The new plant will be based at the i54 business park, in the Black Country’s new enterprise zone. As such, the new plant could well qualify for enhanced capital allowances which could see JLR getting tax breaks for big investments in plant and equipment (hats off by the way to AWM for their work in readying the site, local authorities and the Black Country LEP for pulling off Enterprise Zone status, and to the government for backing the investment).

But as well as tax breaks, the location makes a lot of sense in other ways. Just off the M54 motorway, the site is close to JLR’s assembly plants in the Midlands and on Merseyside, so means that engines can be transported quickly to JLR’s Castle Bromwich, Solihull and Halewood plants. And the region still offers a rich engineering skills base on which the new plant can draw.

The plant is likely to involve a £355 million investment, could employ as many as 750 workers, and – depending on how many components JLR sources locally – could bring more jobs and wider benefits to the region’s components industry.

JLR currently buys engines from its previous owner Ford, but with JLR production being ramped up, it has struggled to source enough engines from Ford’s UK engine plants at Dagenham and Bridgend. JLR wants more control over the supply of its engines, and has the in-house engineering skills needed to develop new engines.

Read the complete article at the Birmingham News.

I was one of those people very disappointed by the Jaguar XJS, the car that replaced the E-Type Jag when it came out in the mid-Seventies. To me, it wasn’t a sports car at all, but more of a boulevard cruiser. Since then, there have been sporting Jaguars, for sure, but no real sports car. The E-Type is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cars of all time, so making something as gorgeous again is an incredibly difficult task. But 50 years on from the creation of the E-Type, Jaguar has come closer than ever to matching its beauty.

Its latest model, though, the C-X16, which is being shown in Frankfurt at the moment, has all the styling clues of a Jaguar sports car and especially the E-Type. I love the rear end; the twin exhausts look great, as do the rear lights. The whole car works and looks like a modern interpretation of the E-Type. I don’t have a lot of interest in the convertible though, to be honest. For me, coupés are always where it’s at.

Crucially, I think it shows that the age of Jaguar in desperation is over. It’s now an extremely successful company, it’s making a profit and it’s making a car that it is enjoying building. Let me qualify that; if the new XJ had not been the tremendous success that it is, the C-X16 wouldn’t even have made it to the drawing board. Jaguar built the car it needed to build and now the company is planning to build the fun car it wanted to build. It’s a measure of the confidence Jaguar has when it goes into such a highly competitive market.

The preceding is part of an article written by famed talk-show host and auto enthusiast Jay Leno published in The National. For the rest of the fantastic article, please check out their site.

The Sandown event was a collaboration between Jaguar Heritage, Classic Motor Cars of Bridgnorth and Barry Potter Fairs, yet another outing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the landmark British design.

More than 4000 visitors to the show also saw other important E-types, including two more from the current issue of C&SC: the famed Lindner-Nocker Lightweight and 1600 RW, the first E-type to be sold.

Other highlights included Jag test driver Norman Dewis signing copies of his new book, the launch of Peter Driver’s The Toy Jaguar Book and a 28-car concours that was won, appropriately, by the 1969 Series 2 roadster of Michael Quinn, Sir William Lyons’ grandson.

The picture shows Quinn, along with Dewis, CMC’s Peter Neumark and Barry Potter with the “first and last” E-types.

What we have then is a hybrid Jaguar Morris Minor Traveller. Well, to be precise, a Jaguar XK120 Morris Minor Traveller; that is also probably full of fur. The car was created to haul the owner’s dogs. To make matters even worse, they named the car the “Foxbat”. What? What the heck is a “foxbat”?

Quoting from the original article, “it was stitched together by chemist and Jaguar enthusiast/butcher Geoffrey Stevens. To give him some credit, it’s claimed the XK was in pretty horrendous condition when he started, so he’s done a decent job making the front end look good, at least.”

Sorry, I give up.

Renowned artist Bill Patterson, who is the official artist of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, says the E-Type is true art on wheels. “Having fallen in love with racing and fast cars in the ’60s, the E-Type represented the perfect blend of design, technology, performance and sex appeal. It still looks fantastic today, 50 years after it was first produced. And to have been able to see that magnificent, super-light E-Type blasting through the sunrise at Le Mans would have been spectacular. Painting it is the closest I’ll ever get,” Patterson adds.

