Susan Taylor

Special offers on limo hire to the Carling Cup Final in Wembley

Cars for Stars is delighted to offer all Birmingham City and Arsenal fans exceptional deals on chauffeur driven limousine hire to this year’s Carling Cup Final in Wembley.

Whether you’re supporting the blues or the gunners come February 27^th, Cars for Stars are able to provide you with luxurious chauffeur driven limo hire at a low cost rate so you can arrive in style and enjoy the occasion to the full.

All of the limos provided by Cars for Stars come complete with a suited chauffeur who will go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure your trip to Wembley is nothing short of perfect. Your chauffeur will arrange everything, from organising parking, plotting your route, scheduling comfort breaks, and even lining up your favourite tracks on your in-car sound system.

With a wide range of state of the art cars to choose form, including the latest vehicles from leading brands such as Rolls Royce and Bentley, to giant hummer limousines with onboard karaoke systems, to party buses with neon light up dance floors and strobe lighting, you won’t find a larger choice of limousines with any other operator.

Cars for Stars operates throughout the UK so regardless of whether you’re travelling from Scotland, Manchester, Wolverhampton, Cardiff, Worcester, Surrey, Essex or Birmingham, they can offer you the benefit of their expert limo hire service.

Get in touch with Cars for Stars now for more information on cheap limo hire to Wembley for the Carling Cup Final.

Irish car hire franchise wins customer service award

Every year car hire company Thrifty Car and Van Rentals honours one franchise with a coveted customer service award for their performance over the last 12 months. This year, the accolade was awarded to the Irish franchise who have excelled in customer service over the last 12 months.

Thrifty Car and Van Rentals analysed the feedback from hundreds of car hire customers from franchises across the company to find the best performing region. The Irish franchise came out on top having “set the standard” in terms of superior customer service practice within the Dollar Rentals company.

The Irish branch of Dollar Car and Van Rentals were praised for maintaining outstanding levels of customer care, despite the current economic climate which has been a challenge for the car hire industry as a whole. But despite the problems faced by the industry which included a sharp drop in customer numbers, the Irish franchise ensured standard of customer service didn’t slip.

Accepting the award on behalf of the Thrifty Car and Van Rentals team, Chief Executive Colm Menton praised his staff for the award who worked hard to ensure an excellent standard of customer care across all Thrifty Car hire locations in Ireland.

Jaguar marks its 75th anniversary by releasing a new app

Luxury car maker Jaguar are planning to mark their 75^th anniversary with the unveiling of a brand new app which charts the iconic brand’s rise to fame.

The latest Jaguar model, the C-X75, features heavily in the new application launched by Jaguar. The new model was debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show recently and caused quite a stir amongst the visitors.

The new app has been described as a “Jaguar Encyclopaedia” as it looks back over the luxury car brands history, the cars which helped make the brand the icon it is today, and how Jaguar has developed over the years, and also its plans for the future.

With archive images, videos and interviews with the people behind the cars, the Jaguar app is a must for any car enthusiast. Those of you who are excited at the prospect of the new C-X75, the application offers exclusive videos of the new car, and in-depth interviews with the people behind the concept.

The app, which can be viewed on iPhones and iPads, can be downloaded for free online.

Jaguar also organised a procession of 75 Jaguars to drive en-convoy from Coventry Transport Museum to Goodwood Revival, via London’s Mayfair Hotel, as part of the 75^th anniversary celebrations. Jaguar models from the vintage vehicles dating back to the 30’s, to the latest models and everything in between took part in the celebratory procession.

Porsche to introduce a hybrid version of each of their models

The development chief at Porsche has revealed the luxury car maker’s plans to offer a hybrid version of each of the company’s models.

The announcement comes after the renowned car manufacturer revealed its first ever eco-friendly vehicle, the Porsche Cayenne Hybrid, earlier this year. It’s believed the Porsche Panamera Hybrid will join the Cayenne and will be available for sale sometime next year, after which a 918 Spyder hybrid model is planned for 3-4 years time.

