2010

14 November 2010: Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix.

13-14 November 2010, .au: Bendigo National Swap Meet [www].

11-14 November 2010: The MPH Show (ii), NEC, Birmingham [www].

7 November 2010: Brazilian F1 Grand Prix.

7 November 2010: London to Brighton Veteran Car Run [www], with associated events from Friday the 5th.

4-7 November 2010: The MPH Show (i), Earls Court, London [www].

2 November (Tues) 2010: Melbourne Cup Day.

24 October 2010: Korean F1 Grand Prix.

22-24 October 2010: Australian International Concours d'Elegance and Classic Motor Show, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Vic., .au [www].

14-24 October 2010: Australian International Motor Show (AIMS), Sydney (provisional).

10 October 2010: Japanese F1 Grand Prix.

2-17 October 2010: Paris Motor Show [www] (press 30th Sept. and 1 Oct.). Held every two years.

26 September 2010: Singapore F1 Grand Prix.

17-19 September 2010: Goodwood Revival [www].

12 September 2010: Italian F1 Grand Prix.

3-5 September 2010: National 4x4 Show, Melbourne Showgrounds [www].

3-4 September 2010 (Fri-Sat), .au: Birdsville Races -- [www][09].

2-5 September 2010: 36th UK (inter-) National MicroCar Rally, Malvern [www], and "the start of a challenging 7-day driving event based in Wales" for pre-war <1000cc, post-war to 1975 ≤700cc.

29 August 2010: Belgian F1 Grand Prix.

28-30 August 2010: LandRover max Show, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, uk [www] (was 16-18 July.)

15 August 2010 (Sun): Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance [www].

13 August 2010: The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering Friday [www], and 11:00am-4:00pm Bonhams & Butterfields Auction.

1 August 2010: Hungarian F1 Grand Prix.

25 July 2010: German F1 Grand Prix.

23-25 July 2010: Silverstone Classic [www].

21-25 July 2010: The War and Peace Show, The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, Kent, uk [www].

17-18 July 2010: Pageant of Power, Cholmondeley Castle, Cheshire, .uk [www], historic and contemporary automotive power, on Land, Sea or Air.

16-18 July 2010: LRM's LandRover max Show, Newark, uk [www]. Moved to 28-30 Aug..

16-18 July 2010: LRO's Billing LandRover Show, Northamptonshire, uk [www].

11 July 2010: Start of the Mongolian Charity Car Rally 2010 -- [www].

11 July 2010: British F1 Grand Prix.

2-4 July 2010: 18th Goodwood Festival of Speed Viva Veloce! (The Passion for Speed) [www].

27 June 2010: European F1 Grand Prix (Valencia).

27 June 2010, Sunday: Race Day, Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Colorado Springs, usa [www], including a new electric class.

26-27 June 2010: Tankfest, the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset, uk.

14 June (Mon) 2010: Queen's Birthday Long Weekend (Vic., .au).

13 June 2010: Canadian F1 Grand Prix.

12-13 June 2010: Le Mans 24 Hour Race [www].

30 May 2010: Turkish F1 Grand Prix.

30 May 2010 (Sun): Indianapolis 500 [www].

22 May 2010 Bonham's auction of Aston Martin and Lagonda motor cars and related automobilia, at AM works service, Newport Pagnell [www], including 'VMF 65' an ex-works 1950 Aston Martin DB2 team car, and a 1987 Aston Martin Zagato V8.

16 May 2010: Monaco F1 Grand Prix.

15-16 May 2010 (Sat-Sun): MotorMart Autojumble and also Old Sodbury's Land Rover Sortout, Beaulieu [www].

9 May 2010: Spanish F1 Grand Prix.

30 April 2010: Bonhams auction Les Grandes Marques a Monaco [www], including a 1950 Ferrari 166/195S chassis #051S.

25 April 2010, .uk: Drive It Day for classic vehicles -- FBHVC [www].

25 April (Sun) 2010: Anzac Day.

23-25 April 2010: Concorso d'Eleganza, Villa d'Este, Lake Como [www].

18 April 2010: Chinese F1 Grand Prix.

15-18 April 2010: Top Marques Monaco [www].

13-15 April 2010: Commercial Vehicle Operator Show, NEC, Birmingham, .uk [www]['09].

8-11 April 2010: The Man from Snowy River Bush Festival, Corryong, Vic., .au [www].

4 April 2010: Malaysian F1 Grand Prix.

2-11 April 2010: New York Auto Show [www] (press 31/3 and 1/4, trade 1/4).

