The Jaguar XK120

The Jaguar XK120 was a sports car manufactured by Jaguar Cars Limited between 1948 and 1954. It was the first post-war sports car from the brand, succeeding the SS 100 which ended production in 1940 after the start of World War II in Britain. The XK120 was launched at the 1948 London Motor Show as a test bed and show vehicle to highlight the new Jaguar XK engine. The car caused a sensation, which persuaded William Lyons to put it into production as a standard model.

The first cars manufactured in 1948 and 1949 had hand built aluminium bodies on an ash frame. Jaguar built 240 of these alloy bodied cars prior to moving to a more mass production XK120 in order to meet the demand for this popular model. With the 1950 model year a production version had a steel pressed body with alloy doors, bonnet, and trunk skin. Other features included torsion bar front suspension, and a removable windscreen.

Power came from a dual overhead cam 3.4 L straight-6 engine, Jaguar's famous XK engine. With an alloy cylinder head and twin side draft SU carburators, the XK engine was very advanced for a mass produced unit, developing 160 bhp with the standard 8:1 compression ratio. A 7:1 low compression version of the engine was also available to cope with low quality fuel. This same basic design of the XK engine was used in 3.8L and 4.2L versions into the late 1980s.

The XK120 name referred to the vehicle's impressive 120 mph (193 km/h) top speed - even faster with the windscreen removed - and at the time of its launch it was the world's fastest standard production car. It was available as a coupé (FHC or Fixed Head Coupe, introduced in 1951), convertible (DHC or Drop Head Coupe, 1953), or the original roadster (OTS or Open Two Seater). An XK120 FHC can claim the first import win in NASCAR when it won NASCAR's first road race at Linden Airport, New Jersey, June 13th, 1954 with Al Keller at the wheel. Earlier in the year, on 31 January / 1 February, an XK120 Coupe driven by Mrs D Anderson, Chas Swinburne and Bill Pitt had won the first 24 hour car race to be held in Australia, the 1954 Mt. Druitt 24 Hours Road Race.

The Roadster had a very light weight canvas top and removable side curtains screwed to the doors, which had no external handle - to open them you reached through the screen to pull a cord on the inside. It also had a removeable windscreen, which could be removed so that "aeroscreens" could be fitted. The DHC or Drop Head Coupe had a padded top and roll up windows. Both the FHC and DHC had an elegant wood veneer dash, whereas the roadster's was leather. All models were manufactured with spats to cover the back wheel arch which enhanced the streamlined look, but when optional (from 1951) wire wheels were fitted, the spats had to be removed to make room for the hub spinners. There was also an M version (called SE for Special Equipment in England) which included increased power, stiffer suspension, dual exhaust, and wire wheels.

An OTS roadster with all weather gear in place tested by The Motor magazine in 1949 had a top speed of 124.6 mph (200.5 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 10.0 seconds. A fuel consumption of 19.8 miles per imperial gallon (14.3 L/100 km/16.5 mpg US) was recorded. The test car cost £1263 including taxes.


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Jaguar

And now a car brand that is near and dear to my heart.
(Cause I own one...LOL)
Jaguar.

Jaguar Cars Limited is a luxury car manufacturer, based at Whitley, Coventry, with two UK production plants at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham and Halewood, Merseyside. It was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in Blackpool in 1922, changing to SS Cars Ltd in 1934 in Coventry, and finally becoming Jaguar Cars Ltd in 1945, followed by several subsequent changes of ownership.

The name is pronounced "jag-u-ar" with the term "Jag" being used colloquially.

Although many media reports stated that on 2008-03-26, Jaguar and Land-Rover became owned by the Indian company, Tata Motors, the Ford Motor Company and Tata Motors stated, in press releases on the same day, that the sale is not due for completion until the second quarter of 2008.

It is understood that Ford Motor Company Ltd. will not retain any shareholding in either the Jaguar or Land-Rover companies, unlike Aston Martin where on its sale a small shareholding was retained; the total sum to be paid in cash by Tata Motors is approximately US $ 2.3 billion, Ford will then contribute up to US $600 million to the Jaguar Land Rover pension plans.

Jaguar Cars holds Royal Warrants from HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Charles.

Founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922, by two motorcycle enthusiasts, William Lyons and William Walmsley, the SS Jaguar name first appeared on a 2.5 litre saloon in 1935. The Jaguar name was given to the entire company in 1945.

Jaguar made its name in the 1950s with a series of elegantly-styled sports cars and luxury saloons. The company bought the Daimler Motor Company (not to be confused with Daimler-Benz), in 1960 from Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA). From the late 1960s, Daimler was used as a brand name for Jaguar's most luxurious saloons.

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The Lamborghini Reventón

Lamborghini Reventón is a mid-engined sports car that debuted at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show. It is currently the most powerful and expensive Lamborghini road car to date, costing one million euro. The official press release states that only 20 will be built (and one for the Lamborghini Museum). The exterior styling was inspired by the F-22 Raptor. Although the exterior is partially new, almost the entire mechanics (including the engine) are taken directly from the Murciélago LP640.

Initial reports suggest that the 6.5 litre V12 may receive a power boost of approximately 15 kilowatts (20 horsepower), bringing the new ouput close to 490 kW (650 horsepower). In spite of this, and the car's carbon fibre components, the Reventón accelerates to 100 km/h (62 mph) in the same time as the Murciélago LP640 (3.4 seconds).

The instrument panel in the Reventón comprises three TFT liquid crystal displays (LCDs) with two different display modes. The instruments are housed in a structure milled from a solid aluminum block, protected by a carbon fiber casing. The G-Force-Meter is completely new and it is one of the talking points of the Reventón. It displays the dynamic drive forces, longitudinal acceleration during acceleration and braking, as well as transversal acceleration around bends. These forces are represented by the movement of an indicator on a graduated 3D grid depending on the direction and intensity of the acceleration. Formula One teams also use a similar device to analyze dynamic forces.

By simply pressing a button, the driver can switch to the second, quasi-analogical display, where there are the usual circular instruments; speedometer and tachometer. The G-Force-Meter still remains at the center of this display mode.

Lamborghini has also picked up some of parent company Audi's design language. For the first time, Lamborghini incorporated daylight running lights with the headlamps of the Reventón. Seven Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) at each headlamp flank the Bi-Xenon main beam and they stay lit whenever the car is in movement. Due to the high temperatures in the rear lower part of the car, special heatproof LEDs are used for the indicator and hazard lights, stoplights and rear lights with a triple arrow optical effect.

The Reventón is named after a fighting bull according to recent Lamborghini tradition. The car's namesake, owned by the Don Rodríguez family, is best known for killing famed bullfighter Félix Guzmán in 1943. Reventón means "explosion" or "burst" in Spanish, when used as a noun.; in automotive terms, it means "blowout, flat tire" when used as a noun. When it was used as the name of a bull, however, it was intended to be interpreted as an adjective a quality or property of that bull in particular. Then Reventón means "he who is used to making things burst".

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