2003 Jaguar Xk8 Convertible on 2040-cars

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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.

Entry-level Jaguar X-Type successor due in 2015, crossover a year later

Jaguar's future product plans keep on slipping, slipping, slipping onto the internet, and the latest on it's entry-level luxury challenger is a 2015 due date. According to Automobile magazine, "most significant game-changer from Coventry" will be arriving on the same PLA platform that supports the Jaguar XJ and 2013 Range Rover. Kacher says the small sedan has already got the green light as codename X760, and will bow first as a four-door sedan, then as a crossover a year later.
This puts a date to a recent Autocar report that a small sedan and crossover were in the works. We've been getting reports of and concepts for a successor to the X-Type ever since Tata bought Jaguar - like the Bertone B99 concept last year, and this enthusiast concept more recently - since everyone knows it's what has to happen for "a new Jaguar" to succeed. We're looking forward to seeing what the English maker comes up with; if it remains true to form, it could be one of the few luxury competitors whose distinct model each look, well, truly distinct.

Driving JLR Classic's factory-restored Jaguar Reborn E-Type

COVENTRY, England – Moviegoers of a certain age will likely draw an association between the flag-emblazoned E-type “Shaguar” driven by Austin Powers and the carÂ’s image as an icon of Swinging-Sixties cool. For sure, the Brits cling to this era, recalling a time when everyone from The Beatles to the nationÂ’s car manufacturers were successfully exporting English swagger to the world. As the 60th anniversary of the E-typeÂ’s first appearance in 1961 approaches, attention is again focused on this golden age for British automotive engineering and JaguarÂ’s increasingly industrialized approach to leveraging its heritage. That takes the form of an impressive modern facility on the outskirts of the brandÂ’s hometown, where classic Land Rover, Range Rover and Jaguar vehicles are “Reborn” in nut-and-bolt factory restorations. This isnÂ’t a few old hands turning spanners in a dusty corner of the main factory — instead customers can go direct to Jaguar Land Rover Classic Works, order the Reborn vehicle of their dreams and sit patiently for the spectacular return on their considerable investment. In the case of the Reborn E-type driven here, that starts at around $400,000, though that figure can rise considerably if youÂ’re fussy about the vintage of the original car and want one based on a more sought-after early model. For the real fanboys Jaguar is even offering Drivsix matched pairs of restored E-type 60 Editions to celebrate the coupe and roadster that were famously driven direct from the factory to the Geneva unveiling just in time for Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons to reveal it to the world. That even Enzo Ferrari was moved to acknowledge its beauty adds to the romance of that moment, and explains why Jaguar is so keen to celebrate it. But can the Reborn E-type do justice to such myth and legend? And is factory original really preferable to the restomods built by independents like Eagle? Wheel time in a gorgeous Reborn 1965 4.2 Fixed-Head Coupe on an authentically grey and overcast English day is my chance to find out. The E-type may have earned EnzoÂ’s respect for its looks but, ever the wily engineer, he will likely have been paying closer scrutiny to what was under those slinky panels. Jaguar had demonstrated it could beat the worldÂ’s best in sports car racing with multiple Le Mans wins in the 1950s. As the new decade dawned, it looked to have ambitions to do the same in showrooms with a product that made MaranelloÂ’s finest seem like old tech.