The green Panamera will have full electric driving ability and will provide up to 6km of fuel-free driving, according the development officer at Porsche, Wolfgang Duerheimer.

Porsche’s commitment to offering drivers a hybrid version of each of their models extends as far as their most sporty vehicles. In the future, the luxury car maker plans to offer both its Boxster and 911 models with hybrid engines.

The move to introduce more eco-cars comes after the European Union issued Porsche with a fleet emission restriction with a reduced target of emissions which must to be achieved by 2015. In order to meet the emissions target set by the EU, Porsche have had to come up with new ways to create their world renowned vehicles, in a more environmentally friendly way.

In some cases Porsche will have to reduce the size of the engines used in some of their vehicles, however the company stress that this will not be done to detriment car’s performance, as this is Porsche’s main priority.

The 2011 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport car is revealed

With a starting price of $2.5 million, a top speed of 268mph, and boasting 1.200bhp, the new 2011 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport is most definitely not for the faint hearted.

The brand new offering from Bugatti was unveiled for the first time at the prestigious motor show, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in the US this summer. The new 2011 model replaces the older version, the 2005 Veyron, and aims to offer its customers a driving experience like no other.

It’s not surprising to learn that this super car has already broken records, namely the Guinness land speed record. With Bugatti test driver Pierre-Henri Raphanal behind the wheel, the 2011 Veyron succeeded in topping the land speed record back in July of this year by clocking up an impressive 267.81mph which is a new world record for a production car.

This super-charged sports car is equipped with 4 fuel pumps and is capable of achieving 0-62mph n 2.5 seconds and 0-189mph in an eye-watering 14.6 seconds; it’s no wonder it’s been named by hit BBC motoring show Top Gear as their Car of the Decade (2000-2009).

Bugatti plans to make between 30-40 of the new 2011 model super cars, and with prices ranging from $2.5 million to $3 million, it’s surely worth it for the fastest production car on the planet?!

Driver sheds the pounds to fit in new sports car

After shelling out £14,000 on her dream sports car, Rebecca Kelly was gutted when a few weeks into the ownership of her new car, she discovered she could no longer fit in it.

Tipping the scales at 20 stone, 37-year-old Rebecca was devastated when she failed to get her seatbelt to close across her. The call centre worker headed to Halfords to invest a in a seat belt extender to remedy the problem, but was told this would be illegal.

With a shiny Daihatsu Copen convertible sitting on her drive and no way of getting behind the wheel, Rebecca decided something drastic had to done.

In a desperate bid to get back behind the wheel, Rebecca ditched the kebabs, chocolate, alcohol and chips and headed straight to Weight Watchers to start a low calorie diet. After sticking to the new healthy lifestyle and pounding the treadmill several times a week for 18 months, car lover Rebecca succeeded in losing 9 stone in weight and slimming down to a size 12.

Thrilled with her new slim-line frame, Rebecca wasted no time in getting back behind the wheel of her red sports car. Her speedy red Daihatsu can achieve 0-62mph in 9.5 seconds and has a retractable hard top roof which comes down in just over 20 seconds and boasts alloy wheels and air conditioning.

Thanks to her great new look, Rebecca from Neath in South Wales now says she’s drawing as many admiring glances as her shiny sports car.

The Chauffeur-Lite service is a growing trend in Orange County

The new Chauffeur-Lite service is proving a big hit with by social customers and business clientele in Orange County in the US.

The yourcarourdriver.com service offers private hire customers in the South California area the opportunity to acquire chauffeur driven transportation at a fraction of the cost. The service works in much the same way as a taxi, whereby on-call chauffeurs await a call and travel to customer’s collection point, but they are then chauffeured in their own vehicle as opposed to a limo owned by the company.

The practice enables yourcarourdriver.com to offer ultra low rates for chauffeur hire services with rates starting from $30 per hour for a driver, although a minimum hire period of 3 hours does apply on most nights.

