The Bravo is Fiat’s stylish contender against other mid sized European hatchback models such as the Renault Megane, VW Golf and Peugeot 308. The first application of the Bravo name was for the very pretty Bravo/Brava duo from the automaker produced between 1995-2001. The very average Stilo replaced them thereafter and managed to universally underwhelm everyone with its unimpressive ...
‘EYES’ ROVING AROUND TO NAB ROAD OFFENDERS “Dyan, what do you feel about these CCTV cameras installed to catch us motorists?” asked an excited young acquaintance of mine the other day. “Bloody good thing – CCTV surveillance should have been around ten years ago,” I replied. Perhaps he would ...
This month features one of Sri Lanka’s fastest and most powerful luxury saloons, the BMW M5. The first one in Sri Lanka actually, and there’s even a Youtube video of it tearing up the streets of Colombo. Also another very special car, the all new Jaguar XJ is tested, along with the 2011 Volkswagen Golf TSI. From the past featured is the Fiat ...
In the 1960’s Austin Cambridges were as common as Toyota Corollas today. It was a working man’s car. People in Managerial level jobs went to work in them, and their children were dropped off to school in them – and in Sri Lanka at least, lots of children from ‘down ...
Three petrol heads + Three Alfa Romeos = Three Letter Word: ART The 155 was the second mass produced front drive model made by Alfa Romeo (the first was the Alfasud). In many ways it marked the turning point for Alfa – the rust bucket image was well and truly ...
Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd is one of India’s most respected organizations. Since being founded in 1945 as a licensed assembler of the products of Willy’s Motor Co, USA, the company has stayed focused on a particular segment of the vehicle market, the Utility/Sport Utility category, and has diligently developed itself ..
Dyan: You have been in the racing limelight for a while and have made a name for yourself as a gutsy driver surprising many – winning the ‘Drag Race’ for instance… Sajaad [smiles] I have been passionate about cars from my boyhood, taking in everything around my father’s car. Then as I matured I took to studying all about ...
KOHUWELA JUNCTION My friend David Todd [Doyen of Mini Minors & hands on auto-engineer] is an angry man these days: the reason for his ire? The cops who stand-by Kohuwela Roundabout doing sweet nothing or if they do ‘something’ they’ll create a mega traffic block in minutes! “Kohuwela Junction is ...
A more effective way is to spate the 2 functions i.e. to retain the advantages of exhaust –gas turbo charging in quasi-stationary mode and to sue a separate booster to compensate for startup weaknesses in the low-load range. The solution employs a hydrokinetic flow compressor, also known as a centrifugal turbo compressor, specially developed for the low pressure range. ...
T.G.N Gamini lives amidst coconut palms and cars of various shapes and sizes with his charming wife Mae in their five and half acre Coconut land down Sebastian Mawatha in Negombo. He is the son of a bus magnate during an era when public transport was handled by such wealthy businessmen. This lush Coconut estate has been TGN Gamini’s ...
Here at Motor we always keep an eye out for interesting and exotic machinery to hit the roads of our little island and subject to the owners’ approval we always love to share the stories with you, our loyal readers. This explains how we came to be testing the Italian beauty featured on our pages today; none other than ...
DEHIWELA ‘VIBRATES’ WHILST PELIYAGODA ‘SCORES! No silly! Dehiwela has not gone all funky and vibrates to the beat of pop! Many concerned motorists have complained to me that if ever they get caught in a traffic snarl up on the Dehiwela Flyover their cars start to vibrate! “It’s quite scary”, they echo in unison. Come to think of it, ...
The baby of the range comes of age In today’s diverse automotive landscape Land Rover is something of an anomaly. While every other car maker scrambles to stretch its brand over every possible niche that it can think of, Land Rover sticks to essentially one simple philosophy; building the very best off road/sport utility vehicles available. They have stuck ...
DYAN SENEVIRATNE TALKS TO RANJAN ALUWIHARE, AN ARTIST WITH A DIFFERENCE Dyan: Ranjan I have seen some of your work of art displayed at Freddie Alles’s office – your attention to detail is really striking. What drives you to draw cars? Ranjan [smiles] I took to this hobby which has now evolved to a passion from around the age ...
Good food, good company and a rare find on the Plantation Bungalow list, and I couldn’t believe it that the cook’s third generation with such anecdotes to tell… it was truly amazing. Once a home for Scottish planter Sir Francis Whitelaw; Panthiya retains many of the features of the plantation bungalow. It has been fully refurbished recently with the ...
Suddenly there is a great brouhaha in the country regarding the teaching or learning of the English language in the Sri Lankan style called Singlish. Whilst our all knowing political masters were espousing the native brand of Singlish, the glitterati and the airy fairy literary types were busy hosting authors and critics from all over the world to a ...
In my very first review for Motor I wrote “Preconceived notions are a dangerous thing.” and went on to explain how the majority of Sri Lankan car buyers are so bound by their preconceptions that their attitude has practically become “If it’s not a Toyota or Nissan (or Maruti if we’re talking very cheap), I’m not buying it!”. This ...
The RCZ is a true sports car from Peugeot Peugeot has been struggling to find its sporting mojo ever since its overachievement with the legendary 205 GTi of the eighties with it’s still-benchmark handling. The halo effect of this tiny hatchback spread itself over the Peugeot name very much like what the Golf GTi did for VW. The RCZ marks ...
