2006 Jaguar Xkr on 2040-cars

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Jaguar Heritage Driving Experience throws you the keys to the museum

As automotive journalists, we get to drive a lot of really cool, high-performance vehicles. It really is the single best thing about this job. However, our access to vehicles is generally limited to the newest offerings on the market. That means, much like the general public, we don't really get access to vintage iron.
Jaguar is trying to rectify that issue for journalist and enthusiast alike, with a new program called the Heritage Driving Experience. It allows British enthusiasts to pop into the brand's Warwickshire testing site, drop anywhere from 100 to 300 pounds ($160 to $480) and go for a spin in some of the brand's most legendary offerings. That includes the more typical classics, like the Mark 2 saloon and the E-Type sports car, but you can also pay for access to stunners like the XK150, XKSS and the race-spec D-Type. In addition to the classics, most of the tests include time in their modern successors. So an hour with the Mark II can be split with time in an XFR-S, while the E-Type is complemented by its spiritual successor, the F-Type.
Most of the events are limited to 30 or 60-minute sessions, although the brand does offer a half-day and full-day event. The former, the Jaguar Le Mans Experience, includes time in the C-Type, D-Type, XKSS and F-Type R. The full-day Grace and Pace Pack, meanwhile, gives you access to nine vehicles, covering a huge gamut. That means time in the C-, D- and E-Type, XK150, Mark II, XKR-S GT and F-Type R, among others. Not surprisingly, prices aren't listed for the half- and full-day pack. Much like Jag's finest cars, if you have to ask, you probably can't afford them.

Ian Callum, Brian Johnson and Lord March pick 10 top Jaguars

An automaker with as rich a heritage as Jaguar is bound to create a few experts along the way... and some divergent opinions, too. So on the eve of the debut of the new XE, Jaguar brought together three experts to whittle down the long list of classic Leaping Cats to just ten.
For this gargantuan task, it brought in Ian Callum (who, as the company's chief designer, knows a thing or two about Jaguars), Lord Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox (the Earl of March and founder of the Goodwood Revival) and Brian Johnson - who may be better known as the frontman of AC/DC, but also a classic car enthusiast, collector and racer in his own right.
So what did the designer, the nobleman and the celebrity choose? The SS100, XK120 (namely number NUB 120), the C-Type that competed at the 1953 Mille Miglia, the D-Type that won at Reims, the Mk II sedan, the E-Type that served as the Geneva show car, the one and only XJ13, company founder Sir William Lyons' personal XJ6 S1, the TWR XJS touring car and the 1988 Le Mans-winning XJR-9.

Jaguar 3 Series-fighter to spawn coupe, wagon

With its sights set on the BMW 3 Series, Jaguar could be planning a full range of models for its upcoming entry-level car - possibly called the XS. We've already seen spy shots of the four-door version of this all-aluminum baby Jag, but according to Auto Express, the automaker will also offer the car in coupe and wagon variants.
The XS sedan should hit the market in 2015, and the coupe and wagon models are expected soon after that. Speaking with Jag's global brand director Adrian Hallmark, AE says that the XS will be focused on styling with a design similar to the recently introduced C-X17 crossover concept. Hallmark also said that the addition of the XS lineup could help Jaguar double its sales, which were at 357,773 global units in 2012. Head on over to Auto Express for some speculative renderings of the XS coupe and wagon.