Monterey 2009: 2010 Jaguar XJ has North American debut at Pebble

The XJ was, for the longest time, the model most commonly associated with the Jaguar brand. Like Porsche's iconic 911, the XJ's basic shape had soldiered on for decades with significant platform changes hidden behind an all-too-familiar face. When Jaguar switched things up by introducing the forward-looking midsize XF a couple of years ago, people started to take notice that it wasn't going to be business-as-usual anymore in Coventry – or Mumbai for that matter. Heritage and tradition were one thing, but Jaguar needed something radical to reclaim its place at the top of the luxury sedan class. Enter the 2010 XJ, an all-new vehicle with an all-new look that should help Jaguar capture some all-new customers.

Borrowing heavily from the XF playbook, the new ultra sedan offers tastefully modern styling with a dash of traditional elegance and a healthy dose of British class. Sure, the tail lamps might look like they were borrowed from a Citroen, but in person this car has genuine presence. It is a large vehicle compared to the previous XJ, but not as big as, say, an S-Class Benz. The proportions remind us of the BMW 7 Series and the new Porsche Panamera.

As we've told you from our first encounter with the car a month ago, the new 2010 Jaguar XJ will be available in regular or extended wheelbase form, with one of three variations of the company's direct-injected 5.0 liter V8 underhood. The base models get a 385-horsepower normally-aspirated version; the XJ Supercharged gets boosted to 470 hp; and the top-of-the-line Supersport gets the XFR's 510-hp mill. Prices will range from a base of $72,500 to $115,000, making this one dear kitty. No matter the price, it's one striking sedan, and we can't wait to get some seat time soon.

Officially Official: Happy 50th - it's the MINI Coupé Concept!

Rumors have been swirling for months about what BMW would do on August 26, 2009 for its Mini brand. After all, that is the fiftieth anniversary of the public debut of Alec Issigonis' original Mini. With most of the speculation revolving around either a coupe or some kind of cropped windshield speedster, it turns out the reality was somewhere in between. Unlike the original coupe of the Sixties that simply had a fastback replacement for the standard square-back roof, the new MINI Coupé Concept completely replaces everything from the beltline up. The upright windshield that has been part of the Mini look from day one is finally swept back and a truncated roof covers the remaining two seats.

All pretenses of being a four seater has finally been dispensed with for the new coupe. The shape of the roof indicates that should Mini move ahead with production, and it could easily be replaced by a folding fabric unit to create the anticipated speedster model. What's more, dumping the rear seats means Mini could theoretically add a hefty brace back there restoring some of the structural integrity lost in the standard convertible, or perhaps restore some cargo room as compared to the Cabrio. At this point, it's unknown if those B-pillars are are tinted glass or just big solid blind spots (after this post was published, MINI released additional photos of the interior that showed slim pillars and tinted glass, photos have been added to the gallery), but visually, the lower half of the car remains pretty standard R56 John Cooper Works.

Although we don't have images of the interior yet, it sounds like it's largely standard Mini, although there are two clocks hanging off the sides of the steering column mounted tachometer much like the so-called Openometer in the convertible. One tells time while the other is a stopwatch for recording laps. The MINI Coupé Concept will be shown publicly at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month alongside the production version of the new Crossover.
Source: Autoblog

Honda teases new Crosstour on Facebook

The Honda Accord Crosstour has been essentially seen in several spy shots, but its front end remains something of a mystery. Honda has dispelled a bit of that with the release of two frontal pics, and it looks like the front could match the back for curves versus its Accord sedan stablemate. The grille takes an Accord shape, albeit with a different application pattern for the chrome trim. Although having a slightly different layout, the headlights look to have the sleekness of the Accord Coupe's lamps matched to a more stylized version of the Accord sedan's fog lamps. If you want more of the piecemeal reveal routine, you could always join Honda's Facebook page... or you could just wait for the full reveal, happening in a couple of days. The Accord Crosstour goes on sale later this year as a 2010 model.