Jaguar

XKR-S Coupe and Convertible. Only 25 XKR-S Convertibles are scheduled to come to our shores, with an allocation of only 100 Coupes. All have sold out. Fortunately, even though all of the 2012 examples have been sold, this special sports car is a halo vehicle for Jaguar and is scheduled for a three-year production run. Both XKR-S models are propelled by an AJ – Gen III, 5.0-liter DOHC, 32-valve Roots-Type twin-vortex Supercharged V8 engine with spray-guided Direct Injection. The modified V8 engine produces 550 hp in a range from 6,000 to 6,500 rpm, while also generating 502 lb ft of torque from 2,500 to 5,500 rpm. It is positioned longitudinally up front. Both cars sit 10mm lower than the XKR, with increased spring rates fore and aft. Both cars share the same mechanicals and fuel economy. The engine’s driving force […]

After years of plant closures in the region’s car industry (think MG Rover, Peugeot, Jaguar at Brown’s Lane), news this week that JLR will build its new engine plant near Wolverhampton will provide a major boost. This according to the Birmingham News. The new plant will be based at the i54 business park, in the Black Country’s new enterprise zone. As such, the new plant could well qualify for enhanced capital allowances which could see JLR getting tax breaks for big investments in plant and equipment (hats off by the way to AWM for their work in readying the site, local authorities and the Black Country LEP for pulling off Enterprise Zone status, and to the government for backing the investment). But as well as tax breaks, the location makes a lot of sense in other ways. Just off the […]

I was one of those people very disappointed by the Jaguar XJS, the car that replaced the E-Type Jag when it came out in the mid-Seventies. To me, it wasn’t a sports car at all, but more of a boulevard cruiser. Since then, there have been sporting Jaguars, for sure, but no real sports car. The E-Type is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cars of all time, so making something as gorgeous again is an incredibly difficult task. But 50 years on from the creation of the E-Type, Jaguar has come closer than ever to matching its beauty. Its latest model, though, the C-X16, which is being shown in Frankfurt at the moment, has all the styling clues of a Jaguar sports car and especially the E-Type. I love the rear end; the twin exhausts look great, as do […]

Classic and Sports car Magazine reported on the first and last of the fabled E-types recently coming together for the first time ever at Sandown Park in Surrey. The cars in question were 1 VHP, as featured in the October issue of C&SC, the first production right-hand-drive fixed-head coupé commonly known as Chassis Number 1, and HDU 555N, the last S3 V12 to leave the Browns Lane factory. The Sandown event was a collaboration between Jaguar Heritage, Classic Motor Cars of Bridgnorth and Barry Potter Fairs, yet another outing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the landmark British design. More than 4000 visitors to the show also saw other important E-types, including two more from the current issue of C&SC: the famed Lindner-Nocker Lightweight and 1600 RW, the first E-type to be sold. Other highlights included Jag test driver Norman Dewis signing copies […]

UK auto site Autoblog.com has a great, and hilarious, story on what must me one of the oddest match-ups since Oscar and Felix in the Odd Couple. Actually, I guess this predates them, but you get the point! What we have then is a hybrid Jaguar Morris Minor Traveller. Well, to be precise, a Jaguar XK120 Morris Minor Traveller; that is also probably full of fur. The car was created to haul the owner’s dogs. To make matters even worse, they named the car the “Foxbat”. What? What the heck is a “foxbat”? Quoting from the original article, “it was stitched together by chemist and Jaguar enthusiast/butcher Geoffrey Stevens. To give him some credit, it’s claimed the XK was in pretty horrendous condition when he started, so he’s done a decent job making the front end look good, at least.” […]

The speed and elegance of one of motoring’s iconic cars of all time — the sleek Jaguar E-Type — reveals itself as the inspiration for the official poster art of the 2011 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Jaguar is this year’s featured marque and will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the E-Type at the annual gathering of historic race and sports cars to be held August 19-21 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca during the Monterey Classic Car Week. Renowned artist Bill Patterson, who is the official artist of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, says the E-Type is true art on wheels. “Having fallen in love with racing and fast cars in the ’60s, the E-Type represented the perfect blend of design, technology, performance and sex appeal. It still looks fantastic today, 50 years after it was first produced. And to have been […]