The chauffeur programme is certainly proving popular with the people of Orange County as yourcarourdriver.com has reportedly doubled its revenue in the last 12 months. Chauffeur-Lite offers a more affordable private hire option compared to the traditional chauffeur and limo hire package which is particularly appealing during this time of economic uncertainty.

Yourcarourdriver.com also believes a tightening on drink drive laws have also a knock-on effect on their business as fewer people are tempted to risk driving after a glass or two of wine, and so instead, opt for the sensible option of a chauffeur on their nights out.

Ferrari recall their 458 Italia model due to fire hazard

World renowned car manufacturer Ferrari has been forced to recall its new Italia 458 model due a fire hazard issue.

Vehicles made from the end of July 2010 have been taken back to the factory after 5 of these supercars were reported to have burst into flame across the world. One incident was reported in China, another in Switzerland, the USA, and another in Paris where luckily a passer-by was able to dose down the flames with a fire extinguisher before the blaze got out of hand.

In total some 1,248 Ferrari vehicles are being recalled as part of the safety measures. However the owners shouldn’t have to wait too long to get their impressive sports cars back as Ferrari believe they have identified the problem.

The luxury car manufacturer believes the problem has arisen as a result of glue which is used to attach the wheel arch lining. This adhesive is thought to become flammable as a result of the heat which is generated from the exhaust. The fires have typically occurred after the car has been driven at high speeds for a long period of time.

The Ferrari cars, which have a starting price of £170,000, are being recalled so Ferrari can remedy the problem the quickly as possible. Ferrari has announced that those customers whose vehicles caught on fire will be presented with a brand new vehicle.

Exceptional 1950’s Jaguar sports car to go under the hammer

A Jaguar XK150 sports car has been lovingly restored backs to its former glory after spending the majority of its life in a state of disrepair.

Bought in 1959 by an American, the owner wanted to take his new ride for a spin. However, his fun with his flash new motor was short lived as he turned the can over after coming to the end of its first trip out on the open road. The driver walked away from the accident unharmed, but the same couldn’t be said for the Jag.

The rare sports car, of which only 724 of its kind were sold in the States in the 1950’s, exchanged hands several times during its lifetime, without being repaired. When a duo from Yorkshire heard about the vehicle, and its interesting past, they decided they would be the ones to finally restore it.

Ray Miles and his step-son Mike Hills run their own car restoration business in Yorkshire. They had the sports car shipped over from the US, arriving in a variety boxes and crates 10 years ago.

After painstakingly restoring every detail of the exceptional car, a decade later and you’d never guess it had spent the last 50 years in a dilapidated state.

With reconditioned bodywork, and a luxurious interior designed to replicate the style of the 50’s, this 1959 Jaguar has never looked better.

Due to its unfortunate first road trip, the Jag has just 500 miles on the clock, making it something of a rarity in the motoring world. This also means that the Hills and Miles team could expect their restored Jaguar to fetch upward of £250,000 when it’s finally sold.

£1 million bill for chauffeur driven limos for Scottish Government

It’s been revealed that the Scottish Government spent £1 million on chauffeur driven limos for ministerial officials over the last 12 months.

Breaking down the figure, £929,899 was the total amount spent on chauffeur cars in the last year, with a further £65,759 being spent on private hire vehicles.

A fleet of 25 official cars are used to chauffeur around Scottish government ministers while on official business. However the cost of maintaining this fleet of chauffeur cars has risen dramatically in the last few years which may be contributing to the large bill. In the last 12 months the running costs and staff bill needed to maintain the fleet has risen by £21,000.

A Labour MP has called the figure “astonishing” and is asking why during a time of severe cut backs to government spending, Scottish officials are not forsaking the luxury of chauffeur driven car to help save money.

However the Scottish Government have released a statement to defend the £1 million bill for chauffeur cars saying the amount spent on ministerial travel has actually decreased by a £1 million with the figure coming down from £5.9 million to £4.9 million between 2009-2010. It was also added that spending on private hire vehicles, which is only used as “last resort” has also been significantly reduced.

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