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Driving Jaguar's Continuation Lightweight E-Type

Something has happened to sports cars over the past 15-20 years. While reaching ever-higher levels of quantitative dominance the driving experience continues to become more sterile. Stability control, torque vectoring, variable electronic steering racks, lightning-quick dual-clutch automatic transmissions – all these make it easier to harness more power and drive faster than ever before. And yet too often it feels like something is missing. There is a growing divide between the capabilities of the modern performance car and the driver's sense of connection to the experience. In an era like the one we're in now, the Jaguar Lightweight E-Type hits you like a slap in the face. The story of the Lightweight E-Type goes back to 1963, when Jaguar set aside eighteen chassis numbers for a run of "Special GT E-Type" cars. These were factory-built racers with aluminum bodies, powered by the aluminum-block, 3.8-liter inline-six found in Jaguar's C- and D-Type LeMans racecars of the 1950s. Of the eighteen cars slated for production, only twelve were built and delivered to customers in 1964. For the next fifty years, those last six chassis numbers lay dormant, until their rediscovery a couple of years ago in a book in Jaguar's archives. In an era like the one we're in now, the Jaguar Lightweight E-Type hits you like a slap in the face. Jaguar Heritage, a section of Jaguar Land Rover's new Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division, took on the task of researching the original Lightweight E-Types and developing the methods to create new ones. Every aspect of the continuation Lightweight E-Type, from the development of the tools and molds used to build the cars, to the hand-craftsmanship, reflects doing things the hard way. They may not build them like they used to, but with these six special E-Types, Jaguar comes awfuly close, if not better. Working alongside the design team, Jaguar Heritage made a CAD scan of one side of an original Lightweight E-Type body. That scan was flipped to create a full car's worth of measurements. That ensured greater symmetry and better fit than on the original Lightweight E-Types (which could see five to ten millimeter variance, left-to-right). The scan was also used to perfect the frame, while Jaguar looked through notes in its crash repair books to reverse-engineer the Lightweight E-Type's suspension. The team repurposed a lot of existing tooling for the continuation cars, and developed the rest from analysis of the CAD scan.

Jaguar sends off the F-Type with commemorative 75 model

Jaguar is preparing to send the F-Type to the pantheon of automotive history. It unveiled a commemorative model named F-Type 75 that announces the end of a roughly decade-long production run with a small handful of specific design accents inside and out. Offered as a coupe and as a convertible, the 75 stands out from other members of the range with subtle emblems depicting the F-Type's silhouette positioned behind the front wheel arches. The F-Type 75 ships with 20-inch five-spoke wheels finished in gloss black, while the more powerful F-Type R 75 wears 20-inch, 10-spoke wheels with a gloss black and diamond-turned finish.  Inside, the F-Type's silhouette appears on the piece of trim positioned above the infotainment system's display and on the door sills. Every 75 regardless of body style or output comes with the Interior Black Pack and what Jaguar calls "Performance-design" front seats. While a 75-horsepower bump would have been fitting, Jaguar made no mention of mechanical changes. The four- and six-cylinder engines were dropped for the 2022 model year, so the F-Type will end its career with a V8-only range. Power for the base model comes from a 5.0-liter V8 that's supercharged to 444 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque, while the R benefits from an evolution of this engine rated at 575 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. The base F-Type is rear- or all-wheel-drive, while the R is rear-wheel-drive-only. Jaguar will begin delivering the F-Type 75 to customers in England in early 2023 — about 75 years after the XK120 made its debut, hence the name. Pricing and availability haven't been announced yet, and Jaguar confirmed to Autoblog that details about the F-Type 75 that will be sold in the United States will be published in December 2022. The company added that 2024 will be the F-Type's last model year. As for what's next, your guess is as good as ours, but it doesn't sound like a direct successor to the F-Type is around the corner. Featured Gallery Jaguar F-Type 75, official images View 12 Photos Jaguar Convertible Coupe Luxury Performance

Jaguar F-Pace R-Dynamic is back in Black Pack

When Jaguar rationalized the F-Pace lineup for 2021, streamlining 12 variants into just five, old names and packages got left in last year. The previous R-Sport model is history, as are last year's special edition visual packs: Chequered Flag and 300 Sport. The F-Pace R-Dynamic is the new breed of mid-grade sporty in the 2022 lineup, coming in below the SVR, and Jaguar's just unveiled a Black Pack for it in the UK. A familiar name in the Coventry history books, the Black Pack does now what it's always done — dress up the exterior in gloss black. That means the grille and grille surround, fender vents, side window trim, door mirror caps, rear valance below the bumper, and rear badges come in the same color as deep space. Only shinier. The rolling stock is tailored to match, a set of 20-inch gloss black rims hiding red brake calipers. Flourishes inside the cabin include Satin Charcoal Ash veneers, bright metal pedals, privacy glass, and a fixed panoramic glass roof. The entire range sees a few tweaks in the cabin besides. Upgraded Premium Cabin Lighting adds 20 more colors, making 30 in total. For owners sensitive enough to day-old oxygen in their $70,000 crossovers, the Air Purge function can be set to clear the interior of stale air before occupants arrive by setting a timer in the infotainment system or on the Jaguar Remote App. A CO2 sensor keeps the ambience effervescent while on the go, unobtrusively adding fresh air when carbon dioxide exceeds the recommended daily allowance. The fastidious will also be able to monitor particulate levels inside and outside the vehicle in a display on the touchscreen. And coming over-the-air updates for the Pivo Pro infotainment system will enable wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.  Outside, there's a new color called Ostuni White (pictured), as well as self-sealing tires that can be had on 19-, 20-, and 21-inch wheels when shod in all-season rubber. Finally, adaptive cruise control received steering assist to keep the F-Pace centered in its lane. These updates haven't made it to the U.S. yet, but we expect them to arrive on the boat with the 2022 models for our market.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.