abstract
| - A mark with incredible heritage and reputation, Jaguar has long been the quintessential enthusiasts' car maker, with remarkable success in motorsports and home to history's most reveled sports cars and sedans. One of those cars was the XK120 race car, a truly revolutionary car for its time. An updated version of the car was the 2006 XK Series, redesigned for the first time in 10 years. Chief designed Ian Callum penned the car's shape, and his previous stint as Aston Martin's lead designer shows up in the car's details. The new XK featured a rear hatch and a wind-cutting curvaceous shape. It featured an all-aluminum monocoque structure that was previously used in the XJ series, but with 31 percent more body rigidity than before. The body grew slightly from the previous version, but curb weight stayed relatively unchanged at 1690 kg, lighter than most cars of its class. Under the hood was an all-aluminum 4.2-liter V-8 that sent out 300 HP and 310.2 ft-lb of torque to the rear wheels via the company's first 6-speed automatic gearbox. The car ran from zero to 62.1 miles in 6.2 seconds with a restricted top speed of 155 mph. The new XK also featured the first pedestrian crash safety mechanism on a production car, called the Deployable Bonnet System, making the XK not only a car with cutting edge performance technology, but one that emphasized safety as well.
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