2003 Jaguar X-type Base Sedan 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Next-gen Jaguar XJ spotted in mule form during winter testing

Of course Jaguar Land Rover is using a Range Rover to yank around an electrified Jaguar sedan mule. At least, we think the car sitting on the trailer is a test mule for the recently announced XJ successor. Jaguar has said it’s going to make an all-electric version of the car, but itÂ’s going to use the new MLA platform that will also support a gas engine and hybrid versions. The body itself most resembles that of the XF, but there are a couple tell-tale signs that this car is destined for a battery-electric powertrain. The clearest sign comes in the form of the abnormally high side sills. This taller floor is a typical EV tipoff for mules in testing, as the body work itÂ’s mated to isnÂ’t necessarily designed to mesh with the requirements of an EV powertrain. There are no “Electric Vehicle” stickers stuck to the car to make this extra easy for us, but plenty of other strange elements let us know that this mule is no normal XF. We canÂ’t see through it, but the “grille” is covered up by a large piece of camouflage. Some areas on the bottom and top appear to be mesh, allowing air through, but itÂ’s still rather restricting. The hoodÂ’s fitment and shape are about as funky as can be. ThereÂ’s even a hump in the center of the hood, making it look like some kind of high performance muscle car.  Lending even more credence to this being a next-gen XJ mule is what appears to be a longer wheelbase and wider track. Jaguar extended the fenders outward to accommodate this, but itÂ’s especially apparent in back with the squared-off rear fenders. Since itÂ’s a mule, itÂ’s tough to be certain which powertrain this particular car is hiding. The fuel cap remains on the right rear side of the car, but it appears to be in a different position than the fuel cap on the current XF. Maybe it isnÂ’t a fuel cap, and itÂ’s a covering for the plug outlet instead? There are no other obvious outlets on the car to plug in to, but thatÂ’s nothing out of the ordinary for a mule. One suspicious element we spotted in the rear is the side of a chrome tailpipe protruding from the rear bumper. ThereÂ’s no way to know if itÂ’s a real or a fake tailpipe to throw us off the hunt, but weÂ’ll note its presence nonetheless. Jaguar has already released a teaser image of the rear taillights on the electric XJ successor, but of course this test mule isnÂ’t supporting production lights.

Ian Callum makes the Jaguar C-X75 concept street-legal

Unveiled at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, the Jaguar C-X75 could have been one of the British brand's wildest and coolest models. It received the green light for production, got canned, and resurfaced in the 2015 James Bond movie Spectre before disappearing for good. However, not everyone has forgotten it: Callum, the design firm founded by former Jaguar design boss Ian Callum, has made a C-X75 street-legal. Precisely how Callum's customer ended up with a C-X75 remains a mystery. The example modified is one of the four surviving stunt cars built by Williams Advanced Engineering for Spectre, so it might be the one that auction house RM Sotheby's offered at its Abu Dhabi sale in November 2019. The car was estimated to sell for anywhere between $800,000 and $1.2 million; it ended up not selling during the auction. Regardless, Callum was the right person to take on the Herculean task of making an obscure, experimental supercar street-legal, as he led the team that designed the model. His company made hundreds of small but significant changes including replacing the glass, adding a quieter exhaust with catalytic converters, making tuning changes to the supercharged, 5.0-liter V8, and fitting additional switches inside. Interestingly, the stunt cars were built with foam door mirrors. These had to be replaced with real mirrors fitted with turn signal repeaters. The team also took advantage of the tear-down to make visual improvements, such as reducing and aligning the panel gaps. The C-X75 received a new coat of paint, and engineers made changes to the suspension system — they notably adjusted the ride height. It helps that this version of the C-X75 uses an engine already approved for road use; the V8 has powered the Range Rover, among other cars. Callum's street-legal Jaguar C-X75 will make its public debut at the Bicester Heritage Scramble event held in England on April 21, 2024. Related video: Featured Gallery Ian Callum's street-legal Jaguar C-X75 Aftermarket Jaguar Coupe

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