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Jaguar F-Type Rally Car First Ride | This cat likes gravel

SOUTH WALES, U.K. — The invitation is last-minute and somewhat vague. The location, an off-road test area in South Wales known as Walter's Arena, sounds more Land Rover than Jaguar. It's also in five hours, and only a passenger seat tease is on offer. But a Jaguar rally car? Color me curious. First impressions don't disappoint. Basking at the entrance is NUB 120, so-named after its license plate and considered the most famous Jaguar XK120 of all. Built in 1950, it took three consecutive overall wins on the insanely arduous Alpine Rally. Driven by Jaguar dealer (and Olympic skier) Ian Appleyard and navigated by his wife Pat Lyons, daughter of Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons, this car helped demonstrate the power and durability of the legendary XK engine in the toughest possible test. Carrying its original paint and a few battle scars, I could stop right here. But its presence is simply justification for what's lurking a little deeper in the forest. That being an F-Type rally car. Which is exactly as wild as it sounds. Based on a regular 2.0-liter F-Type Convertible, the project riffs on Jaguar's little-known rally heritage and pending MY20 updates to the F-Type range. The 16-inch rally wheels, gravel tires, custom fabricated roll cage and hood-mounted spots are not adornments destined for any production F-Type. That said, it's clearly been built to do more than sit on an auto show plinth. This initially seems like the sort of thing that'd be an after-hours project by Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations department, the same guys who cooked up the Project 7 F-Type and XE SV Project 8 sedan. But there's something about the Below Zero Ice Driving branding on the support truck that rings a bell. SVO supplied the graphics and items like the F-Type GT4 carbon fiber door cards, but it turns out the actual build was outsourced to a specialist outfit. Their expertise is turning sports cars into rally machines, this following the FIA's ongoing efforts to revive the sport's sideways, rear-wheel drive traditions. See the Toyota GT86 CS-R3 and initiatives like the R-GT Cup, the latter popular with privateers in converted 911 GT3s and inspiring Porsche's recent toe-in-the-water Cayman GT4 Clubsport rally car. Then it clicks — the crew are from Tuthill Porsche, a celebrated restoration and race shop between London and Birmingham with a huge presence in historic competition. They also have a sideline running Swedish ice driving experiences in old Porsches.

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.

Lapping Le Mans with 1956's version of a dash cam

Mike Hawthorne and Ivor Bueb won The 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955 driving a Jaguar D-Type. The following year, a few days before the race, a British broadcaster put cameras on Hawthorne's car, hung a mic from a plate on his race suit and had him narrate a lap of the Circuit de la Sarthe.
It is compelling viewing. A new pit complex was built after the massive accident on the front straight in 1955, but this was still a time when crews prepped for the race on roads that were open to the public. Hawthorne's lap includes maneuvers to avoid bicyclists and cars, and gems like letting us know that doing 185 miles per hour down the Mulsanne Straight was where you could "relax a little, recover your energy." Watch him work it like the men of old in the video below.