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David Brown Speedback GT marks US debut at The Quail

The British invasion has officially deployed another expeditionary force to these American shores with the arrival of the David Brown Speedback GT. The classically styled English grand tourer debuted nearly a year and a half ago, and has been racking up orders from discerning customers in the UK and across continental Europe. As promised, it has now made its American debut at the swanky Monterey event known as The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering. The Speedback GT is a coachbuilt grand touring coupe made by British startup David Brown Automotive. It's based on a Jaguar XKR, but reskinned inside and out to give it the look and feel of a classic Aston Martin – little wonder given the name it shares with the former Aston chief whose initials still adorn the DB model line. Underneath the retro bodywork lies Jaguar's celebrated 5.0-titer supercharged V8, giving the Speedback thoroughly modern levels of muscle with 510 horsepower and 461 pound-feet of torque. The resulting 0-60 time of 4.6 seconds and top speed of 155 miles per hour are suitably quick – not quite time-warping, but the performance is certainly nowhere near as old-school as the design would lead you to believe. Call it the best of both worlds, then, if you dig the styling. But don't expect everyone to be jumping on this particular gentlemanly bandwagon. At nearly half a million pounds sterling – over $750k at current exchange rates – it's sure to keep out the riffraff of which "the rest of us" are most certainly part. Featured Gallery David Brown Speedback GT: Monterey 2015 View 14 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Misc. Auto Shows Jaguar Coupe Luxury Pebble Beach david brown automotive

Jaguar unveils a Touring version of the XE SV Project 8 super sedan

Jaguar produced just 300 examples of the bonkers XE SV Project 8 super sedan. Now, it's going to build 15 more, but in a new street-spec Touring form. It's essentially the same as the track-spec version, but you lose the extreme aero elements. If you remember the Project 8 from a couple years ago, you know it has an adjustable carbon fiber wing sitting atop the decklid. This one just has a small lip spoiler, giving it a more discreet look. Additionally, the adjustable front splitter is swapped for a smaller fixed one that is less likely to scrape on everything you encounter on the road. Finally, Jaguar removed the aggressive decals, but you're allowed to put those back on optionally if you so choose. The Touring retains the 5.0-liter supercharged V8 making 592 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. That's good for a 0-60 mph run in just 3.3 seconds. There is some bad news for those angling for the highest top speed, though. Jaguar limits the wingless Touring to just 186 mph, whereas the more stable, regular SV Project 8 is allowed to hit 200 mph. Another bit exclusive to the Touring is the required four-seat configuration. You were able to option the standard car with a half roll cage in place of the rear seats. But hey, don't you want to drive your friends around in your stupid-fast Jaguar? Weirdly enough, the Touring is actually a hair more expensive than the standard car. You'll be looking at a standard price of just over $190,000 to the regular car's $187,500 starting price. The difference is negligible at that point, and the Touring will actually be far more exclusive than the already limited standard Project 8. We certainly like the looks of the Touring version — it reminds us of the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring in nature and purpose, and there's a whole lot to love about that car. Jaguar says that even though it's only making 15 of them, some slots are still open for ordering. If the most powerful Jag without a wing strikes your fancy, we'd recommend getting in touch with Jaguar sooner rather than later.

Tata to get Jaguar and Land Rover tech, platforms too?

Since buying Jaguar Land Rover, Indian automaker Tata has generally left its luxury arm's platforms and technology alone. However, those days might be gone. The two of them are gradually growing closer with coordinated development and rumors of shared platforms. And it looks like all of that work and money is finally going to pay off with an actual vehicle in the near future.
According to Australian website Drive, Tata wants to make its cars more attractive to buyers outside of India, and to do that the company knows it must improve quality. The Indian company is being careful, though, because it doesn't want to dilute the Jaguar or Land Rover brands with cheap models. "You're going to see in the future a lot of sharing of technologies and platforms over time, but you won't see a JLR with a Tata badge on it," said Darren Bowler, managing director of Tata's Australian distributor, to Drive.
According to Bowler, these future vehicles are already on the way. Tata and JLR have a global platform in the works for 2017 that both companies could use for cars or crossovers. He also hinted that Jaguar's new Ingenium engines could be shared among the brands in the future, too.