2 April (Good Friday) - 5 April (Mon) 2010: Easter.

28 March 2010 (Sun): Australian F1 Grand Prix, Melbourne, Vic. [www].

19-21 March 2010: Phillip Island Classic, Vic., .au [www].

19-21 March 2010: National 4x4 Show, Brisbane, Qld, .au [www].

14 March 2010: 4WD Swap Meet (org. Dandenong Ranges 4WD Club) 8am-2pm, Yarra Glen Showgrounds, Vic., .au (Melways 275 A2) [www].

14 March 2010: Bahrain F1 Grand Prix [www].

Teams: [BMW-Sauber], [Ferrari], [Force India], [HRT], [Lotus F1], [McLaren Mercedes], [Mercedes GP], [Red Bull], [Renault], [Toro Rosso], [Virgin], [Williams].

13-14 March 2010, .au: The Pajero Challenge, Vic., .au -- [www][3/'10].

12-14 March 2010: Race Retro, Historic Motorsport Show, Stoneleigh Park, Coventry, .uk [www].

8-14 March 2010: 31st Corowa Swim In (military vehicles), the year of the Jeep, Corowa, Vic., .au [www], [www].

8 March 2010: If you had €298,000 (+VAT) you could have bought an Audi R8 LMS GT3 race sports car, except that 2010 production "is already sold out" -- Audi.

8 March 2010 .au: "Flood waters inundate Queensland ..." -- [ABC][8/3], [ABC][9/3].

8 March (Mon) 2010: Labour Day (Vic., .au).

6-7 March 2010: Scoresby Steamfest, 1200 Ferntree Gully Rd., Scoresby, Vic., .au [www].

5-8 March 2010: 34th Port Fairy Folk Festival, Vic., .au [www].

4-14 March 2010: 80th Geneva Motor Show (Salon de l'Auto Geneve) [www].

Including Aston Martin production 4-door Rapide [www], & Cygnet (~Toyota iQ!) [www]; Audi new A1 [www], RS5 4.2 l V8 [www]; Chrysler cossied up to Lancia (of Fiat) [www]; Citroen DS3 racer, DS4 high rider concept, and DS5 (that's new 'DS' not 1970's DS); Ferrari 599 HY-KERS hybrid(!) concept [www]; Fiat some new engines [www]; Ford C-MAX range [www]; Hyundai i-Flow 4-door coupe concept [www]; Jaguar supercharged XKR coupe 'special edition' [www]; Kia new Sportage [www] [www]; Koenigsegg new Agera [www]; Lotus Evora 414E series-hybrid concept [www]; Mazda new Mazda5 ('Premacy' in .jp) [www]; Mercedes F800 4-door coupe hybrid concept (80kW+10kWh+220kW petrol V6) & also a fuel-cell variant [www]; Mitsubishi new ASX Compact Crossover [www]; Nissan Juke small optional-4wd SUV for sale later 2010 [www] [www], new global compact car (~Micra) & convertible 370Z [www]; Pagani [www]; Peugeot SR1 concept coupe hybrid [www], and '5 By Peugeot' concept hybrid 4-door (?407+→508?) [www]; Porsche 911 (ver.'997') Turbo S [www] [www], 918 Spyder V8+hybrid concept [www], 911 GT3 R hybrid long distance racer with an electric flywheel energy store [www], & replacement Cayenne 4x4; Renault Wind(!) for sale 2010 [www]; Tata Nano EV electric [www], [www]; Toyota Lexus CT 200h hybrid [www]; Vauxhall (/Opel) replacement Meriva for sale 2010 [www][2/'10] [www], & Flextreme GT/E concept series-hybrid (120kW+16kWh+53kW petrol) [www], [www]; Volvo new S60 [www][2/'10]; VW Polo GTI, CrossPolo & CrossGolf [www][3/'10].
Quite a lot of new stuff after two very hard years for car makers, and with the global financial crisis over, maybe?

4 March 2010: "The Renault F1 Team today confirmed a cooperation agreement that will see branding from Lada ..." -- [www]. No, not the 1st April.

March 2010 .uk: "OLEV Plug-in Car Grant. A grant to reduce the cost of eligible electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen cars by 25% (to a maximum of £5,000) will be available to consumers and business buyers from Jan. 2011 and will run until 2014. ..." -- [www].

3 March 2010: The FIA released a revised entry list of 12 teams for the 2010 F1 World Championship: McLaren (Mercedes), Mercedes Benz GP, Red Bull Racing (Renault), Ferrari, Williams (Cosworth), Renault, Force India (Mercedes), Scuderia Toro Rosso (Ferrari), Lotus (Cosworth), HRT F1 Team (Cosworth), BMW Sauber (Ferrari!), Virgin (Cosworth) -- [www]. 'HRT' was 'Campos'. The USF1 team withdrew -- [www].

