1965 Jaguar E-type Series I on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1984 Jaguar XJ-S with Chevrolet V8 swap

If you wanted to do some conspicuous consumption during the 1980s, you couldn't do much better than the Series II Jaguar XJ-S. A big, decadent-looking coupe with a smooth V12 engine under its vast bonnet, a new XJ-S would have been just the thing to celebrate a fresh round of S&L looting or a Stinger missile deal with Adnan Khashoggi in 1984. The XJ-S cost plenty to keep running, though; when the third or fourth owner got tired of huge repair bills for V12 problems, a small-block Chevy V8 engine often got swapped in. Today's Junkyard Gem in Denver is such a Jag, with an early-1990s Chevy 350 residing in the engine compartment. While the good old Chevy 350 didn't purr quite as silently as the nicely balanced 5.3-liter V12, it got the job done. Some junkyard shopper had already grabbed the heads off this engine before I got to it. The block casting number indicates that the engine began life in a 1987-1995 car or truck. The small-block Chevy is a common swap for Jaguar XJs, going back to the 1960s.  The cylinder-head buyer tossed the heavy intake manifold on the roof, which would be a junkyard no-no on a nice car. This car's body isn't so nice, though. It appears that some sort of aftermarket hood scoop once lived atop these layers of body filler and pop rivets. The interior looks decent enough, though the varnish on the dashboard wood shows signs of excessive Colorado sun exposure. The MSRP on this car began at $34,700, or about $87,300 in 2020 dollars. You could get a new Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz coupe that year for just $23,737, though the real competition for the XJ-S was more likely to be a Mercedes-Benz S-Class or BMW 6 Series with two doors. The 1984 BMW 633CSi went for $39,120, while the Mercedes-Benz 500SEC cost a staggering $56,800 that year. How the mighty have fallen! This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. You can't buy the race car, but you can buy V12 power wrapped in soft leather and paneled in rare wood. Featured Gallery Junked 1984 Jaguar XJ-S View 22 Photos Auto News Jaguar Automotive History Coupe Junkyard Gems

Cargo ship carrying 1,200 Jaguars and Land Rovers deliberately run aground [w/video]

A cargo ship carrying a load of new cars out of Southampton has run aground in the English Channel in between England and the Isle of Wight. The vessel apparently suffered some sort of failure just 45 minutes after leaving port that caused it to list heavily to the starboard side before the crew deliberately beached it on Bramble Bank to prevent the ship from capsizing altogether. The vessel, called the Hoegh Osaka, is a 590-foot car carrier weighing some 57,000 tons and registered in Singapore. Although several automakers (including Honda and Bentley) were reportedly looking into whether they had cars on board, the vessel is said to have been filled to approximately one-third its capacity, with 1,400 vehicles on board – including 1,200 Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, 65 Mini models and one Rolls-Royce Wraith. 70 to 80 pieces of construction equipment were also said to be on board. The Hoegh Osaka was en route from the southern British port of Southampton to Bremerhaven, Germany. Fortunately, no major injuries have been reported. The crew was mostly airlifted by helicopter off of the beached ship, with two crew members evacuated by lifeboat. One crew member reportedly jumped over 25 feet off the ship into the water before being immediately retrieved by rescue workers. According to the Daily Mail, two crew members were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, including a broken leg. It may take several days, if not longer, to extract the vessel from the sand bank and ascertain the damage to the ship and its cargo. An early attempt to free the ship with tugboats failed, meaning that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency may have to wait until more favorable high tides to try again before towing the ship back into the port. Bramble Bank, where the vessel was run aground, is a well-known obstacle to maritime navigators. The Queen Elizabeth 2 ran aground there in November 2008 with 1,700 passengers on board, but was quickly freed by four tugboats and was able to continue on its way. Two local yacht clubs also play a cricket match there every year at low tide. The vessel's operator, Hoegh Autoliners, praised the skill and quick thinking of the crew in acting to prevent the ship's capsizing by running her aground on the soft, sandy shoal. Watch the clip below for aerial footage of the beached ship, courtesy of the BBC. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Jaguar crossover won't be based on Evoque or have off-road chops

Jaguar's long-rumored crossover won't be built on the same platform as the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, says the Australian site Car Advice. The future of the new CUV remains uncertain, but if Jaguar does dip its toes into the SUV/crossover pool, though, the new vehicle will likely be a car-based soft roader, lacking (or perhaps more appropriately, not needing) the off-road-engineered chops inherent in Land Rover's small CUV platform.
Jaguar product planner Steven De Ploey explained to Car Advice, "There's many groups around the world [platform sharing] - obviously Volkswagen Group is doing it all the time - but I think we have to be careful. He added, "Jaguar is something quite different... It's about capability, but very much on-road focused capability." That seems to gel with our suspicions that the XQ, as it's expected to be called, will share its platform with an upcoming small Jaguar sedan, the oft-rumored X-Type successor.
Still, we'd recommend taking any mention of a Jaguar crossover with a grain of salt. Based on many of the (quite compelling) statements made by De Ploey against a Jag crossover and previous statements made by Jag's design boss, Ian Callum, the case against a leaper-bearing crossover seems strong. If a high-rider were to arrive from Jaguar, though, the article insinuates that it'd be more in line with the BMW X6 or upcoming X4 - sort of a coupe-based crossover. Like we said, grain of salt. If a Jag crossover is going to arrive soon, the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show is the most likely locale for its debut. We'll find out in a few weeks.