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This Jaguar E-Type is an even longer-legged feline

Paul Branstad loves the shape and purity of the Series 1 Jaguar E-Type, produced from 1961 to 1968, but appreciates the longer length of the Series 3 V12 model, which affords occupants a more comfortable space in which to enjoy long trips. So when Branstad brought his damaged left-hand-drive 1968 roadster from its home in the US to Classic Motor Cars in the UK for a restoration, he had a special request: restore his car, but make it a bit longer.
"This is something that we have never done before. Our client wanted the interior leg room of a Series 3 V12 E-Type but the aesthetics of a Series 1 car," says Nick Goldthorp, managing director of CMC.
For the restoration, CMC added 4.5 inches of length to the floor pan of Branstad's E-Type to create the extra legroom. Goldthorp relates, "The V12 was actually nine inches longer than a Series 1 but a lot of the additional room was behind the seats as storage and was not required on our project." That's because CMC also built a trailer out of two E-Type rear ends that attaches to a custom-made removable tow hitch.

Jaguar returns to open-wheel racing with Formula E team [w/video]

One of the most legendary names in motor racing – Jaguar – is returning to the open-wheel racing, but not with an internal-combustion engine. The British company has confirmed its plans to enter the FIA Formula E Championship. Though the British automaker has revealed little in the way of concrete details, the team is set to join the electric grid for the third season starting next fall. Jaguar will team up with Williams as its technical partner, drawing on the relationship they established in developing the C-X75 hybrid hypercar concept and on Williams' considerable racing expertise. The F1 team founded by Frank Williams developed the battery system for the SRT_01E that all the teams are using currently. "Electric vehicles will absolutely play a role in Jaguar Land Rover's future product portfolio and Formula E will give us a unique opportunity to further our development of electrification technologies," said JLR's chief engineer Nick Rogers. "The Championship will enable us to engineer and test our advanced technologies under extreme performance conditions." The company recently showcased new battery propulsion technology and is said to be developing an electric crossover to be dubbed the Jaguar E-Pace. Jaguar won Le Mans five times in the 1950s and twice again in 1988 and '90, and racked up victories in touring cars in the early 80s. Most recently Jaguar Racing represented the company in Formula One until then-parent Ford sold the team to Red Bull in 2004 before divesting itself from the company altogether in 2007. Aside from the XKR GT3/GT2 that it furnished to privateer teams, Jaguar has not competed in any major racing series since. Jaguar joins Audi, Renault, and PSA Peugeot Citroen on the Formula E grid. The announcement coincides with the withdrawal from the series of the Trulli team. Former F1 driver Jarno Trulli took over the outfit from Drayson and is now relinquishing the slot back to the series organizers effective immediately, dropping the grid down to 9 teams and 18 cars until Jaguar takes its place next season. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Jaguar testing hardcore F-Type R-S GT?

Some automakers make a hardcore model, then sit back and revel in its awesomeness. Jaguar does things a little differently. It takes a standard production model, gives it more power, bigger brakes and a tighter suspension and slaps the letter R on it. Then it gives it even more power, even bigger brakes and an even tighter suspension and calls it an R-S. Sometimes the engineers in Coventry don't even think that's enough, so they strip out some weight and dial things up even further and call it an R-S GT.
So far, they've only gone that far with the XK (transformed first into the XKR, then the XKR-S, and finally the XKR-S GT), but with that model on its way out, Jaguar seems to be preparing to give the newer F-Type a similar treatment. Now we can't be sure that what we're looking at is an F-Type R-S GT, especially since the 550-horsepower engine from the XKR-S and XFR-S is already powering the existing F-Type R Coupe, but it does seem to have all the makings of a hardcore performance model.
Compared to the existing F-Type, the development model pictured here has a bigger front splitter (like the one on the Project 7 concept), a big rear wing and a set of what looks like pretty big lightweight alloys. It's also, tellingly, a roadster, which (unlike the coupe) has until now topped out at 500hp with the V8 S model. So while it may be hard to say exactly just what Jaguar has in store for us here (or what they'll call it), one thing's for sure: it's gonna be fast and loud.