1 March 2010, outback rain .au: "... The heaviest daily rainfall totals recorded to 9am Monday [1st] include Birdsville Airport 168mm ..." -- [BOM]. 2/3/10: And flooding in SE Queensland, e.g., [ABC].

27 February 2010: Heavy rain in Alice Springs made the Todd River flow -- [BOM].

26 February 2010: Terminal gate prices: ULP Sydney $1.20, Melb. $1.19, Perth $1.21; diesel Sydney $1.16, Melb. $1.15, Perth $1.17 -- AIP [www]. Hardly a noticeable fuel price cycle in Melb. over the last couple of weeks with ULP at a fairly steady $1.20-$1.22/l.
("UK average petrol prices have stagnated at around 112p a litre for a month ..." (about au$1.90) -- the AA [www][17/2].)

24 February 2010: GM announced that "Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd. (Tengzhong) was unable to complete the acquisition of Hummer. As a result, GM will begin the orderly wind-down of the Hummer operations. ..." -- [www].

23 February 2010: Spyker announced that it had finalised its deal to buy Saab from GM -- [www].

21 February 2010 (Sun): Victorian 4WD Show, Wandin, Vic., .au [www].

19-21 February 2010 (Fri-Sun): Trucks in Action (truck show) Lardner Park, Warragul, Vic., .au [www].

19 February 2010 .uk: "... Toyota AYGO, iQ, Yaris, Auris, Corolla, Verso, Avensis, Peugeot 107, Citroen C1. These vehicles can't be used for your [uk] practical driving test as they are subject to a safety notice ..." -- [www][19/2/'10].

18 February 2010 .au: Defense Minister Greg Combet announced that the "Australian Defence Force (ADF) has taken delivery of eleven Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen vehicles..." -- [www][#22/10]. So, 1189 more to come.
And, "... trials for competing medium to heavy weight trucks for the [.au] Army had been completed. ... Thales' Bushmaster Utility, MAN Military Vehicle Systems [.au]'s HX vehicle series, and Mercedes-Benz ... Zetros & Actros vehicle series [are] the contenders to proceed to the next stage..." -- [www][#23/10], Thales [www], Man [www].

16 February 2010 .au: "... new vehicle market ... The [.au] National Average Carbon Emission (NACE) figure for 2009 is 218.5 grams of CO2 per kilometre [1.8% less than 2008] ... [Includes] all new passenger cars, SUVs and light commercial utes, vans and buses (upto 3.5 tonne) ..." -- FCAI [www]. Also see 27 Jan. below.

16 February 2010, .au: Top-Gear on Channel Nine TV, Tuesdays at 7.30pm (was SBS previously) -- record it and fast forward the ads.

13 February 2010: The "all new generation 7" Nissan Patrol 4x4 came out, with 4-wheel independent suspension, and a 5.6-litre V8 -- so Abu Dhabi was a fitting setting -- [www].

12-21 February 2010: Chicago Auto Show (press 10 & 11) [www].

12 February 2010: Lotus's F1 'T127' launched, in classic green and gold [www] & [BBC] (drivers Heikki Kovalainen & Jarno Trulli). Lotus was last in F1 in 1994.
Lotus, Williams and Virgin are using Cosworth CA2010 V8 engines in 2010.

10 February 2010: Red Bull's F1 'RB6' launched -- [www] (drivers: Sebastian Vettel & Mark Webber).

9 February 2010: Force India's F1 'VJM03' online -- [www] (drivers Vitantonio (Tonio) Liuzzi & Adrian Sutil).

9 February 2010, .au: Toyota issued a recall of the current model Toyota Prius, sold in .au from July 2009, to fix an ABS braking problem -- PRA #: 2010/11412 [www], [ABC]. Also globally -- [BBC].  Toyota [www][9/2].

9 February 2010: "Honda has expanded a ... recall of certain 2001 and 2002 model-year vehicles to replace the driver's airbag inflator in an additional 378,758 vehicles in the U.S. ... may deploy with too much pressure, which can cause the inflator casing to rupture ..." -- [www].

4 February 2010: Stories of brake problems on the Toyota Prius added to Toyota's woes, e.g., BBC [www][4/2], Toyota [www][4/2]. Also see 9 Feb. above.

2 February 2010: BMW and Peugeot "signed an agreement on further development of 4-cylinder petrol engine ... Jan 27 ..." -- [www].

2 February 2010: The FIA and teams agreed to modify the points scheme for F1 1: 25pts, 2: 18pts, 3: 15pts, 4: 12pts, 5: 10pts, 6: 8pts, 7: 6pts, 8: 4pts, 9: 2pts, 10: 1pt, the steps being 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 7 -- [www]. (There is no refuelling in 2010.)
1 February 2010: New F1 cars shown for BMW Sauber 'C29' [www] (drivers Kamui Kobayashi & Pedro de la Rosa). Renault 'R30' [www] (drivers Robert Kubica & Vitaly Petrov). Toro Rosso 'STR5' [www] (drivers Sebastien Buemi & Jaime Alguersuari). Williams 'FW32' [www] (drivers Rubens Barrichello & Nico Hulkenberg). And, 3/2/'10, Virgin 'VR-01' [www] (drivers Timo Glock & Lucas di Grassi).

1 February 2010: "Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co said on Monday that it has agreed with General Motors to push back the deadline its purchase of the Hummer brand by a month to the end of February. ..." -- C.D. [www]. (See 24 Feb. above.)

29 January 2010: McLaren's 2010 F1 car launched, the 'MP4-25' -- [www]. 2010 drivers: Jenson Button, and Lewis Hamilton.
28 January 2010: Ferrari's 2010 F1 car launched, the 'F10' -- [www]. 2010 drivers: Fernando Alonso, and Felipe Massa.

28 January 2010: Euro NCAP's top five safest cars of 2009 were 1. VW Golf VI, 2. Honda Insight, 3. Toyota Prius, 4. Hyundai i20, =5. Toyota Avensis, =5. Volvo XC60, =5. Opel/Vauxhall Astra -- [www]. Note that the ratings include pedestrian protection as a factor.

27 January 2010 .eu: Average CO2 emissions of new cars sold in Europe fell 3.3% in 2008, v. 2007, to 153.5 gm CO2/km -- EU [www], [pdf]. Also see 16 Feb. above.

27 January 2010 .au: "... Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says the Government will have a 5% [CO2] reduction target with no conditions applying. Senator Wong says Australia will only lift its target to 15% or 25% if countries like China, India and the United States agree to verifiable reductions. ..." -- [ABC].

27 January 2010: US army.mil carried a progress report on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), although "light" means ~7 tons, IEDs ⇒ armour ⇒ weight ⇒ Hummer too small. BAE-Navistar, General Tactical Vehicles, and Lockheed-BAE are building JLTV prototypes for testing which includes blowing some of them up. [www].

26 January 2010: "Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., ... temporarily suspend sales of eight models involved in the recall for sticking accelerator pedal ... 2009-2010 RAV4, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2005-2010 Avalon, certain 2007-2010 Camry, 2010 Highlander, 2007-2010 Tundra, 2008-2010 Sequoia  [this is] separate from the on-going recall of Toyota and Lexus vehicles to reduce the risk of pedal entrapment by incorrect or out of place accessory floor mats. ..." -- TMS [www].
And "... recall of vehicles in the US, Europe and China ..." -- [BBC][28/1].

26 January 2010: "General Motors and Spyker Cars NV today confirmed that they have reached a binding agreement on the purchase of Saab Automobile AB. ... Spyker intends to form a new company, Saab Spyker Automobiles ... -- [www].  "... for a consideration of us$74 million ... subject to the execution of a €400 million loan agreement between Saab and the [EIB] ... GM will retain redeemable preference shares of us$326 million. ... less than 1% of the voting right ..." -- pdf@[www].
(More business details from Spyker -- [www][1/2/'10]. The EC approved Sweden's guarantee re the EIB loan -- [www][8/2/'10]. Deal finalized -- see 23 Feb.)

26 January (Tues) 2010: Australia Day [www],
e.g., RACV Australia Day Picnic and Federation Vehicle Display, Kings Domain Gardens, Melb., Vic., 10am-4pm.

25 January 2010: The 2010 Mercedes GP Petronas F1 car, the 'W01', "was presented at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart" with drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, and team management Ross Brawn, Nick Fry and Norbert Haug in attendance -- [www].

25 January 2010: "... Toyota and ... mining company [Orocubre Ltd., .au] are teaming up to develop a large lithium mine in Argentina..." -- ABC [www]. Hybrids & plugins ⇒batteries ⇒lithium.

23 January 2010: Bonham's Retromobile auction, Paris, including a 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza, and a 1926-27 1.5-litre supercharged straight-eight Talbot-Darracq (on a E. Plate 1931 chassis) -- [www]. A 1935 Hispano-Suiza T56 Torpedo sold for €475,000.

23 January 2010: "Tropical Cyclone Olga has formed in the Coral Sea overnight and is currently moving westward towards the [Qld] coast while intensifying ..." -- [BOM][23/1].

21 January 2010: GM, which nearly sold Opel/Vauxhall in '09 but didn't, "announced today the intent to wind down its manufacturing plant in Antwerp, Belgium in the course of 2010." -- [www], [www].

21 January 2010: "Tropical Cyclone Magda is expected to intensify further as it approaches the Kimberley coast [WA], ... risk of very destructive winds with gusts to 220km/h near the cyclone centre on Friday, by which time the cyclone should be close to the coast, most likely between Kuri Bay and Cape Leveque. ..." -- [BOM][21/1]. (Also ex-Tropical Cyclone Neville was about 215km ENE of Cooktown.)

20 January 2010: Mini [www] (BMW) released pictures of the not so  mini Mini Countryman, with 4x4 option (All4), to go on sale Sept. uk, 2011 .au. ([www][21/1].)

18 January 2010: "Drivers over 70 are no more likely to cause crashes than any other driver, and are considerably safer than younger drivers, according to a report published today by the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists [uk]). ... Just 8% of drivers are over 70 and they are involved in around 4% of injury crashes; but of the 15% of drivers who are in their teens and 20s, 34% are involved in injury crashes ..." -- AIM [www].

16 January 2010: Results of the 2010 Dakar [www] --

cars: Carlos Sainz & Lucas Cruz (VW) (VW 1-2-3); trucks: Vladimir Chagin, Sergey Savostin & Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz); bikes: Cyril Despres (KTM); quads: Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) [www][16/1/'10].

16 January 2010: "... More than 50 millimetres [2"] of rain fell in the Uluru Kata-Tjuta Park in Central Australia ..." -- ABC [www][16/1].  "... a remarkable 52.4mm dumped over the area - that's a third of last year's total rainfall. ..." -- Parks [www][12/1]. (Uluru aka Ayres Rock).

16-24 January 2010: North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) Detroit [www].

(Jan. 11-12, press; Jan. 13-14, industry; Jan. 15, charity preview; Jan. 16-24, public show.) Including many electric concepts [www]; Audi A8, and e-tron concept [www]; BMW revised Z4 the "sDrive35is"(!) [www]; Ford new Focus [www], new Fiesta; GM Buick Regal GS AWD "show car" [www], Cadillac XTS concept [www] [www] & 2011 CTS-V Coupe [www] 2011 Acadia Denali SUV [www]; Honda 2011 CR-Z sports coupe hybrid [www]; Hyundai Blue-Will plug-in hybrid concept with "thermal generator" claiming 2.35 l/100km[*] (HEV) & 50mpg(US) on fuel [www]; Mercedes E-Class Cabriolet [www]; Toyota FT-CH mini hybrid concept [www] [www]; VW (new) "Compact Coupe" (NCC) hybrid concept 110kW 1.4-litre + 20kW electric + 1.1kWh claims 4.2 l/100km (98gm CO2/km) [www][1/2010].  (And Ford chief executive Alan Mulally seemed to spell out the likely demise of the Australian designed and built Ford Falcon when the current model ends ~2015.)
[*] which, depending how hybrids are rated, could be X-prize territory, 120mpg(Imp), 100mpg(US) -- [www] & see 7 April 2009.

14-24 January 2010: European Motor Show, Brussels [www].

14-17 January 2010: Autosport International 2010, NEC, Birmingham, UK [www]. NB. The first 2 days are "trade" only.

5 January 2010, .au: "Australia's annual mean temperature for 2009 was 0.9°C above the 1961-90 avg., making it the nation's 2nd warmest year since high-quality records began in 1910. High temperatures were especially notable in the S.E. during the 2nd half of the year, with Australia, Victoria, South Australia and NSW all recording their warmest July-December periods on record. ... [and] warmest decade on record, with a decadal mean temp. anomaly of +0.48°C (above the 1961-90 avg.)." -- [BOM].

5 January 2010, .uk: "Average UK petrol prices have risen above £5/gallon [£1.10/l, au$1.92/l] for the first time in 15 months ..." -- the AA [www] (note, imperial gallon).

5 January 2010: The 'Tribunal de Grande Instance' (.fr) overturned the indefinite ban from F1 of Flavio Briatore, and the 5yr ban on Pat Symonds, because "they are not FIA licence holders and, according to the Court, ... not subject to any FIA rules. ..." -- FIA [www] (see 21 Sept. 2009). Counter appeals and actions expected.

1-17 January 2010, Buenos Aires: Dakar 2010 [www] [en], Argentina and Chile, S. America again, as in 2009. The first special stage was on 2nd Jan.. (See 16 Jan. above.)

Welcome to the 2010s.

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