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Leno and Ian Callum pilot Jaguar XK120 at 2014 Mille Miglia

Jay Leno has been in a British mood recently with his videos highlighting the McLaren P1, 1962 Norton 650SS and Steve McQueen's 1956 Jaguar XKSS. He's keeping the streak alive this week with a look at driving a Jaguar XK120 in the 2014 Mille Miglia historic rally with Jaguar Design Director Ian Callum.
The video show off Jay Leno's Garage in top form. It's way more than just Jay driving the 1,000-mile route from Brescia, Italy, to Rome and back. He also includes interviews with Stirling Moss about winning the race back in 1955, and racer Martin Brundle about what it's like to drive a long-nose Jaguar D-Type this year.
Today, the Mille Miglia is only for historic cars, and it has a much more relaxed pace than the original all-out event. However, this isn't entirely a cruise. Leno seems scared at times talking about it because the drivers are free to ignore the speed limits and open the cars up as much as they are willing to. The roads aren't shut down for regular traffic, either, and things can be dangerous.

Jaguar XJ220 owners will finally be able to get new tires

Bridgestone announced today that the underserved Jaguar XJ220 used-car market would finally have access to new tires. Apparently a number of years ago, companies stopped supplying road tires for the XJ220 altogether. Don Law, owner and operator of XJ220 parts and restoration company Don Law Racing, brought the issue to the attention of Bridgestone. Now, Bridgestone and Don Law have assembled a team that includes the vehicle's original chief development engineer and test driver to create a modern tire for the 213-mph supercar. Bridgestone was also able to get access to pre-production car 004 for testing purposes. The company plans to have the new tire ready for the car's twenty-fifth anniversary next year. From the sound of it, the tire will likely outperform the original one, as Bridgestone's vice president of consumer OE tires cited the advancement of tire technology over the years when talking about the project. This whole project also raises an interesting question. Are there any other supercars that don't have original equipment tire options anymore? The XJ220 certainly wasn't the only supercar of the '90s with fat tires on relatively small-diameter wheels. Also, what will happen to the tire market for modern supercars? The Bugatti Veyron famously has special tires designed to handle its extremely high top speed. It certainly is an interesting first-world conundrum, and one we're going to keep tabs on. Related Video:

Jaguar Land Rover said to favor Europe rather than US for new plant

With its plants running at full tilt, Jaguar Land Rover is in desperate need of additional manufacturing capacity. That's led to reports that the Indian-owned British company was looking to join European, Japanese and Korean automakers in America's southern states, all while it opened new plants in the UK and China. The company even announced it would be building the Land Rover Discovery Sport in Brazil. Now, though, reports are suggesting that JLR is looking at Europe for a new facility, rather than the US, with Automotive News claiming the company's execs are eyeing the lower costs afforded by Austria and Turkey. The report cites the Birmingham Post (UK), the broadsheet that's closest to the company's headquarters. According to the original report, labor costs and wage disputes with unions are ruling out another factory in the UK, while those same disputes with labor outfits may also be souring the automaker on a US facility. "At this stage Europe seems more likely than America. The union pay dispute had a big effect," an unnamed source told the Post. "There is a feeling of alienation that has been left over from the way the pay talks were handled." JLR, meanwhile, offered a solid no comment to the Post, with a spokesperson saying, "No decision has been taken on future manufacturing locations. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to increase our manufacturing footprint in the future." Related Video: