All Entries in the "JAGUAR" Category
Amateur Fellini: Driving The Gran Premio Nuvolari By XK120
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: YouTube ::: Gran Premio Nuvolari
WATCH this amateur video shot in 2006 of the Gran Premio Nuvolari – a classic car rally in Italy whose course connects Pisa with Rimini as it circles between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Coasts – and you’ll swear that it’s a scene straight from a Fellini flick. I promise.
We sit in a Jaguar XK120 that drives through narrow streets with crowds of onlookers – old men in high-waist pants and young children cheering gleefully as the driver of the Jag taps a horn that plays the first few notes of La Cucaracha. At some points you see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and some old Alfas, an open stretch of road with grassy hillsides and ancient walls.
Of course it helps that this the video’s in black and white and that all the cars are all of a certain age (50′s-60′s). For a simple handi-cam effort, we can thank the videographer for bringing the Gran Premio Nuvolari home.
Jaguar XJ220 Redux? Jaguar Plans To Build C-X75
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Jaguar ::: Jaguar C-X75
DETERMINED to make the C-X75 “as striking on the road as it was in concept form,” Jaguar and its design director Ian Callum are set to transform what was originally a celebration of 75 years of Jaguar’s most feline car art into a limited production, £700,000 ($1.1 million) reality. History shows that they’ve been here before. Can Jaguar succeed this time round?
Awaiting Resurrection In San Marcos: Jaguar Mk II
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img ADLX ::: Jaguar Mk II
DRIVING through undulating countryside just north of San Diego on a flawless, cloudless, and otherwise mirthful day, yours happened upon this skeleton in some fellow traveler’s backyard. Sun bleached and sunken into the grass, a Jaguar Mk II sits -a nuclear shadow of its righteous former self. From Britain, a once peerless 60s sports saloon par excellence. No telling if the cat’s for sale, but, in an adjacent lot there’s a handwritten sign that reads: “Kittens $30. $35 for some.”
50 Years XKE: Richard and The Jaguar E-Type
IN 1970, aged 25, Richard Wolf bought himself an XKE convertible. In honor of the E-Type’s 50th anniversary, R.D. tells of the glory and the madness in owning the world’s sexiest roadster.
Thank Trigger: 1987 CAR Road Comparo 560SEL v 750iL v Turbo R v Sovereign
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img (1987) CAR Magazine via Flickr ::: Road Comparison Test Issue
THUMB through the pictoral mountain that is Flickr and you’ll find an account called “Trigger’s Vintage Road Tests!” It’s awesome. For one thing, “Trigger” posted a 1987 comparison issue from CAR that compared a quartet of 80s luxury rock stars – the BMW 750iL, Bentley Turbo R, Jaguar Sovereign, and Mercedes-Benz 560SEL. Girly squeal! He’s done us auto aficionados a great service. Here’s why:
Jaguar XJ Interior Needs A Rethink
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Jaguar Cars ::: Jaguar XJ Interior
JAGUAR has engineered a fairly remarkable about-face in fortunes since Tata Motors embraced the British icon in 2008. Given that Jaguar was derided as a firmly retro division of Ford’s Premiere Auto Group, bent on serving up lukewarm rehashes of 60s memorabilia, Jag’s now taken a leap – no puns – into the 21st century with truly avant-garde design. With mixed results. The new interior is an iffy case in point.
Our German CEOs Are Better Than Your German CEOs
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Kevin Kusina for ADLX ::: Dr. Ralf Speth, CEO Jaguar-Land Rover
CREDIT Dr. Ulrich Bez, the former Porsche engineer and current CEO of Aston Martin for providing the sharp, unsentimental, efficient leadership that the UK based bespoke car maker needed to transform itself into a global success story. So, how much credit can be given to the fact that Dr. Bez is German? Difficult to say, but you might ask the current heads of Bentley, Jaguar-Land Rover, MINI, and Rolls-Royce.
On The Jaguar XKR-S…
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Jaguar Cars ::: Jaguar XKR-S
IT’S a sorry bit of irony that in marking the anniversary of possibly the world’s sexiest car – the Jaguar E-Type – the designers at Coventry have given us the rather tawdry bit of kit now known as the Jaguar XKR-S.
