Jaguar XE Coming To South Africa

Jaguar has always had a certain appeal. An appeal that comes from an air of elegance, luxury and class coupled with an underlying edge and mystery, especially in the sportier models. Or perhaps that’s just my British schooling (in Lesotho) speaking. I have never been much of a car nut. I have covered many kilometres driving around Southern Africa and have generally focused on driveability, comfort, design and functionality. Aesthetics are important to me. A couple of years ago, a second-hand Jaguar X-Type made its way into our garage and was part of the family for 6 wonderful years. When we...

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Rolls-Royce Ghost Series II

When the Rolls-Royce Ghost Series I was launched in South Africa by the Daytona Group, I had the opportunity to take it for a leisurely drive around Houghton after having been driven around by a pleasant young lady from the Daytona’s marketing and sales team. Back seat or driver’s seat, on that day I decided that one day I will have a Ghost parked in my garage, and not just temporarily. While I still have soft sport for the Ghost I, Rolls-Royce has developed the Ghost Series II, which was launched in March this year in South Africa. There have been a number of changes to the Ghost Series II...

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Contextualising The Opel Adam

2015 started with work on the launch of the Opel Adam, which is the ‘first shot’ in the German manufacturer’s (although it is owned by General Motors) repositioning of the brand, under the theme ‘New Germans’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9c-rgtEbJ8 We (Project Fable) were involved in hosting and developing the content for the partner, consumer and media/entertainment launches of the Adam. Being of German roots, there was a kind of synergy to being involved as well as with Opel’s reconnection with its German engineering heritage. As part of hosting the various events, I explored Opel’s...

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Ken Block’s Gymkhana 6

Ken Block is the man when it comes to precision driving. I have previously posted his Gymkhana Five as well as a clip from when he was featured on Top Gear. Finally, he’s done Gymkhana 6: The Ultimate Gymkhana Grid Course with the guys from Need For Speed Rivals, for which he was the racing consultant. Gymkhana 5 was done through the streets of San Francisco which is probably hard to top but .... I could tell you how dope it is but it makes better sense for you to just watch. http://youtu.be/WUO-lPubXeI

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Motorcycle Madness

A few months ago, I decided that I am middle-aged enough to get a motorcycle and randomly ride somewhere on Sundays for pancakes and scones, joining the mass exodus of men and women who do the breakfast runs on weekends out of Joburg. My last experience on a bike was about 20 years ago, messing around with friends so I wrangled my way into the BMW Rider Academy for their Novice course. A full day of some theory - where what is on a motorbike - and a lot of riding. Had a lot of fun and it's made me want a bike even more, especially because, to do the next few courses, I need my own bike. I...

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Ken Block’s Gymkhana Five

About two years ago, I came across a clip of Ken Block's "airfield rallying" video clip from BBC's Top Gear. I was so blown away by the American rally driver's skills, I did a blog post on it here. Block, who has been driving for the Monster World Rally Team since 2010, has also also created a series of Gymkhana videos which have gone unbelievably viral over the last couple of years.  Gymkhana is basically precision driving where, according to Wikipedia, "the driver must maneuver through a predetermined 'track' performing many different driving techniques." Ken Block recently...

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