Jaguar E Type News

The Kia Tasman ute hasn’t even arrived yet, but the outcry over its looks has been huge, with people saying it’s not just the ugliest car they have ever seen but the ugliest thing they’ve seen ever, like in their entire lives.

Over 100 supercars, classic cars and motorcycles will be out on display this weekend as part of the Vaucluse Car Club's Autumn Gathering to help raise money for the Sydney's Children's Hospital Foundation.Set to be held at The Gap Bluff at Watsons Bay on

Purists will think this a sacrilegious abomination of design. A 1968 Jaguar E-Type has been unveiled as the world's first stretched example -- with a matching trailer -- and will go on display at a coming UK motoring event.The US-based owner has had his left-hand drive car stretched 4.5 inches by UK's Classic Motor Cars, whose managing director described the result as being what the storied Jaguar brand should have done with their design.“The car is phenomenal to drive. This is the E-Type that Jaguar Cars should have built. The extra space makes all the difference and actually alters the whole attitude of the car,” Nick Goldthorp said.Owner Paul Branstad had CMC rebuild the car after a front end crash, and stretch it during the restoration. He also had them build a trailer from two E-Type rear ends to tow behind it -- with a removable tow hitch and a hitch mechanism hidden behind the car's reversing light.Branstad said he's named the creation The Kaizen, from the Toyota principle of “understand the imperative to make continuous improvements and then get to work” -- adding he thinks the E-Type's designer Malcolm Sayer would have approved of the changes.“The stretched E-Type I have conceived sits between the Series I and the subsequent vehicles produced after the merger and formation of British Leyland, when the design of the cars underwent several transformations as a consequence of cuts in production costs and the need for more space that resulted in the Series II 2+2 and Series III V12,” Branstead said.The extra length gives the legroom of the Series 3 V12 E-Type (which was 9 inches longer than the Series 1, with the extra space largely going to rear storage), while the roof has been raised 1.25 inches and the boot floor dropped and reshaped to accommodate a 20-gallon tank and wider spare wheel. CMC have also upgraded the airconditioning, power steering, brakes, gearbox and suspension.“The four and a half inches added to the Kaizen E-type could make the car even more beautiful than the original Series I edition,” Branstad said. “Perhaps this car would have represented the very last chance for Malcolm Sayer to apply his ideas for the E-Type.”This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

When it comes to used dream cars, the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III takes the cake.

The second is the four double-door garages.  Then he opens the doors to reveal cars stacked on top of each other on hoists. Jags, Mercs, a Porsche, Bentley and even a VW Karmann Cabriolet, plus five 1980s-'90s BMW motorcycles.Bitneris is a serious motoring nut.  But he almost wasn't, thanks to bad experiences with his first car, a "1950s-something" Standard 8.  "What a piece of crap that was. Even the floor fell out," he laughs."I was studying engineering _ it's tough being poor _ and I bought it in total ignorance because the guy that sold it to me left the country and it was still under finance.  They repossessed it and I went through a lot of heartache.  Then I bought a 1947 Fiat. What a piece of crap that was, too."Then came his motoring epiphany.  "The highlight of my life was working for the Ford Motor Company back in the late '60s, early '70s when they were developing the GTHO," he says."My job as a young engineer was to build the plant expansion to make the new models. I built all the assembly lines.  A GTHO cost about $4800 at the time and now they're fetching more than 100 times that. I should have stolen a couple of them.  I used to get to drive them on the weekends after working 80-100 hour weeks. They were great days for motoring."His career took him overseas for the next 30-odd years, living in 21 countries and learning to speak six languages.  Bitneris says his first "collector" car was a 1960 Jaguar XK 150 he bought in 1976 in Canada.  "It didn't cost a lot of money. It was the first one I could afford to buy," he says.He won't talk about how much he paid for any of his cars _ he has mostly forgotten _ and he won't talk about what they are worth now.  "People squander their money. I squander it on cars," he says. "I'd like to think that they could be my superannuation."  Bitneris has owned several different marques, all European."After the Jaguar it's a bit of a liar's contest," he says.  "I've bought a lot of cars I don't have anymore such as Series I and II Rolls-Royce Shadows."  He currently owns a 1961 Bentley Continental Park Ward Cabriolet which is number 68 of only 125 handbuilt at Crewe. It features a 6.25-litre V8 with about 150kW of power and four-calliper brake pistons."I paid a lot of money for that but it's worth a lot of money now," he says.  He also has two Mercedes-Benz 220S models.  One is a 1958 220S Cabriolet like the one Princess Grace died in. He bought it from a "crook" in Western Australia. The other is a 1959 Coupe he bought off a restorer who now wants it back.But Bitneris won't sell it to him. Instead he has flown to Russia to negotiate selling the two Mercs and Bentley to a collector.  He also owns a 1971 Jaguar E-Type Roadster which is one of the first with a V12 engine.  "I love Jags. They were the ants pants in my day. You could pick up women with them," he says.He also tends to favour cabriolets because "that's where the money is".  Sitting on top of one of the Mercs is a 1965 Porsche 356 SC, one of only 12 brought into Australia.  "I bought it from a guy whose wife ran off with the boss and he didn't want her to have it so he sold it to me cheap," he says."It was in totally original condition with a spare engine.  "The gods favoured me that day."  He boasts it has such a good drag co-efficient you can slip it into neutral at 160km/h and it will coast for more than 1.5km before stopping.There is also a 1979 VW Karmann Cabriolet in his garage that he admits is "a piece of crap, but mechanically perfect".  He's thinking of putting a Subaru engine in it.Bitneris is also planning to convert a four-door 1959 Jaguar Mk IX to two doors and right-hand drive with a bonnet that hinges forward like on the E-Type.  "My next project will be a Series 1 E-Type; I'll pull out the engine, gearbox and brakes and strip it down to about 900kg and put in a four-litre modern Jag engine," he says."At 900kg it's lighter than my Porsche 356.  I'll use it as a run-around."  He even has plans to start building replica Porsche RS 61 Spyders using the original drawings.  "It's a tiny car with only has a 1.6-litre engine, but boy is it quick," he says.Bitneris used to drive all of his cars, but now claims he can't afford to register them.  "I mainly drive the E-Type which has been converted to fuel injection using a Skyline GT-R system and injectors," he says.  "The car was quick as it was, but it's quicker now with about 50 per cent extra power."They are all my favourites."  Bitneris says that even as a dedicated revhead, he still has concern for the environment.  "I've got a couple of stills and I'm going to make my own ethanol so I can drive all of these around without having to worry about the cost to the environment or the cost of fuel."

UPDATED - The Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (shown here) set a new world record for a car sold at auction on the 17th May 2009. 0714TR reached 12 million dollars US at RM Auctions Leggenda e Passione Ferrari auction in Maranello.  For me it’s the car in the photo gallery on the right. However the judgement of the most authoritative list of automotive experts ever assembled to make such a decision voted the Citroen DS21 to be the car. This panel included Gioretto Giugaro, Marcello Gandini and Gordon Murray, three of the most respected names in the industry and themselves responsible for such legendary cars as the Lamborghini Countach, Lancia Startos and McLaren F1.This past weekend at the Paris Retromobile, a Citroen DS Chapron Convertible sold at by auction by Bonhams  for just under A$650,000. The Chapron Convertible is the rarest and even more beautiful version of the DS21.Personally while I greatly admire the DS, it does not make my top ten list, which comprises;1.    1957 Ferrari 250 TR2.    Ferrari 250GT SWB California Spyder3.    1963 Ferrari 250GTO4.    Ferrari 246GT5.    Lamborghini Muira6.    Ferrari P47.    Ferrari 206SP8.    Mercedes 300SLR Coupe9.    Maserati 5000GT by Touring10.  Jaguar E-Type S111.  Ferrari 365GTB/4 DaytonaGiven my long term fascination with everything Ferrari I am interested to see how the auction of 0714TR will fare at Ferrari Leggenda e Passione in  Maranello, on 17 May 2009. This is the car that can (and should) break the current world sale record of $10.8m (currently A$16.6m) for the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder (s/n 2377GT) set at last year’s Ferrari Leggenda e Passione on 18 May 2008.The 1957 Pontoon Fender 250TR is one of the true legends of the Ferrari marque and generally considered one of the most desirable models by Ferrari cognoscenti. This particular example is unique and beautifully restored in its original black color scheme. Delivered to Piero Drogo; himself a substantial character within the history of Ferrari and extensively campaigned in races North and South America this car has the potential even in the current economic climate to blow the current record away.We will update you with the result in May. Rod Halligan

