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A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.

Watch Jaguar build its XJR Rapid Response Vehicle for Bloodhound SSC

Last month, Jaguar revealed an F-Type specially equipped to serve as a Rapid Response Vehicle for the Bloodhound SSC. Now it's rolled out a pair of XJRs kitted out for the same purpose. Set to debut when test pilot Andy Green drives one up the hill at Goodwood later this month, the Jaguar XJR Rapid Response Vehicle has been equipped by Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations division. As you can see, it's got a special livery of blue and orange to mimic the rocket- and jet-powered streamliner's own color scheme, and has been stripped out and fitted with a roll cage and specially crafted tools for the land speed record attempt. Of course, the 5.0-liter supercharged V8 carries over with its 550 horsepower to propel it to 60 in 4.4 seconds and on to a top speed of 174 miles per hour. Alongside the F-Type – which recently undertook a parachute deployment test – the pair of XJR Rapid Response Vehicles will be on hand in South Africa when the Bloodhound attempts to break the land speed record as well as the sound barrier on dry land. Check out the build process in the video. Jaguar Rapid Response Vehicles for Bloodhound SSC to Star at Goodwood Festival of Speed - Bespoke Jaguar XJR Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) for Bloodhound SSC to make dynamic world debut at Goodwood Festival of Speed - Current world land speed record holder Andy Green to drive the 16MY XJR RRV up the Goodwood hill on Saturday 27 June 2015 - Bloodhound's RRV Fleet now includes two XJRs and an F-TYPE custom-built by Jaguar Land Rover's Special Operations team - Jaguar's history in supporting world land speed records dates back to 1983 with an XJ12 for Richard Noble's record attempt in Thrust 2 Jaguar is to further showcase its commitment as Technical and Innovation Partner to the Bloodhound Project with the world debut of its custom-built XJR Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) at Goodwood Festival of Speed, alongside the recently unveiled F-TYPE R AWD RRV. One of two XJRs being provided for the record attempts will be on show at the festival and will also take part in the First Glance hill run on Saturday 27 June 2015 with current world land speed record holder and Bloodhound SSC driver Andy Green at the wheel. The two new additions to Bloodhound's fleet are the latest creation of Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division and are wrapped in a bespoke livery created by Jaguar Design incorporating the Bloodhound SSC colours.

An E-Type in the garden: rotting '63 Jaguar heads for auction

There's something about formerly gorgeous cars in dilapidated states from which the eye cannot turn away. The devastatingly cruel fate of this Jaguar E-Type is an illustration. Next week, it likely begins a new life. Still voluptuous after decades rotting in a garden, this 1963 Series 1 fixed head coupe will be offered for sale at the Coys auction Tuesday in London. The car has 44,870 miles on the odometer and has passed through several owners, including one with a tangential connection to the Beatles and another man who used the Jag to pull his MG to Brands Hatch. He would race them both, according to Coys' listing, wringing the most out of the E-Type's 265-horsepower inline six. Ivor Arbiter was owner No. 1. His link to history is that he designed the Beatles drop-T logo in the early '60s and was reportedly paid five British pounds for it. He bought the E-Type new in 1963, used it, and then sold it to in 1965. The E-Type passed through a couple of owners until motorsports enthusiast Frank Riches bought it in '67. He tracked the Jag at some of Britain's iconic circuits and drove it until he fried the clutch. Coys cites a story from Riches' brother recounting when the E-Type hit 150 miles per hour on a public road, its listed top speed. It was in storage until the 1980s, and then Riches relocated it to his garden, where it has sat for years. Considering its long dormancy, the Jag appears to be in reasonable shape. It's never been restored, obviously, and Riches still has many of the original parts he replaced, including the center console and radiator bar. Coys notes that the seats have a "lovely patina" and are worth saving, too. The buyer also gets a brown logbook, the sales invoice to Riches, two service books (it is a '63 Jag) and a spare parts catalogue. A Coys auctioneer told ITV.com that the car could net about $140,000. Related Video: Jaguar Auctions Coupe Luxury Performance jaguar e-type