2009 Jaguar Xf on 2040-cars

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Our love of SUVs is killing people in the streets

Americans are fond of supersized fast-food meals and colossal convenience-store fountain drinks, even though they're clearly bad for our health and U.S. adults keep getting fatter. We also like large vehicles, and our love affair with SUVs is killing people in the streets. According to a recent investigation by the Detroit Free Press/USA Today, the increase in SUV sales over the past several years coincides with a sharp rise in pedestrian deaths in the U.S. — up 46 percent since 2009, with nearly 6,000 people killed in 2016 alone. With SUV sales surpassing sedans in 2014 and pickups and SUVs currently accounting for 60 percent of new vehicle sales, it's no wonder Ford announced in April plans to cease U.S. sales of almost all passenger cars. And this followed Fiat Chrysler's move to virtually an all-truck, -SUV and -crossover lineup. While the Freep/USA Today investigation found that the simultaneous surge in SUV sales and pedestrian deaths comes down to vehicle size, it also points to a lack of action on the part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), even though it knew of the dangers SUVs pose to pedestrians. Also blamed are automakers dragging their feet on implementing active safety features. Using federal accident data, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) determined that there was an 81 percent increase in single-vehicle pedestrian fatalities involving SUVs between 2009 and 2016. Freep/USA Today's analysis of the same data by counting vehicles that struck and killed pedestrians instead of the number of people killed showed a 69 percent increase in SUV involvement. As far back as 2001, researchers at Rowan University forecasted a rise in pedestrian deaths as Americans began switching to SUVs. "In the United States, passenger vehicles are shifting from a fleet populated primarily by cars to a fleet dominated by light trucks and vans," the researchers wrote, with light trucks comprising SUVs.

Jay Leno checks out a replica 1937 Jaguar SS100

This 1937 Jaguar SS100 might be fantastic, but it's not an original. It's a replica, but one built to exacting standards and the original design. And it stopped by Jay Leno's Garage for a quick spin. The original was built by SS Cars Ltd, the precursor of the company we know today as Jaguar – and which changed its name and logo after WWII for reasons that shouldn't require explanation. There were only a few hundred of them made between 1936 and 1940, but they remain a popular choice among recreation manufacturers. Many of those replica constructors are based out of the UK, but this particular example is the work of one Jason Len, head of XKs Unlimited out of San Luis Obispo, CA. Len and company will produce a turnkey replica of the pre-war Jag convertible starting at $170,000. Which may seem like an awful lot for a replica, but that price may seem entirely reasonable when you see all the attention that goes in to building one. Watch the video above to see for yourself. Related Video:

Stunning Jaguar E-Type Lightweight tribute featured by Petrolicious

This is a Series 1 Jaguar E-Type Coupe. Enzo Ferrari, Il Commendatore himself, called it "the most beautiful car ever made." It can count among its owners Steve McQueen, Brigitte Bardot and a number of other celebrities from the 1960s. It remains one of the prettiest and coolest cars ever.
While we don't normally prescribe to modifying classics like the E-Type, cars that are used for vintage racing, like this particular example, are certainly the exception. It's owned by Jason Len and is the subject of the latest video from the team at Petrolicious.
Len's 1964 E-Type has been fashioned to look like one of the rare Lightweight E-Types from 1963 and 1964. The aluminum-bodied E-Types, of which only a dozen were built, were all intended exclusively for racing, much like Len's heavily modified example. While it retains the 3.8-liter straight-six, its engine, transmission, suspension, brakes and body have been extensively tweaked and fettled to allow this classic Jag to compete with a field of V8s.