2005 Jaguar Xjr Base Sedan 4-door 4.2l (supercharged) on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Here's what a front-row seat looked like in 2014 Mille Miglia

From 1927 to 1957, the Mille Miglia was one of the great, romantic European road races of the golden era of motorsports. The cars were fast, beautiful and loud but also extremely dangerous and regularly claimed drivers' lives. After two fatal accidents in '57, the event finally had to reform and came back in 1977 as a historic rally held over the course of several days. That didn't make things boring, though, and Xcar found that out firsthand with a front-row seat to this year's race in a 2015 Jaguar F-Type R Coupe.
Xcar was actually following the Jaguar team this year that included Ian Callum and Jay Leno in an XK120, which we previously got a glimpse of when it was covered on Jay Leno's Garage. Where Leno focuses on a more personal story of competing, this one takes a more macro view. You really get an idea of how crazy the Mille Miglia still is, and while the F-Type is way too new to actually compete in the rally, it can still wear an event sticker and drive with the vintage racers.
One amazing fact about today's Mille Miglia is that if you're competing in the event, there are basically no rules. The roads are technically still open to traffic, but the police shut down intersections and provide a rolling roadblock. Xcar's F-Type alternated between following on the course with the classics and snipping off chunks of the route to watch the participants arrive at each stop. Check out the video to experience fantastic historic rally.

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.

Jaguar Land Rover gives Lyft $25M and a fleet of cars

Lyft recently raised $600 million in a massive funding round, and now we know that $25 million of that came from Jaguar Land Rover, via its mobility services subsidiary InMotion. The car maker's investment in Lyft goes beyond just funds, however; it's providing Lyft drivers with a fleet of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles as part of the tie-up, and it's also going to work with the ride-hailing tech company on autonomous vehicle testing. This is yet another high-profile partner for Lyft after a spate of recent new collaborators, including Waymo and, just last week, Nutonomy. Now, Jaguar Land Rover is also joining the company's Open Platform for autonomous cars: The collaboration with InMotion will see the Jaguar Land Rover-owned company "develop and test its mobility services, including autonomous vehicles" using Lyft's platform. Lyft's ability to rapidly bring on a lot of partners in the car maker space, specifically around autonomy, may have a lot to do with rival Uber's ongoing problems, which now also include mounting calls for CEO Travis Kalanick to step back, at least temporarily, from his leadership role. Lyft has also been pretty clear about seeking to partner on autonomy, rather than pursue its own tech, which is likewise different from Uber's current approach. Uber, too, has brought automakers to the table around self-driving services and making use of its ride hailing platform for mobility service offerings. Both Uber and Lyft seem interested in being the layer that connects riders and these future services, and for automakers, it means leaving a complex and challenging part of the picture to partners with experience and expertise, rather than having to spin up that part of the tech business themselves. The fleet provision in the deal is also interesting, and suggests the partnership between the two could involve more strategic cooperative service offerings ahead of the advent of commercial self-driving tech. Lyft gaining more ground among automakers beyond longtime partner GM also explains why it was reported that the ride hailing company turned down overtures regarding a potential acquisition by the Detroit-based automaker.Written by Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch.Related Video: