A quick mention for a chap doing some sterling work restoring and producing new wood dashboards and interiors for Jaguars from the original XK’s all the way up to the modern stuff. Saul, originally from Cardiff, relocated to the sunnier climate of Altamonte Springs, Florida back in 1987 where he runs British Autowood, a small business dedicated to restoration of British car woodwork (mainly Jaguar and Rolls Royce). He can either restore or produce new wood parts for all Jaguars, from early XK’s right through to more modern stuff, and can supply full replacement dash kits if required. Having worked in Jaguar sales for longer than I’d care to remember, I’ve visited the Jaguar wood veneer workshop plenty of times – seeing how they build up the layers of walnut veneers is great, huge amounts of craftsmanship involved, and facinating stuff. Saul has brought some more functional modifications into his work – would you like a cup holder added or the ash tray removed? It may not have been the original Jaguar design and made me chuckle when I first saw cupholders in a 70′s Jag, but practicality is just as important when the car is being used every day rather than purely restoring concourse cars. You can contact Saul either through the British Autowood Website, or call him in the US on (407)774-5332. Continued here: Classic Jaguar Wood Restoration

Ratan Tata, billionaire owner of Tata Motors has revealed that Jaguar are considering a sensational return to Le Mans Racing, more than 15 years after pulling out of the last race. Previous owners Ford had pulled Jaguar out of the 24 hr race for a variety of reasons, notably cost, but then went on to enter Jaguar into the vastly more expensive world of Formula 1, resulting in a dismal failure to produce results, and the team being sold. Speaking at the companies annual general meeting, Chairman Ratan Tata said “We want to hit the Le Mans race, for which we are already re-examining whether we can bring back the Jaguar marque to its earlier state,” Jaguar last won Le Mans in 1990 with the Jaguar XJR12LM – powered by Jaguar’s own production-based V12 engine prepared by TWR. Although no such engine exists now, and diesel variants from Peugeot and Audi are sweeping the field, Jaguar enthusiasts see the Le Mans 24hr as a perfect reintroduction to racing for Jaguar, and a more fitting one, as links between Formula 1 and Jaguars road cars were tenuous at best. Mr Tata added “Jaguar has lost its sheen over the years and the marque has suffered. Despite this, it has a very loyal customer and dealer base spread across various countries. Both Jaguar and Land Rover have tremendous engineering capabilities, and now it is upon us to keep it together.” This new direction fits well with the desire of Jaguar management to push the brand more as a sports car company in line with Porsche. The rest is here: Jaguar To Re-Enter Le-Mans

Jaguar has launched a special edition XK60 model to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the original XK – the XK120 sports car, originally launched in 1948. Based on the current Jaguar XK coupe and convertible, the car will feature several options: a stunning body kit with deeper front and rear bumpers and aluminium mesh grilles, side skirts, chrome side ‘power vents’ the fabulous 20″ Senta alloys from the Jaguar XKR , larger chrome exhausts and some unique interior detailing. The special edition Jaguar XK60 is unique to the British marketplace, and will retail for exactly the same price as the standard XK, at £60,995 for the coupe and £66,995 for the convertible. for more information on the festivities taking place to mark the 60th Anniversary, please see our article on the XK60 diamond celebrations here: Jaguar XK60 Diamond Celebrations Read more here:  Jaguar launches anniversary XK60 model

More from the fantastic Goodwood Festival Of Speed which ran this weekend gone (12-14 July 2008) – The First Ever Jaguar D-Type built, was auctioned off at the prestigious Bonhams and sold for a record price of £2.2 million, the most a D-Type has ever gone for – and you thought £50,000 for a reconditioned E-Type was a lot! The car, registration number XKD 509, was originally raced in the United States, before being owned by the late Nigel Moores, the heir to the Littlewoods Pools fortune. It was sold on behalf of the Moores Family, and bidding was described as ‘frantic’. The Previous record for a D-Type was set way back in 1999, and it bodes well for the forthcoming sale of the next one – E2A, which is set to be sold at the famous Pebble Beach meet in California next month, also by Bonhams Auctioneers. View original post here:  Jaguar D-Type Auctioned for 2.2 Million Pounds

Jaguar has sensationally revealed the forthcoming XFR at the Goodwood event, with the car having several runs up the hill, driven by Jaguars chief chassis development man, Mike Cross. Whilst still describing the car as a “Sports Prototype” the car was clearly only a very lightly disguised XFR, with the trademark bonnet vents easily visible under the light masking of the bonnet and front air intakes. The car is expected to feature the new supercharged 5.0 V8 Jaguar engine, with an estimated 500bhp, although like all current Jaguars bar the limited edition XKR-S, it will be restricted to a 155mph top speed, being capable of closer to 190mph if derestriced, depending on gearing. The car will also feature a more hardcore chassis than the current range topper SV8, allowing it to compete head on with the BMW M5, and have a price around the £60,000 mark. Jaguar has pulled similar publicity stunts before, running both the new XK and Jaguar XKR at Goodwood not long before their public launches, indicating we could see the Jaguar XF -R as soon as march next year. More: Jaguar XFR runs at Goodwood