2007 Jaguar Xk Xk-series Coupe 2-door 4.2l on 2040-cars

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Jay Leno gets reacquainted with the Bertone Pirana

Jay Leno gets all manner of vehicles stopping by his garage – some more rare than others, but this one is an entirely unique creation unearthed from another time. It's the Pirana, a one-off commissioned by a British newspaper in the late Sixties that we actually found listed on eBay a few years back. It was built atop a Jaguar E-Type, but with custom bodywork designed by Marcello Gandini and crafted by Bertone. The result looks like a Maserati Ghibli or Lamborghini Espada of the same era, but actually came out just before either, previewing the Italian exotics that would follow from Gandini's pen and Bertone's carrozzeria. The Pirana is now undergoing a complete restoration to bring it back to the original condition in which it appeared at the 1967 London Motor Show, but before the process is complete, Leno shows us around and takes it out on the open road to relive memories of a relic from a bygone era.

Jaguar C-X17 resurfaces in China with gold finish, five-seat cabin [w/video]

Some concept cars make the rounds of the auto shows and are then retired. But a number of automakers are showing that a fresh coat of paint can go a long way towards rejuvenating a show car and giving it a new lease on life - at least as far as the auto show circuit is concerned. Lexus did that recently with the LF-LC concept, initially unveiling it in red at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, then repainting it a dark shade of blue for the subsequent shows in Australia and LA. Mini did the same with the Rocketman concept. And now Jaguar has done it again with its C-X17.
Initially unveiled in electric blue at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Jaguar then rolled the crossover out again in liquid silver for the Dubai Motor Show earlier this month. Now the concept is back again at the Guangzhou Motor Show in China with a fresh coat of rose gold.
Looking decidedly more luxurious than the previous iterations, this gilded C-X17 concept also bears another change: while the previous versions featured a four-seat cabin, this one has been redone with a more conventional five-seat configuration that more buyers would likely go for. It's also got a new interactive infotainment system and another system that warns passengers of pedestrians or cyclists approaching from the rear before they open the door. Check it out in the high-res image gallery above and the video clip below for a closer look.

Jaguar planning two bodystyles for next XJ

As we alluded to in today's F-Type first drive, Jaguar hasn't been selling its wares in China for very long, and as a result, buyers there usually don't have the same appreciation for the brand's history. So you might reasonably think that the company's recent radical styling shift (kicked off by the 2008 XF) wouldn't be as jarring to the nation's buying populace since they really didn't have the automaker's more traditionally styled models from years past to compare them against.
Yet while Jaguar and its sister marque, Land Rover, continue to pick up steam in China's developing market, that apparently isn't necessarily the case. Local buyers there tend to have more conservative tastes when it comes to styling, preferring more upright dimensions, big back seats and larger quantities of traditional luxury materials (think: chrome and wood) than other markets currently find desirable. Thus, the very bold current-generation XJ sedan may be leaving some sales on the table.
According to Edmunds, Jag doesn't want to risk that, and as such, it is preparing two bodystyles for the next-generation XJ - one with the rakish coupe-like styling of the current model, and a more "old-school" three-box sedan designed to appeal to a wider swath of Chinese buyers.