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Jaguar Type 01 Spotted Testing

Jaguar has spent the better part of a century building cars that growled, snarled, and occasionally leaked on expensive driveways. Now it’s trying something far riskier: convincing the ultra-luxury crowd that silence is the future.

And somewhere along the sun-drenched streets of Monte Carlo, wrapped in bright red camouflage foil, the first real glimpse of that future just rolled into view.

Officially named the Type 01, Jaguar’s upcoming electric flagship represents the most radical reset in the company’s modern history. Forget evolutionary redesigns or cautious electrification strategies. This is Jaguar tearing up the old playbook and setting fire to the remains.

The latest prototype photos reveal a car that’s dramatically more realistic than the theatrical concept Jaguar previously showed the world. Gone is the exaggerated two-door fantasy-car layout. In its place sits a sleek four-door grand tourer with proportions that still scream drama, even if the packaging finally acknowledges the existence of rear passengers.

And make no mistake: this thing is enormous.

At 5.2 meters long with a wheelbase stretching 3.2 meters, the Type 01 occupies the same rarefied air as cars from Rolls-Royce and Bentley. Massive 23-inch wheels fill out the arches, while the endless hood delivers classic Jaguar theater—even if there’s no V-8 hiding underneath it.

That hood, Jaguar insists, contains nothing more exciting than storage space.

The company has publicly denied rumors suggesting the Type 01 would use a gasoline-powered range extender tucked beneath the nose. Instead, the front compartment will serve as a trunk, compensating for limited cargo space in the rear. Charging ports integrated into the front fenders further emphasize the company’s all-in EV commitment.

Still, Jaguar knows luxury buyers won’t accept compromise disguised as innovation. So the numbers attached to the Type 01 border on absurd.

Three electric motors.
1,000 horsepower.
1,300 Nm of torque.

Those figures place the Type 01 firmly in hyper-sedan territory, despite Jaguar positioning it as a grand tourer rather than an outright performance car. If the company delivers on those promises, the Type 01 could become the most powerful production Jaguar ever built—and easily the fastest.

But straight-line speed isn’t really the story here.

The real challenge is whether wealthy buyers actually want a six-figure electric Jaguar at all.

That’s where the company’s gamble starts looking less like confidence and more like desperation. Jaguar’s traditional clientele—buyers raised on supercharged V-8s, long hoods, and old-money British swagger—haven’t exactly been begging for an ultra-modern EV reboot. Dealers around the world have reportedly expressed serious concern about the brand’s dramatic change in direction, warning that many longtime customers are walking away altogether.

And honestly, it’s not hard to see why.

The high-end luxury market may be slowly embracing electrification, but the world’s wealthiest enthusiasts still seem deeply attached to internal-combustion excess. Cylinders still matter. Noise still matters. Presence still matters. For many buyers in this segment, an electric drivetrain remains something to tolerate—not celebrate.

Jaguar, however, appears convinced that the future customer is someone entirely different.

The company no longer wants to compete with traditional German luxury sedans or aging sports coupes. Instead, it’s chasing a younger, wealthier, design-obsessed audience that sees electric propulsion as progressive rather than sacrilegious. The Type 01 isn’t trying to be the next F-Type. It’s trying to become a rolling piece of modern architecture.

Whether that vision succeeds is another question entirely.

We’ll see the production-ready Type 01 later this year, before sales begin in 2027. By then, Jaguar won’t just be unveiling a new car. It’ll be revealing whether one of Britain’s most iconic brands can survive a complete reinvention without losing the soul that made it matter in the first place.

Source: Jaguar

NEW CARS

BMW Sends the G80 Out with a Clutch Pedal and a Bang

BMW is closing the chapter on one of its most controversial modern M cars the only way it really knows how: with a limited-run special that leans hard into nostalgia, driver engagement, and just enough restraint to make enthusiasts argue about it for years.

Meet the BMW M3 CS Handschalter, a US-exclusive farewell to the sixth-generation BMW M3 and, more specifically, one of the last manual transmission M cars you’re likely to see in the modern era. It follows in the footsteps of the Z4 Handschalter in marking a quiet but definitive retreat from the six-speed manual in BMW M’s higher-output lineup.

At its core, this is still a CS model, which means BMW hasn’t simply bolted a clutch pedal into a standard car and called it a day. The Handschalter is 20 kg lighter than the regular M3, and up to 34 kg lighter when optioned with carbon-ceramic brakes. It sits 6 mm lower than the M3 Competition and receives the full CS chassis treatment: stiffer springs, dampers, and anti-roll bars tuned to sharpen response and reduce any remaining hint of softness.

Unlike the more familiar all-wheel-drive CS setup, this version returns to rear-wheel drive. That alone signals its intent. This is not the most secure, fastest-to-the-first-corner M3 configuration. It is the one that asks more of you—and gives more back when you get it right.

Power comes from BMW M’s twin-turbo inline-six, but in this application output drops to 473 hp, down 69 hp from the automatic CS. The reason is less philosophical than it sounds: BMW M limits torque and power on manual cars to preserve drivetrain durability. The eight-speed automatic can handle more abuse; the manual, not so much.

Even so, performance remains properly serious. BMW claims 0–60 mph in 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 180 mph, which places it firmly in “don’t mistake this for a nostalgia exercise” territory. It still moves like a modern M car should, just with an extra layer of mechanical involvement between driver and road.

Visually and tactically, it gets the full CS treatment: yellow daytime running lights, bold striping options, and a palette that swings from subdued black to louder greens, reds, and purples. Inside, carbon-fiber bucket seats dominate the cabin, reinforcing the car’s track-first identity while still pretending, at least faintly, that you might daily it.

At $103,750 in the US, it also sits in familiar CS territory: expensive, exclusive, and very deliberately positioned as the “final word” rather than a volume seller. Unsurprisingly, there’s no indication it will reach Europe, where the manual M3 has already been phased out in favor of automatic-only configurations since the G80 launched in 2020.

And while this car closes one door, BMW is already opening another. The next-generation M3 is expected next year, and for the first time, it will include a fully electric variant. That model will reportedly use a four-motor setup producing well over 1,000 hp, with software-designed “engine character” meant to replicate the feel and sound of a combustion M car.

Alongside it, a heavily updated turbocharged inline-six M3 will continue the combustion lineage, engineered to meet Euro 7 regulations. BMW M executives have even suggested both versions will be priced in the same general bracket, a move that signals just how seriously the brand is taking its transition.

So the M3 CS Handschalter isn’t just another limited-run special. It’s a closing statement. A reminder that, for all the talk of electrification and future-proofing, BMW still knows how to build a driver’s car that asks you to do the shifting yourself—one last time.

Source: BMW

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Itala Returns After 92 Years as DR Automobiles

Few revival stories in the automotive world arrive with as much historical weight—and modern contradiction—as the return of Itala. A brand once associated with early Italian prestige has been resurrected after 92 years of silence, now re-entering the market under the engineering oversight of former Roberto Fedeli.

But this is not a simple heritage reboot. It is part of a far more complex industrial expansion led by DR Automobiles, a company that has spent the past two decades building its business model around adapting Chinese-sourced vehicles for European markets. With six brands already in its portfolio and roughly 34,000 cars sold across Italy and select neighboring markets last year, DR is now pushing beyond its home turf, setting its sights on larger and far more competitive territories like France and Germany.

Heritage, Rewritten

The revived Itala sits within DR’s “Historic Italian Brands” strategy—a deliberate attempt to fuse nostalgic brand equity with modern, cost-efficient manufacturing pipelines. Alongside Itala, DR is also preparing to relaunch Osca, a name originally founded by the Maserati brothers and once active in motorsport between 1947 and 1967.

The plan is as pragmatic as it is ambitious: both brands will share showroom space, effectively leveraging history as a dual-badging showroom experience aimed at emotionally anchoring budget-conscious products.

The First Modern Itala

Debuting this week at the Turin motor show, the first modern Itala is called the 35—a 4.4-meter petrol-powered crossover that underpins its engineering architecture on the GAC Trumpchi GS3. Pricing is expected to start at around €35,000 (£30,000), placing it squarely in the highly contested European compact SUV segment.

Yet DR is not simply importing and rebadging without intervention. Italian media reports suggest a multi-layered refinement program: Fedeli has reportedly tuned the suspension setup, while interior execution has been reworked by Italian suppliers, with red leather and Alcantara dominating the cabin. Exterior styling has also been revised, with design input attributed to Italdesign—a name that carries genuine weight in global automotive styling circles.

The result, at least on paper, is a familiar formula executed with Italian surface finesse: global architecture beneath, local tuning on top, and heritage branding wrapped around the package.

Expansion at Scale

Under the same strategy, DR is investing approximately €50 million into two new “production facilities” at its Macchia d’Isernia plant, where it already assembles knock-down kits sourced from China. The expansion is expected to create around 500 jobs, reinforcing DR’s increasingly industrial footprint in southern Italy.

The timing is no accident. As European emissions regulations tighten and development costs rise, DR’s model—lean platforms, localized assembly, and brand resurrection—sits in a growing niche between mainstream volume manufacturers and premium incumbents.

What Comes Next

If Itala represents the first step, Osca may represent the sharper end of the strategy. While no production model has yet been confirmed, Italian reports suggest a “proper sports car” is under consideration, potentially featuring a 2.0-litre engine sourced from Lotus-related architecture—possibly aligning with the turbocharged four-cylinder used in the current Emira’s Mercedes-AMG-derived setup.

For now, however, DR is focused on rollout infrastructure. Around 50 Itala-Osca dealerships are planned, with the first opening in Turin—the original home of Itala itself. It is a symbolic return, but also a strategic one: anchoring a revived brand network in the city where its identity was first forged.

A Familiar Modern Paradox

The rebirth of Itala is not a pure heritage story, nor is it a conventional product launch. It sits in the increasingly common space where globalized platforms, Chinese supply chains, and European branding intersect.

The question, as always, is not whether the story is authentic—but whether the product behind the badge is compelling enough to make buyers care.

And in today’s European market, that may be the only metric that truly matters.

Source: Autocar

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