater efficiency; more speed.

From motor racing’s pioneering early days, engineering ingenuity has been the irresistible force behind the sport’s inexorable rise, with designers constantly pushing technical boundaries in search of ‘the unfair advantage’.

For example, in 2011 it will be 75 Years since Auto Union won the European Championship with a ground-breaking rear-engined car; 60 years since increased economy helped the normally-aspirated Ferraris vanquish the supercharged Alfa Romeos; 30 years since the dawn of rallying’s four-wheel-drive age; 25 years since turbocharged engines ruled the roost in F1; and 20 years since a rotary-engined Mazda took the chequered flag at Le Mans. It is therefore especially fitting to celebrate the innovations – both giant strides and iterative evolutions; masterstrokes and blind alleys – that have seen the racing automobile develop from crude behemoth to space-age projectile.

Alongside this central theme, the 2011 Festival of Speed will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500, with a stunning gathering of cars and drivers that have written the history of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”. It will also be 60 years since the C-type scored the first of Jaguar’s seven Le Mans victories, and the iconic British marque’s illustrious racing heritage will be honoured at Goodwood.

Jaguar will be much in evidence at the 2011 Festival, as the 50th anniversary of the E-Type – the ultimate personification of 1960s style, and one of the most admired car designs of all time – is marked in true Goodwood fashion. The E-Type will also be in the spotlight during the Revival from 16-18 September, with a spectacular one-make race.

The Festival of Speed will also feature a glittering array of cars and motorcycles from a huge variety of disciplines, further enhancing the Goodwood event’s reputation as the world’s greatest celebration of motor racing history and culture. Tackling the famous 1.16 mile Goodwood hillclimb will be everything from early Grand Prix and endurance machines, to off-road and contemporary racers and racing motorcycles.

Complementing the overall Festival of Speed theme will be a host of other attractions at the world’s greatest celebration of motoring. Aside from getting close to the action-packed hillclimb and paddocks, Festival-goers will be able to admire some of the most stylish vehicles ever designed at the Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’ concours d’elegance, see and potentially try the very latest road cars at the Moving Motor Show exhibition, glimpse into the future of transportation at FoS-TECH, see many of motor sport’s famous faces up close, swoon at the mouth-watering display of supercars, witness the exciting sideways action on the Forest Rally Stage, and become a part of the action at the off-road activity fields and Junior Festival of Speed.

Goodwood Festival of Speed founder Lord March says: “I am really looking forward to having so many great cars and drivers here at the Festival of Speed to celebrate our 2011 ‘Racing Revolutions’ theme. For me it is always magical to see so many of the world’s greatest drivers, riders and machines in action.” He adds, “At the Revival, the E-Type-only race and special track display honouring 100 years since Fangio’s birth also promise to be truly special.”

As in previous years, admission to both Goodwood motor sport events will be strictly by advance ticket only, with 2011 tickets now on sale. All orders placed before January 2011 will benefit from a VAT saving of 2.5 per cent.

New for 2011, young adults aged between 13 and 18 can now purchase Festival of Speed and/or Revival tickets for half the full adult price. Previously all visitors aged 13 or over would have been charged at full price. Children of 12 years or under remain free of charge, as does all car parking.

Source: Goodwood

BRITS AT INDY COMES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

New Veloce book The British at Indianapolis by Ian Wagstaff gets a great review in this month's Classic & Sports Car magazine!

Click here for more info about the book.

BLUEBIRD FLIES AGAIN: NEW RECORD ATTEMPT

Don Wales, holder of the UK Land Speed Record for an electric car, announced today (Tuesday 9 November) that he will attempt to break his own electric record and exceed the outright record set by his grandfather, Sir Malcolm Campbell, in 1925 in the early spring of 2011.

Speaking after successfully completing the RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge in a hybrid car, Wales said: "I have held the record for over ten years and it's now looking very vulnerable. I want to set the UK record well beyond 150mph – the speed Sir Malcolm clocked in 1925. Ideally, I'd like to match his record of 1927 – 175mph."

The attempt is part of the Campbell family celebration year of the centenary of Sir Malcolm Campbell first christening a car Bluebird at Brooklands in 1911.

Don Wales and the Bluebird Electric Team set the current record of 139mph in August 2000 on Pendine Sands, Wales. They will return to Pendine Sands – the venue for Sir Malcolm's successful land speed record attempts in the 1920s – in spring of 2011.

Wales also has plans to attempt a new world land speed record for a battery car and has his sights set on 500mph, and is currently evaluating several design options. He says: "At last the world is making real progress with electric vehicles as a viable alternative to the internal combustion engine. Ten years ago electric vehicles were unheard of in the news, and people couldn’t understand the importance of electric car technology. Now there's a whole new generation of electric road cars in production. The UK is a world leader in automotive technology, particularly in the cutting edge and highly competitive field of motor sport, and Land speed record projects have a history of boosting technological developments which is why I'm planning a world beating battery car”.

Project Director Martin Rees said "Don's ambition to be the fastest in the world is a goal we are all working hard to achieve and his recent speed record breaking exploits, and those we achieved in the electric Bluebird ten years ago, are testament to his undoubted dedication and commitment to excellence". Rees added, "Taking the car back to Pendine next Spring with improved drive and bodywork will be another chapter in the Campbell and Wales and Pendine story.”

Don Wales, who is the nephew of Donald Campbell – another famous record breaker – has clearly inherited the quest for speed. In May this year he twice broke the world land speed record for a lawnmower leaving it at 87.833mph. He also holds the world record for a steam powered car (148mph) as a member of Charles Burnett III's British Steam car team at Edwards Airforce base in August 2009.

Source: Bluebird Electric Team

New books from Veloce!
Bluebird CN7 - The inside story of Donald Campbell’s last Land Speed Record car
By Donald Stevens
Records the development, construction and operation of the last wheel-driven land speed record breaking car that the UK produced, and tells how the tragic demise of Donald Campbell prevented it from reaching its full potential. A unique account of a legendary feat of engineering.
More info.



Electric Cars – The Future is Now!
By Arvid Linde
What if we all had to say goodbye to petrol cars tomorrow? Would you be ready? This book will help you find out. With a concise catalogue covering the best production models and the most promising prototypes, this book is the definitive guide to the future of motoring. More info.