Ignition Festival Of Motoring Brings F1 Action Screeching Into Glasgow

Ignition Festival of Motoring, a two day event celebrating all things motoring rolls into Glasgow SECC the weekend of 5-7 August. With it comes a cavalcade of past and present racing drivers and exotic metal the likes of which have never been seen on the banks of the Clyde.

With Grand Prix winners like David Coulthard and Mark Webber confirmed to be in attendance, alongside British Touring Car legend Gordon Sheddon and professional drift wizard Shane Lynch, you can bet that speed will very much be the order of the day.

i3 Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside - BMW i3 Range Extender Road Test

The BMW i3 is the Munich marque's interpretation the future of urban motoring will look. It's packed with clever little details and impressive tech, as highlighted in my previous post on the i3, BMW's city car for the future aims to be compact, quiet and sustainable, all while still retaining the driving dynamics their customers have come to expect. Powered by an electric motor driving the rear wheels, supplemented by an optional 2-cylinder petrol range-extender engine, it straddles the divide between the past and the future.

Thanks to this, the i3 has the snappy, instant power response you'd expect from a pure EV. Combined with the range extender, it has a comfortable quoted range of 150 miles. Around town, you'd have to neglect charging the thing for a couple of days before needing the extra capacity afforded by the petrol motor, so that extra range opens up the possibility of venturing beyond the city walls.

The i3 - breaking the barrier between then and now.

At A Glance - Kia Pro_Cee'd GT-Line

What have we here, then?

We have the Kia Pro_Cee'd. And, preposterous punctuation aside, I think it shapes up rather well.

Chrome detailing and LED running lights sharpen up
 the Pro_Cee'd's looks in GT-Line trim

This particular car shows off Kia's GT-Line trim, which adds Porsche-aping quad-LED running lights and various other styling cues, which add a sporty silhouette to the car. Think of it as Kia's answer to Audi S-Line, or Ford's Zetec S brand.

In Pictures: Gumball 3000 Returns To Edinburgh 2016

On May Day weekend, the Gumball 3000 rally once again brought Edinburgh to a standstill. The notorious cross-continent epic runs this year from Dublin to Bucharest, and Edinburgh just so happened to be the third city stop for the drivers on their way to Romania.

Above: the waiting crowds took to the roofs of nearby restaurants
in search of a better view.
Below: A cavalcade of classics and modern supercars awaited
the Gumballers' arrival.

Over 100 cars made the run from Stranraer ferry terminal to Scotland's historic capital, having shot from Dublin to Belfast on the first day of the rally. Overlooking Waverley and the Old Town, the cartoonish cavalcade were greeted by huge crowds, which their delayed arrival did little to erode.

Above: "Gimme some skin!"
Below: Modern exotics sat alongside pristine classics.

On Sunday evening, McMotors headed to the temporary paddock in the city centre to soak up the atmosphere before heading out to Sighthill to see the first of the cars arrive from the motorway. (Thanks to Charlie for the excellent video!)

Upon reaching the edge of the city, the competitors were in good spirits. flanked by enthusiasts in their own cars, with spotters lining the streets, as they tore through the outskirts of the city bound for Waterloo Place.

A great many people braved the rain to see the cars off on bank holiday Monday.

The next morning, the weather took a turn in a very typical Edinburgh fashion, but this did nothing to dampen the spirits of the gathered spectators and car spotters. Crowds flocked through the grey to Regent Street once again, to see off the rally.

Above / Below: Maximillion Cooper, founder of the Gumball 3000, and his wife, Eve,
travelled in style in their Aston Martin Vanquish. The couple got engaged
whilst visiting Edinburgh at Christmas time, 2013

Following the cars' late arrival, parking was rather cramped, and barriers were removed in order to allow the early birds to depart, meandering around vehicles left at a standstill by later risers among the drivers.

Above: The cars took up the majority of Regent Street and were parked up tight.
Below: Enterprising Shmee150 and his Team 120 were among the first
to arrange a somewhat unorthodox detour around the immobile motors.

Many cars followed in the wake of the ABT RS6 - Gumballers
would much rather stand out than stand still.

Splitters came perilously close to crunching on tarmac as these speed machines crept their way from pavement back to road.

Above: Team 61 very wisely elected to leave the roof up on their Jaguar Project 7. This car
would later partake in a sky-splitting rev-off with a Ferrari F12 TDF on the start line.
Below: Having navigated the makeshift car park, the Gumballers were keen to get on their way.

One by one, the competitors charged from the grid, sleuthing down Waterloo Place to join the ebb and flow of Edinburgh Monday morning traffic, splashing colour and noise amidst the sea of everyday.

Things began to get crowded once more on Waterloo Place.

Rapturous bellows shook the air for the rest of the morning, with the cars pelting south for a brief rendezvous at Manchester's Etihad Stadium, before their evening hault in London.