With the Paris Motor Show a mere month away, automakers from around the globe are unleashing a barrage of teasers and rumors that hint to what will be on display. According to Auto Express, Jaguar is the latest company to let slip what it has planned. The murky report says the Leaping Cat will pull the covers off of an XK-sized sports car inspired by the Porsche 918. While that likely means the concept will boast a fantastical hybrid drivetrain with more torque than sense, it doesn't mean that Tata is going to fast-track this car for production. Auto Express says the car is more to flex the company's styling muscles than anything else.
While that means we likely won't be seeing another sultry two-door in the Jaguar stable any time soon, the new concept will give us some insight into what's coming down the pike in terms of Jaguar design. That may include some new, oblong grille language to replace the slinky oval of the E-Types of old. Supposedly the company's designers are having a hard time maintaining the oval grille's proportions on the company's new widebody platforms.
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Chris, Sam and Dan return for Episode #192 of the Autoblog Podcast. We cover the reinstatement of GM's high performance division and its new focus on small cars, the Ford Edge Sport being out-dragged by its lesser SEL sibling, and the BMW Megacity electric car. It's an hour and eleven minutes, bookended by what's in our respective garages and your questions/comments. See you next week!
Autoblog Podcast #192 - Slow Edge Sports, GM High Performance, BMW Megacity
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Jaguar XJ Sentinel - Click above for high-res image gallery
Budding rap stars, dictators, special agents and anyone else looking for the ultimate in over-the-road safety now have an elegant new option when it comes time to scoop up that next heavily armored ride. Jaguar has announced that it will show off its XJ Sentinel in both left- and right-hand drive at the 2010 Moscow International Motor Show.
As with other machines of its ilk, the XJ Sentinel features sufficient armor plating that it's earned B7 levels of ballistics protection (read: can handle moderately-sized explosions and gunfire). Plus, because it's based on the long-wheelbase XJ, it won't attract more than the usual attention from anyone looking out for dignitaries to harass.
The same naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 and six-speed automatic that powers the standard XJ is included in the package, and its 385 horsepower can propel the 7,275-pound heavyweight to 62 miles per hour in under 10 seconds. Not exactly breathtakingly fast, but that's the price you pay for protection.
Fortunately, the suspension has been beefed up to deal with the excess weight with continually variable dampers. So too have the brakes, bringing this 120-mile-per-hour speeding locomotive to a halt. Pricing is not publicly available at the moment, but you can always contact your own personal security consultant to hammer out the details. Full press release after the break.
2011 Jaguar XJL - Click above for high-res image gallery
There's a sect of motoring nihilists out there who would have us all believe there isn't a single thing in the automotive universe that hasn't been done before. It's the "Simpsons did it" meme on methamphetamines, though instead of a yellow animated family, our cast is populated by the likes of Plymouth, Cord, Studebaker, Hudson and any number of other equally innovative yet forgotten brands. Think adaptive headlights are a trick piece of tech? Think again - Willys-Knight employed a third directional headlight as early as 1928 on its 70A, and Citroën made use of similar methodology on cars like the DS and SM way back when.
The XJ is as close to shrugging off the bland, conservative lines of the luxury sedan as you're apt to find.
Few segments seem to have accepted this grim reality quite like the luxury sedan world. Automakers that once strove to create unique products now seem to be operating from the same design template. Line up the profiles of the BMW 7 Series, Audi A8 and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and the vast majority of the car-buying public would have no idea which car was which. Each vehicle is attractive in its own right, but we wouldn't accuse any of them possessing the same kind of gravitas as, say, a '38 Mercedes-Benz 770.
Which is one of the big reasons we're smitten with the 2011 Jaguar XJL. Whereas the only way you're going to stop traffic with a 7 Series is to put the drivers around you to sleep, the newest interpretation of the stately Jaguar flagship is the kind of beauty that sends jaws clattering across the concrete.
Jaguar 75th Anniversary at Pebble Beach - Click above for high-res image gallery
We've already shown you that Jaguar was honored at the 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance with a dozen XK-SS roadsters showing up for the party, but there were other Jaguars on hand as well - lots and lots of remarkable Jags.
The history of Jaguar actually began almost 90 years ago when two young men hell-bent on motorcycle glory set up a small company to produce sidecars under the Swallow name in 1922. The younger of the two was William Lyons, who later became Sir William Lyons, mainly because Jaguar went on to bring Britain so much motoring glory. The sidecar business eventually turned into an automobile coachworks, with custom bodies on a bespoke Standard brand chassis that became know as the S.S.I. and S.S.II.
For the follow-up to those early S.S. models - Standard Swallow some think - Lyons had commissioned a new overhead-valve six-cylinder engine that was about 50 percent more powerful than the old side-valve engines they had been using. They put the new engine in a new chassis, enclosed it in the company's first four-door sedan body and Lyons personally chose what he thought was the most appropriate name from a list of choices given to him by his advertising people - Jaguar. On September 23, 1935, the company unveiled the SS Jaguar to London's assembled press. That car led to the short-wheelbase SS Jaguar 100 sports car that helped establish Jaguar's reputation for performance with its early racing success.
After World War II, the company decided to change its name to simply 'Jaguar,' dropping the newly infamous "S.S." label. The automaker also started focusing less on inexpensive sportscars for the homeland market, and more on luxurious models aimed at capturing rich American buyers. One way to do that was with new product and Lyons and his crew were cooking up a duesie - a new sportscar featuring a double overhead cam engine just like the race cars of the era. The goal was 160 horsepower from the engine's 3.4-liter capacity and a 120 mph top speed. That car was the iconic XK120 - "XK" for the engine and "120" for the car's top speed. That begat the XK140 and 150 and a whole slew of other legendary vehicles that bore the Jaguar name.
Some of the finest examples of Jaguar's pedigree were on hand at Pebble Beach on Sunday. Take a look in our high-res gallery below.
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