1991 Jaguar Xjs V-12 Convertible. Just 2,477 Actual Miles! Like-new. Video. on 2040-cars

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Jaguar wants to become the British electric company

Jaguar has been telegraphing its electric future for years, and this week we're beginning to see it come to fruition. The company's Formula E race team officially launched September 8 with sponsorship, livery, and an interesting name for its racecar, the I-Type 1. It marks Jaguar's return to factory-supported racing and serves as a model for the company's future strategy. "The Formula E championship will enable us to engineer and test our advanced technologies under extreme performance conditions," Nick Rogers, executive director of product engineering at Jaguar Land Rover, said in a statement. "We will apply this vital knowledge as part of our real-world development." Formula E competition starts October 9 as the all-electric racing series begins its third season. Panasonic signed on as the title sponsor of the team. Formula E is a natural move for Jag and allows the British company to remain true to its racing heritage while still looking toward. The company claims seven Le Mans titles, which is the fourth-most in history, even though it hasn't won one since 1990. That's a great lineage, but Jaguar knows it's getting dusty. Launching a Formula E effort allows it to compete in a form of motorsports that should prove relevant to road-car technology. Jag is drawing on Williams Advanced Engineering (you might have heard of its F1 team) for the electric powertrain. Williams also helped with the development of Jaguar's C-X75 plug-in concept car. Meanwhile, we also captured an F-Pace crossover silently testing this week in the Alps. Though it looks like a normal F-Pace, spy shooters report it was producing no engine noise, leading (or perhaps leaping) to the conclusion it's the rumored electric SUV Jaguar is working on. Likely, this prototype has a diesel engine as a range extender. View 11 Photos Though the camouflaged F-Pace is great fodder for speculation, Jag's electric efforts are not a secret. Jaguar and Land Rover showed off three electric-vehicle demonstrators last year and the company is exploring everything from mild hybrids to full electric powertrains. JLR has filed paperwork to secure trademarks for I-Pace and E-Pace. "JLR is definitely rushing headfirst into electrification," said Ed Kim, vice president of industry analysis for research firm AutoPacific.

Jaguar Land Rover to cut $6.8 billion in costs

Jaguar Land Rover reduce costs by $6.8 billion and will push annual production volume to 1 million vehicles under a secret project called Leap 4.5, according to Reuters. The British automaker wants to achieve these ambitious goals by the end of the decade to compensate for the changing market in China and to counteract the price of meeting stricter emissions standards around the world. Leap 4.5 won't mean firing workers or cutting the automaker's $4.5 billion annual research budget. JLR will instead find savings by underpinning more models with modular platforms and by adjusting its supply chain. Future factories like the one in Brazil and the proposed plant in Slovakia also won't be affected by the new strategy. Globally, JLR continues to grow, and deliveries are up two percent through October 2015 to 390,965 vehicles. Business just last month was up 24 percent year-over-year to 41,553 units. However, the auto market's downturn in China has taken a bite out the automaker's success because volume dropped there 32 percent in the third quarter, Reuters reported. A global volume of 1 million vehicles will mean more than doubling 2014's 462,678 deliveries, but JLR has made significant investments to boost production recently. In addition to the future factories, it opened its first plant in China last year and an engine assembly site in the UK. The company also signed a deal with Magna Steyr in 2015 to build an upcoming model in Austria. Related Video:

1965 Jaguar E-Type with just 8,000 miles is headed to auction

The Jaguar E-Type is considered by many to be the most beautiful car ever built, and that's particularly true of the first-generation, Series 1 cars. And while there are plenty of gorgeously restored examples, there can't be too many unrestored E-Types as well preserved as this 1965 roadster that will cross the block at the Gooding Pebble Beach Auction next month. Finished in black with a black top and matching interior, this E-Type was sold new to Ronald Goldstein, of East Longmeadow, Mass. The car remained with its original family until earlier this year, acquiring just over 8,000 miles before it was retired to the garage in 1972. Owing to its long storage, the exterior is dusty, light surface rust is visible on the bumper, and the plastic rear window is cloudy. But the car appears remarkably intact, particularly the interior. According to Gooding, this Jaguar retains its numbers-matching powertrain, a 4.2-liter DOHC inline-six engine and four-speed manual transmission, wears its factory paint, and even rolls on its original Dunlop tires. It also has its original Blaupunkt radio, factory soft top, convertible top boot, maintenance booklet, warranty card, and more. This has to be one of the most original Series 1 E-Types left in existence. We expect bidders will be raising their paddles high for this one. The dilemma for the winner will be whether to wash off that 56-year accumulation of dust and let this Jag's original beauty shine through.