The race paddock will be bustling with the sights, sounds and constant car movement that few fans can enjoy up close at professional races. A central part of the experience will be Jaguar Cars’ heritage display where guests can interact with Jaguar representatives and see firsthand the full lineage of race cars that has fostered international admiration for the marque.

More than 550 cars have been accepted to participate in the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Race groups range from pre-1940 sports and touring race cars to the thunderous historic Trans-Am and Can-Am cars of the ’60s and early ’70s. The most modern era cars will be seen in Group 6B’s 1981-89 FIA Manufacturers Championship cars and IMSA GTP.

Tickets, hospitality packages and reservations for general camping for the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion are available by calling 800-327-7322 or available online at www.MazdaRaceway.com.

Mr. Down reminds us that at the same time streamline cars were going on the market, ocean liners and trains were being streamlined, the better to compete with the nascent airline industry. His book also reminds us that the automobile industry of the time in Britain had yet to embrace mass production. Cars were sold to the few, and the sellers were coachbuilders as much as chassis or engine makers.

To compete, each British car company had to offer a version of the season’s fashionable cut, and so each one presented an airline or streamline body or two. The resulting cars are rare, with wonderful names like the Triumph Gloria Flow-Free and the Riley Kestrel.

Many of these companies would not survive. But there are also glimpses of the future. We meet the young William Lyons, who impressed a man named William Walmsley. Together, their Swallow Sidecar company moved from teardrop add-ons for motorcycles to aero bodies for popular auto chassis. Swallow became Jaguar, of course, and two decades later produced more serious streamlining, driven by aerodynamics and racing.

“Art Deco and British Car Design: The Airline Cars of the 1930s” by Barrie Downs was published in December of 2010 by Veloce Publishing. It is a gorgeous book of 144 pages with a suggested retail of $44.95.

Much like the earlier mentioned contest for the “Best British Sport Car”, this is a fun list to fight over more than anything. I don’t know of anyone who would actually use this as their shopping list. And if there were someone with that kind of money, they probably already have that list in their head anyway.

So, what do you think of the list? What would you put on that isn’t listed, or take off that is here?

1968-2006 Morgan Plus 8: An aluminum V8 in a car similar to an MG TF is a recipe for big fun, and the Moggie delivers. Recently out of production and always in demand, there’s nowhere to go but up. $35,000-$65,000

1978-79 TVR 3000S roadster: A bit obscure, but this car really has it all–great looks, a sophisticated tube chassis and plenty of power via a 2.9-liter Ford V6. Low production numbers mean a potentially long search, but this is one vehicle that’s bound to appreciate in the long run. $16,000-$20,000

1967-74 Lotus Elan +2: One of if not the only case of the 2+2 coupe being prettier than the roadster, the Elan +2 might well be the prettiest collector car you can buy for less than $25,000. Rare, from a storied marque, quick and very attractive make a good proposition for future appreciation. $15,000-$22,000

1977-80 Lotus Esprit S1-S2: Another Lotus, this one the wedge-icon Esprit by Giorgetto Giugiaro. Good enough for 007 to use in several outings, Esprits are the supercar bargain and are not likely to stay inexpensive forever. $12,000-$15,000

1995-2004 Aston Martin DB7: The DB7 sits on the cusp between used car and collectible–it’s finished depreciating, and nearly anything Aston Martin has been hot in the collector-car market of late. Hold time may be a bit longer, but it seems a relative certainty for collectability. Opt for a manual-transmission coupe. $26,000-$60,000

1989-2000 Aston Martin Virage: The DB7′s predecessor was a hand-built car in the tradition of the David Brown-era cars. It’s big, brawny and fast and stands out as undervalued among Astons and supercars in general. Like the DB7, a manual-transmission coupe is the way to go. $35,000-$70,000

Triumph TR8: Sub-$15,000 V8 roadsters are thin on the ground these days. While the wedge styling of the TR8 is a bit polarizing and quality-control issues were legendary, survivors have been sorted out and can be quite entertaining. $9,000-$15,000

Jensen Interceptor: A British interior complete with Connolly leather and a polished walnut dash, Italian styling by Vignale and a Chrysler 440 V8 can only be a Jensen Interceptor. These cars are worth twice in the U.K. what they’re bringing now in the United States. This situation won’t last indefinitely. Buy one right now. $15,000-$25,000

Alvis TD/TF21: Relatively unknown in the States, the Alvis TS21 has the same upper-crust British look as a Rolls-Royce or a Bentley, but with available ZF five-speed gearboxes and wire wheels, it’s much more sporting. The cars generally are priced at about half of what you’d think to look at them. $25,000-$50,000

Jaguar E-type SIII: Some people compare the SIII E-type to the 1970s version of Elizabeth Taylor. Still, the complex V12 SIII has its merits. Anything else with a V12 in front, wire wheels and a manual transmission will set you back more than $600,000. Prices have been on the rise lately. $25,000-$65,000

JLR sales rose 51pc in the year from £6.6bn to £9.9bn, which was also aided by new models such as the Jaguar XJ and favourable foreign exchange rates. “Jaguar Land Rover is now a strong, profitable and innovative competitor in the premium car industry,” said Carl-Peter Forster, chief executive of JLR’s parent company Tata Motors.

Indian company Tata bought JLR from Ford in 2008, but initially suffered heavy losses as the recessions struck.

Read the more of the complete story at The Telegraph.

India offers Jaguar great opportunities to build cars for less, Carl-Peter Forster, chief executive officer and managing director of Tata Motors, told reporters. “Clearly, India can be a very attractive sourcing base, an opportunity to source increasingly high quality but lower cost components not only for India operations but for overseas operations,” he said. Forster has already indicated that Indian engineering will also play a role in the design of Jaguar Land Rover engines.

Tata bought Jaguar from Ford in 2008 for $2.3 billion. As part of that transaction, Tata Motors entered into a series of contracts to buy vehicle components and technology from Ford. Forster said those contracts begin to expire around 2015. He intends to renew them, but would like to engineer new engines in-house, combining the expertise of the group’s engineers in India and the U.K.

Auto expert Shapur Kotwal said that India’s premium car market was expected to grow strongly in the next five years with more people able to afford expensive cars.

“It’s an aspirational thing that we had grown up in the society where we had got only Marutis and before that only Fiats and Ambassadors,” said Kotwal, naming some relatively cheap Japanese, Italian and Indian cars. “So it’s natural that we want to have the best; we have been starved of good cars.”

Jaguar Cars, is now reportedly looking to introduce hybrid versions of its XJ and XF models in 2013-’14, using hardware developed with sister brand Land Rover, as reported by Britain’s Car magazine. The magazine has also stated that the first Jaguar hybrids could be launched soon after the planned 2013 introduction of the first Land Rover hybrid.

It was reported very recently that by the end of 2010 Land Rover will be testing the first diesel hybrid prototype called the ‘range_e’ which is being developed using a Range Rover Sport platform. Tests of this vehicle will use the existing 3.0 litre TDV6 diesel engine featuring a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission. The goal is to achieve a range of 20 miles using electric power only emitting less than 100 g/km of CO2 emissions and to achieve a top speed of around 120 mph.

According to ‘Car’, Jaguar’s hybrid system, which also will employ the ZF hybrid transmission, will be applied eventually to every model in the range. The Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) engineering centre in the British Midlands is developing both diesel- and gasoline-electric hybrid powertrains for use across both model ranges,” the magazine said. The system will “quickly spread across the XJ, XF, XK Jaguars and the Discovery, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport,” according to Car, and will be upgraded with plug-in capability by 2015.

It is to be mentioned that Jaguar Land Rover is already active in four ongoing projects that are part of the Technology Strategy Board/ Department of Transport Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform. These projects, which demonstrate technological innovations that could be applied to future vehicle models, are the ‘Limo-Green’ Series Hybrid; a Flywheel Hybrid System for Premium Vehicles; the REcycled ALuminium (Real) project; and a Range Extended Hybrid Electric Vehicle (REHEV).

Read more: Jaguar XJ and XF models could also turn hybrid by 2013-14 – WheelsUnplugged
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