I know because his wife, Alice, tells me. And I have years and years of proof.The one-time star of V8 Supercar racing shows absolutely no sign of slowing down as his personal odometer clicks through the fifties.He was second in this year's Biante Championship for classic muscle cars, racing a bellowing V8-powered Chevrolet Camaro he reckons is far more fun than anything in the V8 Supercar series.Bowe also also just parked a 1960s Jaguar E-Type in the garage, after clearing space by selling his Porsche Cayman, as he continues to spin the automotive merry-go-round in search of something new and exciting.Which brings us around to his newest business venture.Bowe already has an advanced driving operation which is run by his hard working brother Terry, but now he has moved into a program to put ordinary punters behind the wheel of a racecar.He is using his three-year-old energy to spearhead a national expansion of V8RACE, which has 80 dates booked for 2009 in every state - except Bowe's own, Tasmania."We are making driving a V8 race car on a race track affordable and it's an experience that will stay with you forever," says Bowe."For a couple of hundred bucks you can have a shot and see how you go. They look and sound like a V8 Supercar but are easy enough for anyone to drive."There are more than 20 V8-powered Fords and Holdens in the V8RACE Experience fleet and Bowe has given the program a tickle with a 'Treasure Hunt' boost that's good for free rides, extra laps and discounts.Hot laps in the V8RACE program start at $99 and drivers are prices from $229 to $299.

The British motoring icon is tipped to revive the true two-seater sports car to take on the Italian and German sports cars.The most loved of the Jag family was built in the Swinging England period of 1961 to 1974.With its performance, handling and modern looks it was a huge sales success and is still a highly sought collector's car.Even Enzo Ferrari said it was the most beautiful car ever made.It's a huge legend to live up to for the Coventry manufacturer, which is about to be bought by Indian car manufacturer Tata.Jaguar chairman and former Ford Australia boss Geoff Polites confirmed they were investigating future model options, including the two-seater sports car.Jaguar Australia marketing communications manager Tim Krieger would not comment.“I'm not in a position to comment on speculation about any future product ,so nothing to add at this point,” he said.While the new E-Type would get a modern makeover, its legendary elongated nose would be bound to be retained. Possibly a stretched version of the XK, but with a smaller cockpit than the XK's 2+2 cabin.Jaguar almost revived the E-Type in 2000 with a model based on the F-Type concept unveiled to rave reviews at the Detroit Motor Show.It would be expected that the production model will feature a Jaguar V8 engine.Jaguar could pick from the 3.5-litre 190kW V8 or, more likely, the XK's 4.2-litre unit with 224kW, 298kW or the XKR's 306kW engine.The transmission would likely be the six-speed automatic with steering wheel-mounted paddleshifters.While Jaguar has yet to name the car, it would be a smart move to rekindle the legendary E-Type badge.Jaguar is also working on the new XJ saloon which is expected to continue chief designer Ian McCallum's XF style.The XF will be released in June, starting at $105,000 with V6 and V8 petrol engines and a diesel V6.