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1965 Jaguar Series 1 E-Type Roadster shows what Classic Works can do

You might have heard that England's Queen Elizabeth recently celebrated 70 years with a four-day Jubilee throughout London. You might also have heard about the Platinum Jubilee Pageant that stretched nearly two miles long, featuring thousands of performers and a whole lot of cars. More than a dozen of the vehicular contingent came from Jaguar alone; the brand has a long history with the royal family, Jaguar Land Rover being one of four automakers possessing a Royal Warrant to provide motorcars to the queen. And Jaguar wanted to highlight this participant among its phalanx, a 1965 Series 1 E-Type Roadster restored by Jaguar Classic Works.  It doesn't have any connection to the queen, but billed as a showcase of "the full capabilities of Jaguar Classic and ability to comprehensively update E-types," it could be taken as a small indicator of how much more the automaker could do for monarchs. A private customer went to Jaguar Classic Works with a request for an E-Type built the year he was born, the final product to be "relied upon for daily driving and be comfortable on Grand Tours while remaining authentic to the original."  First, fixers fanned out, locating an example built two days after the new owner was born. Its pathetic condition posed no problem for the restorers in Coventry, who didn't leave anything alone during the 12-month build. Going by the before picture, technicians started by swapping the original left-hand drive for right-hand drive. They bored the original 4.2-liter engine to 4.7 liters and undisclosed power, "optimised for road driving." The mill's output is sent through a sport manifold and exhaust and a custom five-speed manual transmission. The gearbox is an in-house Classic Works production originally created for the E-Type 60 Edition that delivers "a smoother, quieter and more refined driving experience." Wider wheels and tires, and more powerful brakes, are bolted to an upgraded suspension.  The cabin and sheetmetal received attention worthy of the mechanicals. The exterior is drenched in a custom blue based on the Union Jack that took months to perfect; in-the-metal pictures at Coventry Live show just how lustrous the paintwork is. The red interior recalls the red of British pillar boxes, their term for mailboxes.

Jaguar deletes decade's worth of Instagram posts, fuels speculation

Jaguar has made the enigmatic decision of deleting about a decade's worth of posts from its official Instagram account. The company then fueled speculation by posting three close-up images that show the XJR-9 (pictured), a prototype that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1988. The three posts are captioned "flash back," "genesis" and "prologue," respectively. The first shows part of the cover fitted over the XJR-9's passenger-side rear wheel arch, the second shows the top part of the rear end, and the third shows a center-locking wheel. What's odd is that there is no big anniversary linked to the car: the XJR-9 won its last race during the 1989 season and it stopped racing shortly after. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. And, even if there was a major anniversary for the firm to celebrate, what's the point of deleting hundreds of posts? We know that Jaguar hopes to become an electric-only brand by 2030, so it's not unreasonable to assume that it might want a fresh start, but that's three years away. And, why mark the beginning of what's marketed as new era with photos of a car that was powered by a mid-mounted 7.0-liter V12? While this is pure speculation, we have two possible answers. First, a limited-edition version of an existing car inspired by the XJR-9 could be around the corner. The 2022 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans starts on June 11, so we could see it there. Alternatively, the Goodwood Festival of Speed will open its doors on June 23 and run until June 26; that's another plausible venue for the hypothetical unveiling. Second, the brand could be preparing to announce a return to endurance racing after a long hiatus. Porsche, BMW, Lamborghini and Cadillac are among the companies that will race in the upcoming LMDh category, which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jaguar ended Porsche's winning streak in 1988; is posting photos of the XJR-9 on Instagram a way to announce it's digging up the hatchet? Keep in mind that none of this is official. All we know for sure at this point is that the brand's SV division will reveal a new car on June 1, 2022. It posted a preview image on its Instagram account, which is separate from the main Jaguar account and whose posts are still up. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Jaguar C-Type Continuation available for 8 lucky people

2023 Jaguar F-Pace SVR Edition 1988 begins the brand's reset

At the end of last month, Jaguar hit the 'Delete' button on nearly ten years of Instagram posts, replacing them with three images of the Jaguar XJR-9 endurance racer that won the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans. We made two conjectures as to what it could mean, the first being, "a limited-edition version of an existing car inspired by the XJR-9 could be around the corner." And here we have none other than a limited-edition version of an existing Jaguar, called the F-Pace SVR Edition 1988. Created by the SV Bespoke division with help from Special Vehicle Operations and the design team, this is the Jaguar's first limited edition F-Pace; the brand will make just 394 of them for global consumption, celebrating the number of laps the XJR-9 completed during its win at La Sarthe. The changes are cosmetic, sadly, which means no 7.0-liter V12 up front. The standard supercharged 5.0-liter serves here, making the standard 550 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. It looks more sinister than ever, though, hidden behind Midnight Amethyst paint and a set of 22-inch Champagne Gold forged alloy wheels. If that weren't enough to announce itself, there are also Sunset Gold Satin accents that contrast with the standard Black Package, such as the Edition 1988 badging on the fenders, leaper badge in back and tailgate script. A silver "SV Bespoke commissioning graphic" informs that each model is "One of 394." Inside, occupants find more Sunset Gold on the steering wheel, shift paddles, instrument panel and ventilated Performance Seats. They're offset by semi-aniline leather everywhere, and carbon fiber trim finishers. Jaguar mentions as well that it's incorporated what3words navigation into the Pivi Pro infotainment system. A combination of three terms identifies three-square-meter blocks (32.3 square feet) around the world, the phrase "echo.twin.papers" providing directions to the Empire State Building, for instance. The F-Pace SVR Edition 1988 starts at $111,150 after the $1,150 destination charge, a $23,400 surcharge over the base F-Pace SVR.  Now we wait to find out about our second surmise for the brand — a return to old-school competition with an endurance racing program. It's unlikely for tens of millions of reasons, but we'd love to see the cat back at that French country house with Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Lamborghini and Porsche. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.