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Playmate of the Year Raquel Pomplun gets a Jaguar F-Type

The Jaguar F-Type is slinking its way into vastly divergent corners of the celebrity world. Lana del Rey is its songstress, Englishman-playing-American-terrorist Damien Lewis lead its cinematic debut in Desire, San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick gets the athletic endorsement, and now it's just been driven behind the "Adults Only" doors at the Playboy Mansion: Raquel Pomplun was gifted a year's use of an F-Type for being named 2013 Playmate of the Year.
There's a video below of Pomplun and her F-Type getting 'camera ready,' and a press release below that in case you want to, you know, "read the article."

Junkyard Gem: 2000 Jaguar S-Type

My junkyard studies of Jaguars have focused mostly on the four-wheeled felines of the 1960s through 1980s, but plenty of more recent Jags may be found in U-Pull-type yards around the continent. Today's Junkyard Gem appeared in a Northern California boneyard last summer, and it had stories to tell. Once Ford took over Jaguar in 1990, the idea of a midsize Jaguar saloon to steal sales from the BMW E39 5 Series and Lexus GS seemed like an increasingly good idea, and so a name used on a mid-1960s version of the Jaguar Mark 2 was revived for use on a car built on the same platform as the Lincoln LS. Both the new S-Type and LS appeared during the 1999 model year, and both are fairly easy to find in your local Ewe Pullet today. American S-Type buyers could choose between a 3.0-liter V6 and various flavors of V8 (including a hairy supercharged V8 good for 400 horses in the S-Type R). This car has the V6, which was based on the Duratec out of the Taurus and made 281 horsepower. In theory, American S-Type (and Lincoln LS) buyers could get a five-speed manual transmission on V6-equipped 1999-2003 cars … but I've never seen a three-pedal S-Type/LS, and I've been looking hard. As you'd expect, European S-Type buyers could get both manual transmissions and diesel engines for the duration of the car's 1999-2007 production run. This car has a ZF six-speed slushbox. The interior looks to have been in good condition when the car showed up here, and the original manuals were still in the car. Some of the wood trim got a bit cracked in the California sun during the car's two decades on the road. That sure looks a lot like a Kia Amanti nose, doesn't it? The Amanti appeared a few years later and showed strong S-Type (and E-Class) styling influence. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Beyond beautiful. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. History repeating.

Land Rover will downsize with a pair of hybridized turbodiesel sixes

Europe's automotive industry has ground to a halt, but the strict emissions regulations that went into effect in early 2020 are still looming on the horizon. Land Rover is preparing to launch a pair of hybridized turbodiesel six-cylinder engines in a bid to comply with the regulations and avoid paying huge fines, according to a recent report. British magazine Autocar learned Land Rover has applied the mild hybrid technology already offered on the Evoque and the Discovery Sport, its two smallest models, to a 3.0-liter straight-six to obtain 300 horsepower. The company will also release a more powerful version of the six rated at about 350 horses. The former will be available on HSE, HSE Dynamic and Autobiography Dynamic variants of the Range Rover Sport, while the latter will be added to upmarket models like the HST. The full-size Range Rover (pictured) will get them, too. The sixes represent a two-pronged approach to replacing the 4.4-liter turbodiesel V8 available in Europe, among other markets. It delivers 335 horsepower and 546 pound-feet of torque, and it sends the Range Rover from zero to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds while giving it a 7,700-pound towing capacity. These figures are hard to argue against, but it's an older engine that's increasing the company's fleet-wide average emissions output, so it has to go. The mild hybrid system won't power either Range Rover on electricity alone, but it will make them cleaner and more efficient; losing a pair of cylinders will help in both areas, too. Although Land Rover hasn't confirmed plans to ax the V8 or launch a hybridized six, suppliers have started publishing information about the powertrain, so its launch is believed to be around the corner. Time will tell whether it will appear on the current-generation models or their replacements, which are undergoing shakedown testing globally and due out in the coming months. Sister company Jaguar will use the mild hybrid technology, too. The six-cylinder will find its way into the XF and the F-Pace, which are both expected to receive comprehensive updates before the end of 2020. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Talking Land Rover Defender, Ford Bronco and GMC Jimmy | Autoblog Podcast #586