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Watch Felipe Massa put the Jaguar C-X75 through its paces

Automakers who run their own racing teams enjoy the benefit of having top-flight professional racing drivers on call to help out with development work. Jaguar, unfortunately, has no such racing team, having sold its F1 operation to Red Bull back in 2004. So when it came time to put the C-X75 through its paces in this latest video, it turned to Felipe Massa. Why Massa, you ask? For one thing, having driven for so long for Ferrari, the Brazilian driver is used to applying his F1 skills in testing a supercar designed for the road. But since switching to Williams, he hasn't been called upon in that capacity. For another, it was Williams Advanced Engineering as much as Jaguar itself that spearheaded development of the C-X75. So Massa was the natural choice. The C-X75, for those who don't recall, represented Jaguar's plan to build a hybrid hypercar of its own. Having debuted way back in 2010 at the Paris Motor Show, the concept followed hot on the heels of the Porsche 918 concept unveiled earlier that year in Geneva – a predated by far the emergence of the McLaren P1 and LaFerrari. The original design called for a revolutionary powertrain combining a pair of micro-turbines and four individual electric motors in the wheels. When that proved unfeasible, Jaguar switched to a more conventional setup with a turbocharged hybrid powertrain. Unfortunately plans to put even that version into production were shelved. But the concept was revived for the filming of the latest James Bond movie Spectre. Check out the C-X75 being put through its paces by the eleven-time grand prix winner in the video above. Related Video:

First Jaguar C-Type Continuation ready for delivery, and you can still buy one

Jaguar's XK120-C is known by its far more famous name, C-Type, known for winning Le Mans twice, and known for being the first car equipped with disc brakes to win a race in international competition. That latter victory happened on June 29, 1952, at the sports car race held ahead of the Formula II Grand Prix at Reims, France, with Sir Stirling Moss at the wheel. Today marking the 70th anniversary of that win, Jaguar has chosen it to announce the first C-Type Continuation is ready for delivery. This is one of eight continuation C-Types the English automaker announced in January 2021, all of them built to similar specification as the 1953 C-Type that earned the model's second win at La Sarthe, meaning a 3.4-liter, 220-horsepower straight-six sporting three Weber carbs and disc brakes at the four corners. This one is finished in Pastel Green paint with Suede Green seats, recalling the car Moss raced in Reims the year before. The Continuations are being built at the Jaguar Classic Works in Coventry, each needing 3,000 hours to complete due to using the same build techniques that went into creating the original cars. After the build, Classics engineers put each example through 250-mile shakedown. Once the run is complete, Jaguar said it planned to host a motorsports-themed celebration for the octet. Owners can enjoy plenty of other track days as well, the Continuations being approved by the FIA to run in all FIA Historic events. Owners won't need to worry about seeing their car everywhere, either, since the C-Type is a rarity even with these additions; Jaguar only built 53 of the original. Seems an undisclosed number of C-Type Continuations are still available to purchase. If visuals can sway any prospective buyers, Jaguar created a configurator showcasing the 12 exterior colors, eight leather hues, and two roundels that can be optioned. The carmaker hasn't mentioned pricing publicly, but it's thought to be north of seven figures. 

Ex-Jaguar design boss Ian Callum starts his own design firm

A month ago, Ian Callum stepped down from his position as Jaguar's director of design. In a 20-year career with the English sports car maker, Callum's pen has traced the lines of everything from the original XK, the XJ, the F-Type, I-Pace, and more. Before that, he made use of employ at Aston Martin by contributing to the original DB7, the DB9, the previous Vantage, and the first Vanquish. After a career in service to OEMs that's been brilliant enough to earn him a CBE, for Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Callum has stepped up to take the reins at his eponymous design firm, called "Callum." Established with four fellow ex-Jaguar executives, Callum will design and engineer bespoke and limited-edition creations in the worlds of art, audio, automotive, fashion, lifestyle, and motorsports. The other trio of founding members are program director David Fairborn, engineering director Adam Donfrancesco, and commercial director Tom Bird. Fairbarn was the head of bespoke and special commissions at Jaguar Land Rover, where he helped bring the Lightweight E-Type to life. Donfrancesco left his role as engineering manager for JLR 's bespoke and special commissions; before that, he developed road and race cars like the Aston Martin GT8 and GT12. Bird, after stints at PWC and Barclays, had been commercial manager at JLR, where he shepherded the C-X75 concept into the James Bond movie Spectre. Callum said of the venture, "I wanted to get back to the essence of creativity; the challenge of producing something wonderful and personal. To design the alternative has always been my mantra, but always the beautiful alternative and something to enjoy." The man's still contracted to Jaguar as a brand ambassador, but at 64 years old, he feels "I've got maybe 15 years of design aptitude left, and I want to make the most of it." With 18 employees and based in a 20,000-square-foot facility in Warwick, the firm is ready right now with the engineering and manufacturing machinery to create products in-house. Even with the company's wide remit, we expect to see Callum take a stand in the automotive space. He admitted that he'd "like to take some of the cars I've designed and maybe redo them a little bit," but the team will always consider the entire vehicle, looking to upgrade dynamics and handling, too. We're told the first project will be announced soon.