1974 Jaguar Xke S Iii Roadster, Original 23,850 Miles, Automatic With Ac. on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Porsche 911 Turbo and Nissan GT-R Nismo star in World's Greatest Drag Race 4

We love Motor Trend's annual World's Greatest Drag Race video. Now back for its fourth appearance, the idea of lining some of the world's fastest cars up for a ten-wide, straight-line, full-throttle run is, well... it's pretty freaking badass.
The lineup this year boasts some impressively fast cars to be sure. The group of ten includes the following darlings: Alfa Romeo 4C, BMW i8, BMW M4, Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, Ford Fiesta ST, Jaguar F-Type R Coupe, Nissan GT-R Nismo, Porsche 911 Turbo S, Subaru WRX STI and, last but not least, the Volkswagen GTI. Give us any one of those for the weekend, and we're happy to take the keys.
It must be said though, that for a publication that draws as much water as Motor Trend does, there are some big cars that we might expect to be here instead. The Lamborghini Huracán or Ferrari 458 Speciale would have added some exotic flare to the list, and the omissions of the Chevy Corvette Stingray (for the second year in a row) and the Dodge Challenger Hellcat are real head-scratchers.

Jaguar demanding customer data from reluctant dealers

Nearly every major business is collecting consumer data these days, and keeping that data secure has come to the forefront of many customer's minds. Jaguar Land Rover North America's decision to begin requesting more customer info from its dealer network appears unfortunately timed, however. If it had come a few years ago, it might have been ignored, but in today's climate of heightened awareness, a few dealers are pushing back. To put the showrooms in an even tougher position, JLR NA is threatening to deny quarterly incentives if they do not turn over the customer data, according to Automotive News.
JLR NA instated the nationwide plan, which it calls Single View CRM, on February 7, but according to Stuart Schorr, Jaguar Land Rover North America Vice President of Communications, the automaker has been negotiating with its dealers to institute the new program for over a year. Schorr tells Autoblog that no financial information is being shared, noting that such data is limited to customer details, including things like what vehicles they own and whether they have any pending service. The initiative is meant to "improve customers' and owners' engagement with the brand," he said. Also, the company is not accessing dealer data itself; instead showrooms are asked to enter the info into JLR's database.

542-HP Jaguar XJR to debut at New York Auto Show

Jaguar has just announced that a higher-than-ever performance version of its XJ flagship will be coming to this year's New York Auto Show next week. Joining the company's R lineup is this XJR, which will boast a stonking 542 horsepower from its supercharged 5.0-liter V8 engine.
Though details about the new XJ are pretty slim - you can read Jag's teaser of a press release - we are told that the car will ride on a "bespoke chassis" and that some aerodynamics work has been done, as well. The one sultry image we have of the car shows a set of trim-specific wheels, lower sills and unique badging on the front grille.
The new XJR would seem to slot above the current top-dog XJ, the XJ Supersport. With a bump up of 32 hp versus the Supersport, performance should get a meaningful shot in the arm, as well. As for pricing, we'll have to wait for the NYC show to be sure. But other Jaguar models show an increase of between 15- and 20-percent between the R model and the next one down; that would indicate a price tag in the $130k range for a standard wheelbase XJR is in order.