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The Jaguar XKSS, famed ride of King of Cool, is new again

You might remember earlier this year, when we told you Jaguar had confirmed that it would follow up the limited-run of continuation E-Types – completely new, built from scratch classics – with a new run of the impossibly cool XKSS. Those folks in Coventry weren't pulling our leg, because we're here in LA and the brand new XKSS is here, too. Actually, they're 60 years late. If you remember the story we told you when Jaguar said it'd be building these things, there were originally to be 25 cars in total. 16 were built, and the other nine were destroyed in a fire at the Browns Lane factory. Thus, nine original XKSS cars have been missing, and the nine XKSSs that Jaguar will build for a cool GBP1 million each will round out the initial production run. If you're not familiar with the XKSS, here's a little background. Jaguar won Le Mans three times in a row in a factory racer known as the D-Type. After withdrawing factory support in 1956, some privateers continued on with the car, but Jaguar didn't. That left several D-Types sitting about Browns Lane in various degrees of completion. Sir William Lyons had them converted to road spec, which involved adding such niceties as a windshield and passenger door, but otherwise they were not far removed from the Le Man-winning cars they were based on. That meant that they were, to put it mildly, a lot of car for the street. The kind of person an XKSS appealed to was stylish and adventurous, and someone who craved speed. Someone like Steve McQueen, perhaps. His old XKSS is sitting in the Petersen Museum in LA, which not-coincidentally is where Jaguar assembled us to see the wraps pulled off the new one. The "new" XKSSs are generally faithful to the original design, with the bodies hand-formed off bucks that were themselves created off an original XKSS. The body is made out of exotic magnesium, an extremely lightweight metal which is often misunderstood to be extremely flammable. It is, but much more so when it's in little pieces, like shavings; formed into a car body, it's not quite the incendiary device you might think it'd be. Even the processes to form the chassis is the same, such as the bronze welding technique used to bond its tubing. A few concessions to modern safety are fitted, however. There's a fuel cell, partly due to the additional safety it provides but also to better resist the harrowing effects of modern ethanol blend fuel.

New Jaguar crossover to be called 'XQ'?

As part of its upcoming portfolio expansion, Jaguar will be adding two key models to its lineup in the next few years. The first is a small, 3 Series-fighting sedan tentatively called XS, and the other is said to be a new crossover, which may be dubbed XQ, as Edmunds reports. Jaguar filed a trademark application for the name "XQ" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office earlier this year, according to the report.
Jaguar executives have long said that the company is investigating new, higher-volume segments for the brand to compete in, and this certainly isn't the first time we've heard rumors of a CUV with a pouncing cat badge. Edmunds opines that since the Land Rover brand will no doubt continue to tackle the more traditional SUV segments, the Jaguar brand could easily house an offering in the luxury crossover market.
As for how a Jaguar CUV could come to fruition, Edmunds offers two suggestions. The first would be to build a vehicle on the smaller platform that will underpin the XS, as it will accommodate both rear- and all-wheel-drive applications and will be used for a number of differently sized vehicles. The second, more logical suggestion, is that the Jag CUV will ride on a version of the all-aluminum D7u platform used in the Land Rover Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.

2016 Jaguar F-Type ups warranty, adds standard equipment

The 2016 Jaguar F-Type is getting all-wheel-drive and an optional six-speed manual gearbox. That, of course, has been the big news surrounding the British brand's stylish two-seat coupe and cabrio since it was announced back in November. For 2016, though, Jag has done a lot more than just update the F-Type's powertrain – it's made life easier for the car's future owners. Jaguar has generously upped the complimentary service period for the 2016 F-Type, going from covering the first service only, to handing out five years or 60,000 miles of free maintenance to owners of the 2016 F-Type. That is, frankly, stupendous. That new plan is paired with an extended warranty, which has been expanded from five years or 50,000 miles to match the new complimentary service period. Coventry has also significantly added to the list of standard equipment for 2016, offering a 770-watt Meridian stereo, SiriusXM satellite radio, a SmartKey, 14-way power seats and on the hardtop models, a glass roof. Again, that's all standard equipment now. S models now get the standard dynamic mode, flat-bottomed wheel and active exhaust system. R models, as we said back in November, get all-wheel drive as standard. Most remarkable about all of this, though, is how little the new standard equipment has impacted the F-Type's price. The manual-trans Coupe matches last year's $65,000 starting price, while adding an eight-speed automatic kicks the price up $1,300. The S Coupe is slightly pricier than last year's $77,000 mid-grade model, starting at $77,300 for the manual and $78,800 for the automatic. The all-wheel-drive S Coupe starts at $84,800. The R, which as we said, enjoys standard all-wheel-drive, is getting the biggest price bump, with the Coupe model going from $99,000 to $103,600. The all-new Jaguar F-Type R Convertible starts at $106,450. Beyond that, if you want an F-Type with a canvas roof, add $3,100 to the prices shown above. So there we have it – a longer warranty, five years of free maintenance more standard equipment and a negligible increase in price. Um, why can't all model year updates be so nice? Check out the press release for more on the updated F-Types from Jag. Related Video: JAGUAR HITS THE GAS PEDAL ON U.S. 2016 F-TYPE LINEUP TO RAISE PRESSURE ON THE COMPETITION ? Jaguar ramps up F-TYPE value advantage by increasing standard equipment and features by $3,550 for F-TYPE to $11,850 for F-TYPE R models.