1966 Jaguar Fixed- Head Coupe 4.2 on 2040-cars

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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:

Jaguar's electric XJ sedan spied playing (again) in the snow

UPDATE: A much better set of spy shots hit our inboxes this morning, so we've updated this story with the new photos. As you can see, we have a pretty complete set of photographs showing the new all-electric Jaguar XJ from pretty much every angle. The first set of spy photos can be seen further down below The original story continues: The image gallery above represents our best look yet of the soon-to-be-reborn Jaguar XJ. Unlike the sedan's first 50 or so years, this one is electric, which makes sense considering the original mission statement for Jag's flagship people hauler was to be an "eXperimental Jaguar." The automaker has already told us that the electrified XJ will ride atop the Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) platform as "the world's first, full-electric luxury sports saloon," as they've apparently forgotten that Tesla and the Porsche Taycan already exist. Unfortunately, the shots we have to share with you today aren't great — the photographer suggests the driver of the big cat was quite adept at eluding his lens — but unlike the last time it's at least moving (quickly) under its own power and we can definitely make out a very slinky four-door shape. This is going to be a very large car, which makes sense considering it'll share its MLA guts with upcoming SUVs from corporate cousin Land Rover. Judging by the cutlines in the camouflage at the rear, it appears to be a five-door hatchback shell, a form it will share with the Tesla Model S. That same camo covers most of the lighting elements, so we're not sure how close they conform to the teaser you can see here. Jaguar has said that vehicles based on the MLA platform will get 90.2-kWh battery packs capable of up to 292 miles of range, though those estimates would be lower on U.S. testing cycles. The chassis has been built to accept internal combustion engines and hybrids, too, a necessary compromise if the next XJ is going to fully compete with Jaguar's German rivals. We can't say if this particular prototype is all electric or if there's an engine resting underhood, but the big covered grille opening suggests cooling won't be an issue either way. Related Video:

Jaguar Vision Gran Turismo SV ups the performance of the virtual sports car

Last year, Jaguar created its very first concept car made specifically for the Gran Turismo video game series, and this year it's following it up with an even faster racing variant. It's called the Jaguar Vision Gran Turismo SV, and it has some pretty wild specifications. This virtual racing machine no longer uses three motors, but four, with the extra motor being fitted to the front and allowing torque vectoring at all four wheels. Output has increased substantially to 1,877 horsepower and 2,478 pound-feet of torque. The regular Jaguar Vision Gran Turismo "only" made 1,005 horsepower and 885 pound-feet of torque. Jaguar claims a 0-60 mph time for the SV of 1.65 seconds and a top speed of 255 mph. That top speed might be higher if it weren't for the various aerodynamic aids adding downforce. It has a huge splitter, diffuser and long adaptive rear wing. The car can create up to 1,000 pounds of downforce at 200 mph. One other wild performance feature is the cooling system for the lithium-ion battery pack. It has a coolant circuit with liquid nitrogen that ensures the battery doesn't overheat when discharging the massive amount of electricity to run the powerful motors. Though Jaguar will likely never actually produce a functional version of this car in real life, the company did at least create a full-size model of it. It should be impressive in person given its extraordinarily low, wide and long shape. We're hoping it shows up at car shows when the pandemic subsides. The virtual car is due to be available in 2021. Jaguar didn't specifically say which version of Gran Turismo is will be featured in. The regular car can be driven in "Gran Turismo Sport." The racing version could be added to "Gran Turismo Sport," but the launch date of 2021 has us wondering if it will instead show up in "Gran Turismo 7" for PlayStation 5. Related Video: