1983 Jaguar Xjs on 2040-cars

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Lightweight E-Type to show historic side of Jaguar Special Operations in Monterey

Jaguar has made a lot of great vehicles over the years, but as far as historians are concerned, it still very much lives in the shadow of the original E-Type, small as it was. In its image, Jaguar has made two generations of XK and the new F-Type, but what we have here is the most faithful continuation of the E-Type heritage yet.
Alongside the Range Rover Sport SVR and the F-Type Project 7 (making its US debut), Jaguar Land Rover and its new Special Operations division will roll into Pebble Beach this year with the continuation Lightweight E-Type. Of the 72,500 E-Types which Jaguar built between 1961 and 1975, only a dozen were Lightweight versions, and they remain the most coveted E-Types of all. It originally planned on building 18 examples, though, and five decades later, it's now committed to completing that original production run in faithful detail.
The Lightweight E-Type was based on the standard roadster and was homologated as such, just with some key upgrades to make it lighter and faster. The biggest change, of course, was the lightweight aluminum bodywork that cut 205 pounds off the curb weight. To replicate it, Jaguar took the last example (the only one made in 1964 after the original eleven were made in '63), scanned half its body surface, mirrored it to ensure symmetry and set about reproducing it with the same standard of materials available in the Sixties (and resisting the urge to go with more modern grades of aluminum). 75 percent of the 230 components are made in-house, with the largest stampings outsourced and built on machinery built to Jaguar's specifications off-site.

Jaguar trademarks EV-Type nameplate

Green may have been a popular color choice for the classic Jaguar E-Type, but even in Lightweight form (pictured above), it was hardly what you'd call environmentally friendly. Not by today's standards, anyway, with six-, eight- and twelve-cylinder engines displacing between 3.8 and 5.3 liters. But Jaguar looks to be preparing to revive the nameplate - or at least one similar - with a new electric vehicle in the works.
According to the latest intel, Jaguar has applied both in the US and in Europe to trademark the name EV-Type. The implication that it's developing an electric vehicle is clear, as is the reference to its iconic sports car of yore. But more than that, we don't know. We could be looking at an electric version of the current F-Type, a project to convert original E-Types to electric power or a different model altogether.
It wouldn't be the first time, of course, that we'd see Jaguar toying with the idea of electric propulsion. A couple of years ago, the British automaker demonstrated a plug-in hybrid XJ_e prototype, and showcased both the C-X16 and C-X75 concepts with advanced hybrid powertrains. But it has yet to put any such system into production, relying instead on the small diesels it sells in Europe to keep its carbon footprint small.

Crowd sets Waymo self-driving vehicle ablaze in San Francisco

A crowd vandalized and set fire to a Waymo self-driving car using a firework in San Francisco on Saturday, the Alphabet-owned company and authorities said, marking the most destructive attack so far on driverless vehicles in the U.S. On Saturday night, a crowd surrounded a white sport utility vehicle that was moving along a street in the city's Chinatown district, a company spokesperson said. Michael Vandi, a witness who posted videos of the incident, told Reuters that people were celebrating China's Lunar New Year by setting off fireworks. A person jumped onto the hood of the Waymo vehicle and broke its windshield. Another person also jumped on the hood 30 seconds later as some in the crowd clapped in approval, he told Reuters in an X direct message. "That was when it went WILD," he wrote, describing people with skateboards breaking the glass and others graffitiing the car. "There were 2 groups of people. Folks who encourage it — and others who were just shocked & started filming. No one stood up — i mean there wasnÂ’t anything you could do to stand up to dozens of people." His video showed the vehicle engulfed in flames with a huge plume of black smoke. Waymo said someone threw a firework inside, which set the vehicle on fire. The fire department posted pictures on social media of the charred remains of the car and said a firework started the blaze. "The vehicle was not transporting any riders and no injuries have been reported. We are working closely with local safety officials to respond to the situation," the company said. It did not say what caused the attack. The San Francisco Police Department said it was investigating the cause of the fire and did not say whether arrests have been made. The electric car, a Jaguar I-PACE, is equipped with 29 cameras and other sensors. The latest incident came a day before the Super Bowl NFL championship involving the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. "This was a one-off event," the Waymo spokesperson told Reuters, adding it will "continue serving riders during todayÂ’s festivities." The incident was not the first time people have harassed self-driving cars, but its severity may illustrate growing public hostility following a pedestrian-dragging accident last year involving a vehicle operated by General Motors' Cruise unit.