Looks like Jaguar will be producing a special edition XKR that could generate 523 hp and still look smooth just like you would expect from a Jaguar. No word yet on the official launch but when we see it you will too!

From Motocrave.com:

Jaguar is currently working on a new special edition XKR, which will be a production model of the XKR Goodwood Special it showed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year. The new car is in the prototype stage and recently raced around the ‘Ring in under eight minutes.

The XKR from Goodwood featured the XKR’s supercharged 5.0-liter V8 upgraded to output 523 hp and 516 lb-ft (up from 510 hp and 461 lb-ft). Other modifications included lowered suspension, 21-inch wheels and a four-pipe exhaust system. It’s capable of speeds up to 186 mph.

Check out more photos here.

I had to wait a few days before commenting on the so called death of the Chevy name. A memo was leaked from inside GM and it appears the brass in marketing want to move the nickname of Chevy aside and refer to the brand only as Chevrolet. I just said Chevrolet a few times and you know what? It sounds so good that I’m sure GM can add a few thousand bucks to each Chevrolet they produce because it just sounds more expensive. That little Chevrolet Aveo can now easily fetch what a Jaguar would set us back right? Ok let’s get serious here. The nickname Chevy is going nowhere and with the pull back we now are watching from the bigs at Chevrolet they realize it too. Long live the Ford Vs. Chevy wars!!!

From the Detroit News:

GM makes Chevrolets, but people own Chevys.

That’s the message lost in all of the silly name games that hit the fan Thursday.

If you haven’t heard, here’s the short version: GM tried to kill the Chevy name, and the automaker now faces attempted manslaughter charges in the court of public opinion.

The more realistic version is this: A couple of bigwigs — namely Alan Batev, vice president of Chevrolet sales, and Jim Campbell, GM’s vice president of marketing — drafted an internal memo to the marketing team declaring “Chevy” was now a dirty word and to never use it.

Read the full article here.

How good is the 2011 Jaguar XJ? The Wall Street Journal checked out the new Jag and saying that they liked it is an understatement. They were first enamored by the beauty of this elegant machine but that is where the admiration was just scratching the surface. Once inside and behind the wheel the driver was clearly blown away with the power and smoothness that combined for a refined and invigorating experience. The description of their time in this sedan and passion for this piece of art on 4 wheels is clearly something car companies can only dream about in a review but I guess that’s what Jaguars are supposed to do to us. Jags are sexy, smooth and strong (things that some argue have been missing lately) and the 2011 XJ is really what the company needed to bring it up to the podium with the superstars in the luxury sedan segment.

From the 1,200-watt Bowers & Wilkins audio system to all of the high tech amenities wrapped in an incredible package the daring design by Jaguar has apparently hit the mark with the Journal.

From the Wall Street Journal:

I clearly remember the moment nearly one year ago when I first laid eyes on Jaguar’s new XJ sedan, and felt as though I’d been impaled on some gorgeous aluminum tusk. What a fantastic looking automobile. On any aesthetic scale you’d care to calibrate—modernity, chic, formal grace, raw carnality—this thing simply obliterates the competition, just grinds their bones. Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of Bavarians.

From that moment until this week, when I finally slid behind the wheel of the company’s flagship sedan, I sort of held my breath. Recent Jaguars—the XK coupe and XF sedan—have been very decent cars but always felt as if they missed greatness by a few millimeters. The 2011 XJ couldn’t possibly, as a machine, live up to all this sculptured sin.

Read the full article here.

If you’re looking to treat yourself to something special this year take a good look at the Special Edition Jaguar XKR.

From AutoGuide.com:

At the upcoming Geneva Auto Show, Jaguar will unveil a new Special Edition version of the XKR. Technically, the Special Edition model is a combination of two new option packs, the Speed Pack and the Black Pack.

The Speed Pack is quite simple, raising the top speed of the 510-hp supercharged V8 from 155 mph to a more frightening 174 mph. The Black Pack is essentially a new styling option and includes new front and rear spoilers, a new rear lip spoiler, 20-inch gloss-black Kalimnos wheels with red brake calipers and black trim for the window surrounds, front grilles and side vents. Jag will even offer an XKR decal for the side of the car. Inside, all Black Pack models will get charcoal leather with a variety of stitching choices, as well as three interior trim options Dark Oak, Dark Mesh Aluminum and Piano Black. Outside, all Black Pack models will be available in three paint colors: Ultimate Black, Polaris White or Salsa Red.

Read the full article here.

As you can see from this photo, the 2010 Jaguar XJ is a gorgeous car. The company seems committed to bold, new designs, and even the official Jaguar web site is beautifully designed.

Reactions are coming in from the auto press. Car and Driver proclaims, “At last, a Jaguar XJ that doesn’t resemble the one that came before. And before. And before.”

Back in April, Jalopnik had this to say:

The current XJ, on sale since 42 AD, is a bloated attempt to pack modern luxury into an outdated design. If this shot is anything to go by, the 2010 Jaguar XJ isn’t. Hallelujah.

Jaguar released this image to coincide with the Shanghai Auto Show, but the car itself will actually be unveiled on the Queen’s soil on July 9th. Available with the pictured panoramic glass roof, a long or short wheelbase, A Europe-only V6 diesel or Jag’s usual selection of 5.0-liter V8s; the supercharged 2010 Jaguar XJR will produce 510 HP. Sales should start at the end of 2009.

The New York Times reported today on the unveiling of the new Jaguar today.

Jaguar has two emblems, and each is a version of its totemic animal. Their informal names, the Leaper and the Growler, suggest two aspects of the British company’s tradition. The Leaper is a long, lithe cat, usually seen as a hood ornament; it signifies feline grace. The Growler is a full-frontal cat face, its teeth bared aggressively; it represents raw power.

The Growler may be supplanting the Leaper at Jaguar, to judge from the company’s redesigned and radically different flagship sedan, the XJ, which was unveiled in London on Thursday.

The new XJ replaces a sedan — or saloon, as the British charmingly call it — whose basic shape had not changed since 1968. The old car’s proportions were like nothing else still on the road; it appeared as long and stately as its bloodline.

“The XJ completes the family,” Ian Callum, Jaguar’s design director, said in a telephone interview before the unveiling. The big sedan carries out design themes that Mr. Callum introduced on the 2007 XK sports car and on the 2009 XF midrange sedan.

Jaguar also has a new owner, Tata Motors of India, which bought the marque, along with Land Rover, from Ford last year. Jaguar’s ill-fated venture into cheaper cars, with the X-Type line based on the Ford Mondeo, is history. And in recent years Jaguar has vastly improved its ratings in consumer quality and satisfaction surveys by J. D. Power & Associates and others.

The new sedan has a Growler, not a Leaper, on the front. “Aggressive” is the word Mr. Callum kept using to describe the design. “We want Jaguars to be noticed again,” he said.

Kudos to Tata Motors and Mr. Callum on an elegant but powerful design worthy of this great brand.