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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 Land Rover in talks for Southern US factory

Jaguar Land Rover is getting serious about global expansion, and that means it can't only build its vehicles in the UK anymore. The British automaker is cutting the ribbon at its new plant in China tomorrow, marking the opening of its first factory outside the UK. In 2016, it will open another factory in Brazil. But the latest intel has it that JLR is looking into a US factory, as well.
The report, which comes to us from the Sunday Times by way of Automotive News Europe, indicates that the company is evaluating locations for a North American factory, with options centering around Southern right-to-work states like South Carolina, where BMW operates its plant in Spartanburg and a wide array of other automotive operations are based as well. The JLR plant would reportedly ramp up to a capacity of 200,000 units per year.
In related news, while that new plant JLR is inaugurating in Changshu, China, is initially slated to produce the Range Rover Evoque, it is also expected to start building the new Discovery Sport as well - just like the Halewood plant in the UK that has handled Evoque assembly from the start and which just built its first Discovery Sport, as well.

Jaguar will sell 10 fully restored Series 1 E-Types

The Jaguar Land Rover "Reborn" program is expanding its offerings yet again. The newest offering is the first from the Jaguar side of the company, and naturally the first car is a Series 1 E-Type. Jaguar Classic will restore 10 of the first-generation E-Types, and the cars will be sold directly to consumers from the company. The very first of the cars is the 1965 model you see above, which will make its public debut next week at the Techno-Classica Essen show in Germany. It's a 4.2-liter model finished in "Opalescent Gunmetal Grey." According to Jaguar, it was originally sent to California where it racked up 78,000 miles, and then was put into storage in 1983. Jaguar then acquired the car, and the Jaguar Classic department proceeded to restore it to factory specifications. Jaguar fixed and retained as many original parts as possible, and used replacement Jaguar Classic parts as needed. The car is fully numbers-matching with the original engine and transmission. If you're interested in purchasing this E-Type, or one of the other nine, you'd better have a hefty pocketbook. A standard restored car done to factory specs will start at about $355,000 at current exchange rates. If you want to spend more, Jaguar offers a few extra cost options such as an upgraded cooling system based on the one found in the Lightweight E-Type, a fully synchromesh transmission for early models without it, and upgraded front brake calipers from the later Series 2 E-Type. Related Video: