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Jay Leno's Garage drives Steve McQueen's 1956 Jaguar XKSS

Steve McQueen might be the coolest American male of the 20th century. With movies like Bullitt and Le Mans, McQueen established himself as the king of cool of his era, and on the list of actors you would pick for a fantasy racing team - he or Paul Newman are the natural first choices. The latest Jay Leno's Garage video highlights one of McQueen's most special cars - a 1956 Jaguar XKSS.
Just 16 XKSS models were made because a fire at the Jaguar factory halted production. It was meant to be a street version of the company's very successful D-Type racer, with a modified version of its 3.4-liter straight-six-engine and a four-speed manual gearbox. McQueen clearly had an eye for great vehicles. He drove his Jag around Los Angeles years after it was a cutting-edge piece of technology. Since then, it became part of the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA. Autoblog's The List even took a ride in it when the show visited the museum.
The XKSS is one of the pinnacles of automotive design of the '50s, and its association with McQueen makes this example even more extraordinary. Leno is in love with the car from the moment he sees it, and it's hard to argue with him. Between its emphasized curves and raspy exhaust, this is one sexy Jag. Scroll down to get an eyeful and earful from one of McQueen's favorite cars.

Jaguar likely moving HQ to Britain's most iconic racetrack

Jaguar Land Rover looks increasingly likely to make Britain's iconic Silverstone race track the automaker's new headquarters. There isn't a final deal in place yet, but the British Racing Drivers' Club, which owns the circuit, plans to have the membership vote on whether the negotiations should move forward, according to Autosport. BRDC leaders already presented the plan to members, and they were open to the idea. "The response was favorable so we will now set up an EGM for the members to vote and give the board a mandate to proceed with the deal and continue with the negotiations with JLR," BRDC president Derek Warwick told Autosport. There's no guarantee yet that JLR actually completes the deal. "There's still a lot of work to do to get the deal to where both sides are happy and more importantly what's right for the BRDC and its members." Warwick said. Rumors in early December suggested JLR was among the firms submitting bids to purchase the track, and the automaker allegedly offered 22.7 million pounds ($34.1 million at the time) for it. The company would also reportedly invest nearly $80 million to renovate the site, including adding a museum, experience center, hotel, and offices. The track would still be open for motorsport, too. Silverstone has hosted the Formula One British Grand Prix many times over the decades, and organizers signed a 17-year deal in 2009 to keep things that way well into the future. Series like the FIA World Endurance Championship, MotoGP, and British Touring Car Championship also compete there. Related Video:

Jaguar XJ220 leaps into Jay Leno's Garage

Having sadly canceled the C-X75 project and sat out today's hybrid hypercar race, it would be all too easy to forget about Jaguar as a supercar manufacturer altogether. But back in the early '90s, the British automaker didn't just play in the supercar game – it dominated it. The XJ220 was, for a time, the fastest car in the world. Jay Leno pays tribute in this latest video. Originally envisioned with a V12 engine and all-wheel drive, the XJ220 ultimately surfaced with a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 driving the rear wheels alone. None of that kept it from eclipsing the top speed achieved by every supercar that came before with a terminal velocity that didn't quite reach the 220 miles per hour initially promised, but came pretty darn close. The disappointment in the change of specification lead some to dismiss the XJ220 as a failure, but it was still the fastest thing on the road until another British supercar (in the form of the McLaren F1) took its place at the pinnacle of automotive bragging rights. Two decades later, Jaguar quite nearly drove down the same road when its initial plans for the C-X75 changed from an experimental turbine powertrain to a multi-charged inline-four. Only this time the Leaping Cat marque didn't put it into production at all, save for a few prototypes and movie props – which is a bit of a shame, and then some. Watching Jay speed down memory lane in the supercar that almost never was, we're glad that Jaguar still built the XJ220, and saddened that it never followed up with another groundbreaking supercar today. Related Video: