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Jaguar XKR-S GT revealed (+ video)

Jaguar has pulled a surprise with the reveal of a more focused, and expensive, XKR ahead of the New York Auto Show – the Jaguar XKR-S GT. The XKR-S GT doesn’t get extra power – the XKR-S already has 542bhp – but it does get lots of tweaks to make it more able to use the performance it has. That means a new bonnet with more vents to improve cooling, a new carbon fibre front splitter, new rear diffuser, an aluminium undertray at the front, a whopping great spoiler at the back and bits of carbon fibre floating around.

Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations division launches

Cars like the Jaguar F-Type Project 7 (pictured) will come from JLR’s Special Operations If the creation of the Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations division to create bespoke, heritage, ultra luxury and high performance Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover cars doesn’t shout how positive JLR are about the future, nothing will. Jaguar call it “meeting the increasing expectations of today’s most discerning and enthusiastic car customers“, but what they really mean is that JLR have now got so much back on their game with cars like the new Jaguar F-Type, new Range Rover and new Range Rover Sport that they now have buyers with deep enough pockets to pay for just about anything, so that’s what JLR are going to do with the Special Operations division; give them anything they want – at a price That will mean car like the Jaguar Project 7 F-Type we saw at Goodwood last year being possible, ultra-luxury versions of the Range Rover and even the creation of heritage cars like the new Lightweight E-Types could become a regular occurrence. With a team of engineers and and designers led by Paul Newsome, recently recruited from Williams Advance Engineering, the plan is to create halo vehicles for both the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, and a team of 150 at a new Technical Centre near Gaydon will have a customer commissioning suite for bespoke and premium personalisation.

Detroit auto show 2012 - a video review of the NAIAS

It's CAR's traditional three wise-ish men in a car video review of the 2012 North American International Auto Show. Hear the analysis from our European editor Georg Kacher, contributing editor Ben Oliver and anchorman associate editor Tim Pollard, as they chew over the new cars, surprises, delights and disappointments from the Detroit auto show. NAIAS 2012 was a more sober affair than the previous era of showmanship; there were no herds of cattle being steered down Detroit's streets or wild parties hosted by Chrysler in the old Firehouse.