1967 Jaguar Xke (e-type) Series I Coupe 2+2, All Original, 4-speed, 4.2l on 2040-cars

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2021 Jaguar XF gets new interior, down to four-cylinder engines and sedan body style

Just like the F-Pace, the 2021 Jaguar XF luxury sedan is getting a light refresh for the new model year. Unlike the F-Pace, the XF's new features are mostly limited to interior and exterior design. And it also loses an engine and body style option. From the outside, not much has changed with the XF. It has a fresh grille, new LED headlights and taillights, and fender vents with the "Leaper" Jaguar logo. It's inside where things have really changed. A completely new dashboard design has been added, which looks a lot like the F-Pace's. It has a full-width air vent motif at the top, and below it are panels with nice stitching and either open-pore or aluminum trim. Whether all this also includes a much-needed improvement in materials quality won't be known until we test one.  The focal point is the new 11.4-inch infotainment system screen made of glass with a magnesium frame. Powering it is the latest Pivi operating system with the capability for over-the-air updates. Jaguar has also added a number of standard features including proximity entry, wireless phone charging, active noise cancellation, a surround-view camera system and a 12-speaker Meridian sound system. While some new features have been added, Jaguar has also removed some options. The XF is now only available with four-cylinder engines, as the supercharged V6 has been discontinued with no direct successor. The base engine is the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 246 horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque. It's available with either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. A version of this engine making 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque is optional, and it comes only with all-wheel drive. The other deletion is that of the Jaguar XF Sportbrake wagon, news first reported by CNET Roadshow, and then confirmed by Jaguar. This comes just as two new luxury wagons of its size have been introduced to the market: the Audi A6 Allroad and Mercedes-Benz E-Class All-Terrain. However, like the Volvo V90 Cross Country, they're of the mildly lifted and body-cladded wagon sub-segment, which the XF Sportbrake most definitely was not. The surviving un-cladded, un-lifted wagons in this segment are now the regular E-Class and V90, but the latter can only be special ordered in the United States.  The XF will go on sale around January. It should also be priced similarly to the current XF, which starts at $52,250. Update: Jaguar confirmed that the XF Sportbrake has been discontinued for the U.S.

Junkyard Gem: 1973 Jaguar XJ6

It requires a certain high level of commitment to keep an old Jaguar on the road, and so plenty of first-generation Jaguar XJs end up as projects that never get finished, sitting in yards or garages for decades before winding up in the nearest U-Wrench yard. As I clomp through car graveyards around the country in search of interesting machinery, I see so many 1980s XJs that I don't bother to photograph many of them … but a genuine Series I early Jag is a different story. Here's a '73 XJ6 whose final parking space (prior to facing the cold steel jaws of The Crusher) sits right next to that of a same-year Mercedes-Benz 450SLC in an East Bay yard. How the mighty have fallen! The C107 was too picked-over to be worth photographing, but you can admire the photos of this much nicer '72 I found in Denver a few years back. Unlike the last Series 1 XJ6 that I've photographed (in the very same yard, albeit 13 years ago), this car has not had its original straight-six engine replaced by a small-block Chevrolet V8 (because Jaguar parts were expensive and Chevy parts were cheap during the 1970s, that swap happened frequently). The US-market XJ6 got 150 horsepower from this smooth-running DOHC six, 40 fewer horses than the (far more expensive) 450SLC that year. The interior looks ravaged by the decades, but you can still discern the opulence that once reigned in this wood-and-leather-lined space. The dash boasts a full complement of authentic Smiths gauges, with a tasteful Kienzle clock right in the middle. Here's why we can assume that fewer than two of those instruments functioned at any given time during the life of this car: wiring by The Prince of Darkness! Working on electrical faults in these cars built up your patience while undermining your faith in symptom-to-problem relationships. The six-digit odometer ensures that we'll never know if we're looking at a 56,819-mile car or a 356,819-mile car. I'd guess 156,819 if I had to, based on pedal wear. These cars were very popular in the Bay Area, which has been full of European-car aficionados since the first Renault AXs sputtered off the docks of the San Francisco waterfront. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, you'd never see an old XJ without one of these pre-EU "GB" stickers on the back. The faded condition of this one suggests decades of sitting in the sun, probably while the car sat dead in the driveway due to electrical problems.

Jaguar XK to cease production this summer

With the introduction of the F-Type coupe and convertible, Jaguar has cleared room in its sports car lineup to drop the XK for new models. "There will be a 2015 model year XK, but the rumors are true, production for the XK will end later this year after eight years," said Wayne York Kung, Jaguar USA National Product Communications Manager, in an email to Autoblog. A replacement for the GT might be a very long way off.
The automaker told Auto Express that it's part of a "wider strategic vision and product planning cycle." Ending assembly will allow the feline luxury brand to build better-selling vehicles like the XE, its upcoming BMW 3 Series fighter. The new sedan is scheduled to go on sale in Europe in 2015 and in the US in 2016. It also needs to make room for the C-X17 crossover to be built, which is likely expected to sell better than a 2+2 GT car.
"There are no immediate plans to replace the XK," said Kung in his email. Jag was rumored to be considering moving a future generation of it upmarket. The new model would have been a bigger, softer grand tourer and allow the F-Type to be the brand's more hardcore sports car.