You may think of the French as producing the most strikingly streamlined cars of the 1930s, in lyric teardrop bodies hammered out with doses of Italian style and German science. But in his book “Art Deco and British Car Design: The Airline Cars of the 1930s“, Barrie Down reminds us that streamline design was the rage among car buffs everywhere in the ’30s, even in upright, country-house, Evelyn Waugh Britain. Mr. Down reminds us that at the same time streamline cars were going on the market, ocean liners and trains were being streamlined, the better to compete with the nascent airline industry. His book also reminds us that the automobile industry of the time in Britain had yet to embrace mass production. Cars were sold to the few, and the sellers were coachbuilders as much as chassis or engine makers. […]

Hagerty, those fine purveyors of classic car insurance, have put together their list of the top ten British cars that you should buy now – before their values go up even higher. While they are all fantastic, of course, I am not sure I totally agree with the ones they include, nor especially the ones Hagerty left off. Much like the earlier mentioned contest for the “Best British Sport Car”, this is a fun list to fight over more than anything. I don’t know of anyone who would actually use this as their shopping list. And if there were someone with that kind of money, they probably already have that list in their head anyway. So, what do you think of the list? What would you put on that isn’t listed, or take off that is here? 1968-2006 Morgan Plus […]

The company, which only two years ago attempted to seek Government support as global car sales collapsed, said pre-tax profits rose from £15m last year to £1.1bn in the year to March 31. The increase has been driven by a huge rise in Jaguar and Land Rover sales in China and emerging markets, where the middle classes see the British cars as a status symbol. JLR sales rose 51pc in the year from £6.6bn to £9.9bn, which was also aided by new models such as the Jaguar XJ and favourable foreign exchange rates. “Jaguar Land Rover is now a strong, profitable and innovative competitor in the premium car industry,” said Carl-Peter Forster, chief executive of JLR’s parent company Tata Motors. Indian company Tata bought JLR from Ford in 2008, but initially suffered heavy losses as the recessions struck. Read the […]

Land Rovers began rolling off the assembly line Friday at the British brand’s first plant in India since it was bought by the Indian car giant Tata Motors. Parts are still being manufactured at Jaguar Land Rover’s plant in Liverpool, England, but Land Rover Freelander 2 SUV’s are now being built in the western Indian city of Pune. India offers Jaguar great opportunities to build cars for less, Carl-Peter Forster, chief executive officer and managing director of Tata Motors, told reporters. “Clearly, India can be a very attractive sourcing base, an opportunity to source increasingly high quality but lower cost components not only for India operations but for overseas operations,” he said. Forster has already indicated that Indian engineering will also play a role in the design of Jaguar Land Rover engines. Tata bought Jaguar from Ford in 2008 for […]

Close on the heels of Tata Motors-owned Land Rover announcing its plans to develop hybrid cars, the Indian automaker’s another British subsidiary has now decided to toe the line. Jaguar Cars, is now reportedly looking to introduce hybrid versions of its XJ and XF models in 2013-’14, using hardware developed with sister brand Land Rover, as reported by Britain’s Car magazine. The magazine has also stated that the first Jaguar hybrids could be launched soon after the planned 2013 introduction of the first Land Rover hybrid. It was reported very recently that by the end of 2010 Land Rover will be testing the first diesel hybrid prototype called the ‘range_e’ which is being developed using a Range Rover Sport platform. Tests of this vehicle will use the existing 3.0 litre TDV6 diesel engine featuring a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission. The […]

Over thirty rare, unusual and beautiful sports and racing cars manufactured in England will be on display at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Pennsylvania from February 20th through March 14th, 2010. Titled the “Best of Britain,” the show is comprised of cars from individual collectors in the mid-Atlantic states and is intended to illustrate why the adjective “British” is inseparable from the term “sports car.” Cars in the show include a 1935 Triumph Gloria Southern Cross that was once part of the Henry Ford Museum, a 1960 MGA Twin Cam Coupe that raced at Sebring, and a 1966 Aston Martin DB6, one of the most potent sports cars of its era. The poster car, a 1933 Squire is the first of only seven ever built, and is considered by many to be among the most beautiful British sports cars […]

