1969 Jaguar Xke Series 2 Coupe, 4.2 Litre on 2040-cars

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Jaguar XJ220 owners will finally be able to get new tires

Bridgestone announced today that the underserved Jaguar XJ220 used-car market would finally have access to new tires. Apparently a number of years ago, companies stopped supplying road tires for the XJ220 altogether. Don Law, owner and operator of XJ220 parts and restoration company Don Law Racing, brought the issue to the attention of Bridgestone. Now, Bridgestone and Don Law have assembled a team that includes the vehicle's original chief development engineer and test driver to create a modern tire for the 213-mph supercar. Bridgestone was also able to get access to pre-production car 004 for testing purposes. The company plans to have the new tire ready for the car's twenty-fifth anniversary next year. From the sound of it, the tire will likely outperform the original one, as Bridgestone's vice president of consumer OE tires cited the advancement of tire technology over the years when talking about the project. This whole project also raises an interesting question. Are there any other supercars that don't have original equipment tire options anymore? The XJ220 certainly wasn't the only supercar of the '90s with fat tires on relatively small-diameter wheels. Also, what will happen to the tire market for modern supercars? The Bugatti Veyron famously has special tires designed to handle its extremely high top speed. It certainly is an interesting first-world conundrum, and one we're going to keep tabs on. Related Video:

Jaguar F-Pace, XE getting SVR treatment with supercharged V8

The folks at Jaguar Land Rover's new Special Vehicle Operations division have been fast at work creating new SVR performance models. And they're not about to stop now. Two new Jaguar models are currently in the works, according to Car and Driver, both packing the company's long-serving and celebrated supercharged V8. First up is the F-Pace crossover, which currently tops out with a 380-horsepower supercharged V6. Slotting the bigger engine in under the hood with more than 500 horsepower on tap would go a long way toward living up to the name that suggests both speed and a correlation to the F-Type sportscar. But that's not all JLR's new skunkworks department has in store. Car and Driver reports work is also under way on a more powerful XE to take on the likes of the BMW M3 and Mercedes-Benz AMG C63. The automaker is reportedly yet to give it the green light, hemming and hawing over its environmental image, but we hope hotter heads, in this case, prevail. Jaguar's V8 engine is one of its most enduring powertrains and is approaching double the output it originally offered. The 4.0 introduced in 1997 packed 375 horsepower. The latest version in the F-Type SVR (and expected soon to slot into the Range Rover Sport SVR) displaces 5.0 liters and produces 575 supercharged horsepower. With that much muscle, the F-Pace SVR would overpower the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, BMW X5 M, and Mercedes-AMG GLE63, while the XE SVR would outgun the M3, Cadillac ATS-V, Alfa Romeo Giulia QV, and just about anything else in its class. Related Video:

Cargo ship carrying 1,200 Jaguars and Land Rovers deliberately run aground [w/video]

A cargo ship carrying a load of new cars out of Southampton has run aground in the English Channel in between England and the Isle of Wight. The vessel apparently suffered some sort of failure just 45 minutes after leaving port that caused it to list heavily to the starboard side before the crew deliberately beached it on Bramble Bank to prevent the ship from capsizing altogether. The vessel, called the Hoegh Osaka, is a 590-foot car carrier weighing some 57,000 tons and registered in Singapore. Although several automakers (including Honda and Bentley) were reportedly looking into whether they had cars on board, the vessel is said to have been filled to approximately one-third its capacity, with 1,400 vehicles on board – including 1,200 Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, 65 Mini models and one Rolls-Royce Wraith. 70 to 80 pieces of construction equipment were also said to be on board. The Hoegh Osaka was en route from the southern British port of Southampton to Bremerhaven, Germany. Fortunately, no major injuries have been reported. The crew was mostly airlifted by helicopter off of the beached ship, with two crew members evacuated by lifeboat. One crew member reportedly jumped over 25 feet off the ship into the water before being immediately retrieved by rescue workers. According to the Daily Mail, two crew members were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, including a broken leg. It may take several days, if not longer, to extract the vessel from the sand bank and ascertain the damage to the ship and its cargo. An early attempt to free the ship with tugboats failed, meaning that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency may have to wait until more favorable high tides to try again before towing the ship back into the port. Bramble Bank, where the vessel was run aground, is a well-known obstacle to maritime navigators. The Queen Elizabeth 2 ran aground there in November 2008 with 1,700 passengers on board, but was quickly freed by four tugboats and was able to continue on its way. Two local yacht clubs also play a cricket match there every year at low tide. The vessel's operator, Hoegh Autoliners, praised the skill and quick thinking of the crew in acting to prevent the ship's capsizing by running her aground on the soft, sandy shoal. Watch the clip below for aerial footage of the beached ship, courtesy of the BBC. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.