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Chip Foose cooks up a custom 1974 Jaguar E-Type for SEMA

Avert your eyes, purists. California-based designer Chip Foose traveled to the 2019 SEMA show to unveil a resto-modded 1974 Jaguar E-Type built at the request of a customer. With a custom design and an American heart, the roadster took over 2 1/2 years to make. Finished in Green Sand, the E-Type was in seemingly good condition when it took up residence in Foose's shop in April 2017; it looks strikingly similar to a 48,000-mile example sold by RM Sothebys in January 2017. Many would drive it as-is, but its anonymous owner had something completely different in mind. Foose and his team modified nearly every part of the convertible's body. Builders punched out a scoop in the hood, extended the rocker panels, made the trunk lid about five inches longer, and gave the rear end a more tapered look accented by flush lights and quad exhaust tips. Even seemingly minor details were hugely important for the enthusiast who commissioned this build. While E-Type headlight bezels are readily available online, the ones on the SEMA car are hand-shaped from brass. Custom-built wheels put a modern spin on the E's original wire knock-offs. The interior looks period-correct thanks to leather upholstery, analog gauges, and a wood-rimmed steering wheel, but the list of changes is longer than the E-Type's hood. Jaguar's emblematic drop-top had a rather busy-looking dashboard topped with a padded cap and peppered with a galaxy of buttons, knobs, and switches. Foose's build adopts a cleaner, simpler design with gauges arranged in a cluster behind the steering wheel, and a chrome strip that runs across the entire dashboard. His team installed new carpet and bucket seats after concealing a modern sound system. To us, the new-look interior has more of a 1950s vibe than the original E-Type's. The changes are more than skin-deep. Tilting the hood forward reveals a Chevrolet-sourced, 6.2-liter V8 engine tuned to 525 horsepower replaces the 272-horsepower, 5.3-liter V12 this Jag came with when it was new. It shifts through a four-speed automatic transmission. Upgraded brakes and a redesigned suspension help keep the additional power in check, though performance numbers aren't available. It hopefully still has its original toolkit, as a factory-made reproduction costs nearly $1,000. There's no word on who commissioned this E-Type, but keep an eye out for it the next time you go to cars and coffee. The V8 exhales through a custom exhaust, so you might hear it before seeing it.

2020 Jaguar XE P300 R-Dynamic S Drivers' Notes | A divisive sport sedan

The 2020 Jaguar XE in P300 R-Dynamic S trim is the quickest and most aggressively styled version of the XE available after its 2020 update. We lost the characterful and punchy supercharged V6 (and diesel), and in its place we found two turbocharged four-cylinder gas-engine options. The P300 is the high-output version of this engine, producing 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. It’s mated to ZFÂ’s excellent eight-speed automatic transmission and sends the power to all four wheels. There's an updated interior for 2020, adding in a few extra tech features and upgraded material quality. The cabin is typical Jaguar fare. It looks great, but can be overly complex in ways other cars arenÂ’t — take the confusing climate/seat controls as one example. But Jaguar also spent some time improving its exterior looks. Our red tester was striking and classy with the wider grille, sculpted front bumper (exclusive to the R-Dynamic S) and thin new headlights. All this pageantry comes at a price, though. This particular XE starts at $47,290, which is already fairly expensive for this class with its level of performance. However, a number of options caused this carÂ’s price to climb up to $63,125. Yowza. No single option or package was to blame, as this car has a number of expensive extras on it. The $1,950 Technology Pack added the digital rearview mirror, dual stacked touchscreens, head-up display and wireless phone charging. A $1,700 Drive Pack tacked on blind-spot warning, high-speed emergency braking and adaptive cruise control. The $1,365 Connected Navigation Pack added navigation, traffic sign recognition and internet connectivity. Then, a $1,315 Dynamic Handling Pack added in the adaptive suspension, configurable drive modes, red brake calipers and a spoiler. It also had 20-inch optional wheels ($1,700), 16-way heated and cooled front seats ($1,500), carbon fiber trim ($1,100) and a Meridian surround sound audio system ($800), among many other options. Road Test Editor Zac Palmer: Jaguar simplified the XE greatly for the 2020 model year, and while IÂ’m sad to see the supercharged V6 go away, this turbocharged four-cylinder is still a good little mill. ThereÂ’s a slight pause as you wait for boost to build, but itÂ’s quick enough to have some fun on the commute back and forth to work. Its forward thrust is comparable to others in the class with four-cylinder turbocharged engines — IÂ’d place it about midpack on the butt dyno.

Jaguar testing hardcore F-Type R-S GT?

Some automakers make a hardcore model, then sit back and revel in its awesomeness. Jaguar does things a little differently. It takes a standard production model, gives it more power, bigger brakes and a tighter suspension and slaps the letter R on it. Then it gives it even more power, even bigger brakes and an even tighter suspension and calls it an R-S. Sometimes the engineers in Coventry don't even think that's enough, so they strip out some weight and dial things up even further and call it an R-S GT.
So far, they've only gone that far with the XK (transformed first into the XKR, then the XKR-S, and finally the XKR-S GT), but with that model on its way out, Jaguar seems to be preparing to give the newer F-Type a similar treatment. Now we can't be sure that what we're looking at is an F-Type R-S GT, especially since the 550-horsepower engine from the XKR-S and XFR-S is already powering the existing F-Type R Coupe, but it does seem to have all the makings of a hardcore performance model.
Compared to the existing F-Type, the development model pictured here has a bigger front splitter (like the one on the Project 7 concept), a big rear wing and a set of what looks like pretty big lightweight alloys. It's also, tellingly, a roadster, which (unlike the coupe) has until now topped out at 500hp with the V8 S model. So while it may be hard to say exactly just what Jaguar has in store for us here (or what they'll call it), one thing's for sure: it's gonna be fast and loud.