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Where big cats are made: A photo tour of Jaguar’s Castle Bromwich plant

Filed under: Sedan, Plants/Manufacturing, Jaguar, UK, Luxury

Jaguar XJ at Castle Bromwich

A photo tour of Jaguar’s Castle Bromwich factory – Click above for high-res image gallery

All Jaguars, whether steel or aluminum, are fashioned in one place: Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands of England. The factory complex originally made RAF Spitfires and Lancaster bombers for World War II service, then was turned over to car production. In the way of Britain’s carmaking conglomerates, it produced bodies for brands from Riley to Austin to Morris – when our tour guide started working there in 1966 he was in charge of making Nash Metropolitans.

Jaguar has been the sole occupant since 1977, and consolidated all of its production there in 2005, when its Browns Lane plant was shut. We had a chance to tour the site’s C-Block and F-Block recently, where the XJ is assembled and finished. Along the way we came across bodyshells so light they could easily be picked up by one man, a bajillion rivets and miles of adhesive, Ford’s gift of reams of data sheets, the shiniest XJ we’ve ever seen and, of course, signs of Elvis. Have a look at the captioned gallery of high-res photos below to see what’s behind the camouflaged red brick walls of Castle Bromwich.

Where big cats are made: A photo tour of Jaguar’s Castle Bromwich plant originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 May 2011 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: University shuts down Formula SAE program over racy photo

Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, Etc., Racing

Waterloo SAE Car

According to TheRecord.com, The University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, temporarily shut down its Formula SAE team after a female team member was photographed next to the chapter’s race car, clad only in a bikini and high heels. The young lady who stripped down for the shot said she wanted to show her femininity juxtaposed with her engineering talents. The school, however, was not impressed with her racy display.

The irony, according to the team, is that the photo shoot was for an entry in a calendar contest designed to promote women. The female SAE member was hoping to use the photograph as her entry into the contest, which apparently celebrates beauty and brains.

Whatever her motives were, the university put the administrative clamp on the team, supposedly because they used the design department’s studio for the photo shoot without getting permission. The suspension means the team won’t be allowed to take their car to Michigan in May for the international SAE competition. Basically, the students’ months of toil on their 600-cc sportbike-powered track star will be for naught.

Despite the harsh penalty, the school was quick to praise the team’s efforts, and members were assured they’d still get academic credit for the work they put in. Still, for a team of aspiring automotive engineers who poured countless hours, more stress than anyone should ever live under and immeasurable passion into the build, academic credit is small consolation for missing the competition.

We’d love to show you the original image, but couldn’t find the photographer to ask permission. Instead, you’ll have to click here to see what all the fuss is about.

[Source: The Record, University of Waterloo | Image: University of Waterloo]

Report: University shuts down Formula SAE program over racy photo originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2012 BMW 6 Series Convertible caught on photo shoot

Filed under: Spy Photos, Convertible, Europe, BMW, Luxury

2012 BMW 6 Series Convertible

2012 BMW 6 Series Convertible – Click above for gallery

Look what’s been caught without its camo: the 2012 BMW 6 Series Convertible. The image you see above originated from the folks at E90 Post, and is supposedly a clandestine shot snapped during a photo shoot of the big, topless BMW. The crew over at Autobild then set about doing a little Photoshop forensics to remove the pesky cameraman and shadows from the shot, giving us an unobstructed view of exactly what the new Sixer will look like with its cloth top stowed.

So what do we know about the 2012 6 Series? BMW hasn’t come out and revealed exactly what will lurk under that massive hood, but if we were laying down our hardly-earned paychecks on an educated guess, we’d say that a smattering of the company’s range of turbocharged inline six-cylinder engines would be a good bet. Meanwhile, the topped-out M6 is likely to pack something with a few more cylinders and another turbo. Thanks for the tip, Jen!

Gallery: 2012 BMW 6 Series Convertible Spy Shot

[Sources: Motor Authority, E90 Post]

2012 BMW 6 Series Convertible caught on photo shoot originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Audi channels ’50s street racing scene for A1 photo shoot?

Filed under: Europe, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Hatchback, Audi

Audi A1 meets classic American cars and a blonde bombshell

Audi A1 meets ’50s cool – Click above to watch video after the jump

We’ll be honest: we have no idea what’s going on in the video after the jump. Near as we can tell, Audi wanted to work up a photo shoot for its new A1 subcompact, so the company dialed up two members of the band Tokio Hotel, packed a warehouse with 22 pieces of classic iron and went to town. Yeah, we don’t quite get it ourselves. There’s a ’50s drag-race flavor about the whole affair thanks to a tatted-up blonde bombshell playing flag girl, which only furthers our befuddlement.

At least the song isn’t half bad.

It’s true that the Audi A1 is a pretty cool piece of machinery. And, yes, we dig on pre-’60s hardware as much as the next auto-obsessed site, but the two aren’t quite the same kind of awesome. Maybe Audi is looking to flex the customizable side of the A1, or maybe the ad department was just looking for an excuse to meet a couple of members of Tokio Hotel. Who knows? Hit the jump to try to solve this mystery for yourself.

Gallery: 2011 Audi A1

[Source: Audi via YouTube]

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Video: Audi channels ’50s street racing scene for A1 photo shoot? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Monterey 2010: Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance creates ultimate photo-ops

Filed under: Classics

2010 Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance – Click above for high-res image gallery

While the skies were gloomy and even a bit weepy this year, at least we didn’t have fog like last year. The Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance is one of our favorite events in Monterey every year, and it’s nice to actually see the cars. The Tour, if you’re not familiar, is an event that includes a large portion of the entrants in Sunday’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, but as its name implies, the cars are moving. The best part is that it’s free to anyone with a lawn chair.

The cars leave the Pebble Beach grounds around 8:30AM and snake through 17-Mile drive, loop through Monterey and then head down Highway 1 to Big Sur before turning around and coming back up into Carmel for lunch. Mercedes-Benz was the sponsor this year so there were plenty of SLS, SLK, S Class, GL, ML… LMNOP models on hand to serve escort duty for the “real” media, VIPs and racers like Sir Stirling Moss, who led the whole parade in an old Gullwing. Nice cars for sure, but the Tour is also our first glimpse at what’s going to be vying for Best of Show on the 18th fairway at Pebble on Sunday.

Unlike last year when the Horch just shown like a freshly polished diamond in a coal pile, we didn’t spot any clear favorites this year. That’s not to say there aren’t a ton of great cars here this year – just not one superstar. Several cars did manage to stand out as the entries chugged past us along PCH though.

That’s the magical part of the Tour, the cars careening down the coast with hundreds of spectators and photographers lining every turn-out. All five of your senses are involved here, with everything from horseless carriages to 1950s dream cars whizzing by, spewing an intoxicating mix of fuel vapor, oil, exhaust, brakes, clutch and various other overheated material scents as the ground rumbles under your feet, particularly with the race cars. And come on, how often do you get to see GP cars on the street?

Check out the amazing gallery of 109 high-res images by clicking below. We’re still in the process of labeling them all, so shout it out in the comments if you can identify any of the ones we’re missing.

Gallery: Monterey 2010: Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance

Mercedes-Benz 300SL driven by Sir Stirling Moss

Monterey 2010: Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance creates ultimate photo-ops originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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