A delectable line-up of Lister Jaguars – the Cambridge-built sports cars that took the big manufacturers on at their own game and won – will be showcased at this year’s Race Retro, held at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry from 12-14 March. Examples of the earliest models – including founder Brian Lister’s first car, through the classic Lister ‘knobbly’ and Costin-bodied models and onto the 1990s Storm, which saw the name’s revival, will be reunited with the man behind the marque. Their appearance coincides with a book written by highly-regarded Jaguar enthusiast Paul Skilleter, which chronicles the company’s sports cars, their founder Brian Lister and their successes during the late-1950s. Closely associated with driver Archie Scott-Brown, Listers originally used MG and Bristol engines, but the switch to Jaguar engines and the shape of the car, dubbed ‘knobbly’, brought the company unparalleled success […]

There was a lot of eye rolling and worried looks when Ford sold Jaguar to India’s Tata. But based on the latest December figures, maybe there wasn’t reason to worry. Jaguar sold 1,246 cars in December in the U.S., a 24% increase from last year. Land Rover sold 3,595 of its rugged SUVs, a 37% boost from a year ago. For the full year, combined sales of both brands dipped 14%, not bad considering how the overall auto industry saw sales plunge even more. Needless to say, execs are happy: “Three consecutive months of Jaguar and Land Rover growth is a great way to end 2009, and a sign of better times to come,” said Jaguar-Land Rover North America President Gary Temple. “We start 2010 with sales momentum, strong product lineups for both brands, and the launch of the 2011 […]

Ever since the halcyon days of Jaguar’s formative years the British car maker has had a happy knack of delivering some eye catching icons. As those early days of the 1940s and 1950s bore witness to the company’s founding father Sir William Lyons’ aim to produce cars boasting ‘grace, space and pace’ so the legendary big cats have continued to attract attention. The latest is the Jaguar XKR which has unreservedly set its sights on supercar status, proving in many people’s eyes, to be perhaps the best looking mainstream Jaguar model to date. There is very much a luxurious character to the XK and XKR body style, whether in hard-top coupe guise or the cloth cocooned convertible which is driven here. This is truly a sophisticated grand tourer with the power to move the sports car experience on to a […]

Rocketsports Racing (RSR) is scheduled to debut the Jaguar XKR GT2, the newest entry in the American Le Mans Series, at the famed Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta this week. In preparation for a full championship effort in 2010, the team plans to enter the last two events on the 2009 ALMS schedule using the track time for testing and development. The car is currently undergoing extensive system tests at RSR’s East Lansing, Michigan facility and is being prepared for a performance evaluation and shakedown prior to Road Atlanta. The team will be hosting a press conference on Thursday, September 24 at Road Atlanta to officially unveil the car and drivers for 2009, and tire partners. RSR will face a flurry of competition in GT2 from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Corvette and others. Fourteen GT2 machines are […]

Niche sportscar manufacturer Lotus has scooped a ‘best driver’s car’ accolade for its Evora model. The award, from Autocar magazine, followed assessment on road and track around the South Downs and the Goodwood race circuit. Lotus beat off competition from Aston Martin, Nissan, Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini and Jaguar. The mid-engined 2+2 Lotus Evora combines a super stiff extruded and bonded aluminium chassis with vehicle dynamics knowledge employed to tune its race-car derived double wishbone suspension. Roger Becker, vehicle engineering director for Lotus, said: “The dynamic ability and driving experience of the Evora were the foundation of the engineering process and we are delighted that Autocar has recognised this by giving the Evora this accolade. The Evora offers the great Lotus driving experience in a very comfortable, practical, refined and efficient package, and with only 205 g/km of CO2 it shows […]

Executives at Jaguar Land Rover, the Midlands carmaker, are drawing up plans for an extended shutdown of its UK plants and a new round of staff layoffs as it struggles to cope with the slump in the world car market. Preparation for the closures comes just days after the company released its new flagship, the latest version of the Jaguar XJ beloved by prime ministers and top British executives.