Parx Super Car show 2012

INK Group presents Parx Super Car Show 2012, organized by the Super Car Club (SCC) in association with Autocar India, took off to a roaring start with excited Mumbaikars vying for a glimpse of the super cars displayed at Mahalaxmi Race Course. The auto beauties then paraded the city’s arterial streets, covering Bandra Worli Sea Link and the Western Express Highway amidst a round of applause from visitors at the show.


Gautam Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director of Raymond Ltd. and Founding Chairman of the SCC led the entourage of supercars. Trophies were handed over to the most desirable cars at the end of the show.

Valentino Balboni, former test-driver from Lamborghini was one of the guests present at the event.

The first-of-its-kind series of events in India, the Parx Super Car Show was first conceptualized and organized in April 2009 to enable auto enthusiasts and general public to view some of India’s best super cars, including multiple Ferrari 458 Italias , three Lamborghini Aventadors, Aston Martins, Numerous Porsches, the Ariel Atom, Bentleys, Rolls Royce’s, BMWs, Mercedes AMGs amongst others

Lexus launch in India confirmed

Toyota has officially confirmed that it will introduce the Lexus brand in India by 2013. The Japanese carmaker has been evaluating the feasibility of its luxury brand in India for several years now and has finally decided to go ahead with the launch. “We have been watching India with keen interest and we are happy to announce that we will bring Lexus to India in 2013” confirmed Yukitoshi Funo, executive vice-president of Toyota Motor Corporation.

The Lexus range will be sold through dedicated dealerships, though several Toyota dealers are likely to take up the franchise to take advantage of their service set up that requires common equipment for both brands. However, Toyota will take a very cautious and diligent approach to appointing dealerships. “We would rather have a few, quality dealerships than a large number of mediocre outlets” said Funo who also emphasised that he wanted to differentiate Lexus from its German rivals. Last month Kazuo Ohara, who oversees the Lexus brand globally, made a visit to India and gave the green light after intense market research, which included studying the dealer and service outlets of other brands.

Toyota plans to follow a top-down strategy and the initial plan is to introduce the LS saloon and RX SUV, both premium luxury models. This is likely to be followed by the GS executive luxury saloon which competes directly with the E-class and 5-series.

The company will initially bring the Lexus range as imports or completely built-up (CBU) units to test the market before considering local assembly. “We need consider local production to compete with the others in the market, but this is still being studied,” said Funo. It is likely that the compact IS models will be locally assembled in time.

The initial feedback and market studies for the Lexus brand have been very encouraging. “The Indian consumers’ awareness of Lexus is quite surprising and much more than we anticipated,” said Funo. However, the challenge will be to price the cars competitively, especially since Lexus will initially import cars and will be at a cost disadvantage in comparison to rival luxury brands that locally assemble and hence pay lower duty. Also, there is no diesel engine in the Lexus range which could be another disadvantage. However, Lexus will introduce its hybrid technology, which could click with customers looking for the ultimate in refinement.

Ariel HT5

Here are some scans and pics from Mark Frei, who imported the only Ariel HT5 back in 1958 and was competing in trials and enduro Swiss championship.



The Ariel Trials version was developped from the Red Hunter series and was commercialised 1956-59. There were 2 versions available: HT5 with 500ccm and HT3 with 350 ccm. The weight was claimed at 132 kg (dry without liquid). This was clearly