BL R-series engine BL R-series engine The R series is a line of petrol engines introduced by British Leyland in 1983 for the then-new Austin Maestro. It was only produced in one capacity—1.6 litres. The engine was essentially a lightly modified version of the E-series unit found in the Maxi and Allegro. The main differences over the older engine are to the sump and gearbox mounting flange, which were adapted to accept a traditional "end-on" transmission unit which had been bought from Volkswagen in place of the traditional BMC transmission-in-sump arrangement. The R series was mainly a stop gap, and had a very
Performance Car (magazine) Performance Car (magazine) Performance Car, commonly abbreviated to PC, was an automobile magazine from the United Kingdom published by EMAP between October 1983 and July 1998. As suggested by the title, the magazine focussed on the high performance sector of the car market, from hot hatches through to supercars. A magazine of the same name was launched in 2008. AGB Business Publications Limited launched "Performance Car" in October 1983. It replaced "Hot Car" magazine, a magazine that focussed on the tuned & modified car scene. The change of name came about due to a slight shift of focus to manufacturer-built