Corvette Radiator Insulator, Left, Lower, 1997-2004 on 2040-parts.com

Jaguar XFR-S arrives ahead of LA debut

The Jaguar XFR-S – Jaguar’s most powerful saloon car to date – has leaked out ahead of its debut tonight at the Los Angeles Auto Show. We’re hoping that Jaguar has managed to bestow extra power on the very appealing XFR without wrecking the stuff that makes Jaguar saloons so appealing – the dynamic/ride balance – which, if they have, will make the XFR-S a more appealing bonkers sports saloon than the German offerings. The promise is all there with a new butch front end, a more aggressive body kit, chunks of carbon fibre, a huge rear wing for extra downforce, a new diffuser at the back, stiffer springs, a new rear subframe with stiffer bushes, a tweaked active diff and a tweak of the stability control for more fun.

Bloodhound 1000mph World Speed Record attempt goes carbon neutral. Piffle.

Richard Noble’s Bloodhound Land Speed Record attempt will now be carbon neutral thanks to sponsorship by Carbon Neutral Investments (CNI). People like Richard Noble – leader of the Bloodhound Project aiming to break the 1000mph land speed record – are made of the same stuff as Spitfire pilots and Biggles, with a gung-ho approach to the inherent dangers and an inability to contemplate failure; British Bulldog Spirit at its best. So it seems almost sad that a proper Boy’s Own adventure like the Bloodhound SSC – a 133,000bhp rocket and jet powered racing car – should bow to trendy PC sensibilities by announcing it’s a ‘Carbon Neutral’ project.

Cadillac teases Detroit 2013 concept at Pebble Beach

Cadillac teased a new concept car at the weekend at Pebble Beach to be unveiled in the steel at an unnamed American auto show early next year. We'll see you on the GM stand in Detroit then. During a press event Cadillac's Global Design Director Clay Dean said it was time for the brand to "reflect back not for nostalgia, but what made us great at the time." There were no further details about what we can expect from the concept but from what we can see from these renders is what appears to be a further move away from the geometry of the Art and Science form language towards a more sculptural surface treatment intersected by sharp, precise creases.