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Jay Leno's Garage drives Steve McQueen's 1956 Jaguar XKSS

Steve McQueen might be the coolest American male of the 20th century. With movies like Bullitt and Le Mans, McQueen established himself as the king of cool of his era, and on the list of actors you would pick for a fantasy racing team - he or Paul Newman are the natural first choices. The latest Jay Leno's Garage video highlights one of McQueen's most special cars - a 1956 Jaguar XKSS.
Just 16 XKSS models were made because a fire at the Jaguar factory halted production. It was meant to be a street version of the company's very successful D-Type racer, with a modified version of its 3.4-liter straight-six-engine and a four-speed manual gearbox. McQueen clearly had an eye for great vehicles. He drove his Jag around Los Angeles years after it was a cutting-edge piece of technology. Since then, it became part of the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA. Autoblog's The List even took a ride in it when the show visited the museum.
The XKSS is one of the pinnacles of automotive design of the '50s, and its association with McQueen makes this example even more extraordinary. Leno is in love with the car from the moment he sees it, and it's hard to argue with him. Between its emphasized curves and raspy exhaust, this is one sexy Jag. Scroll down to get an eyeful and earful from one of McQueen's favorite cars.

2015 Jaguar F-Type Coupe is a seriously pretty kitty

The F-Type roadster is a beautiful car, but if we're honest, the coupe might be even more so. The hard top creates a smooth, uninterrupted line from the windshield all the way back to the rear of the car, the kinked-up rear-quarter windows are a nice touch and, overall, the design looks more organic than the roadster.
With the coupe's introduction also comes a new engine in the F-Type lineup, the 550-horsepower 5.0-liter supercharged V8 found in the XFR-S and XKR-S, and it's fitted to the top model, the F-Type R Coupe. The 495-hp mill in the V8 S roadster won't be an option in the coupe, however, but we're okay with that because Jaguar claims the 550-hp variant will scoot to 60 mph in just four seconds. Jaguar also will offer the base F-Type Coupe, with a 340-hp 3.0-liter supercharged V6, and the F-Type S Coupe, which has the same engine tuned to 380 hp. The base and mid-level models are quite quick, and can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 5.1 and 4.8 seconds, respectively.
The F-Type Coupe is priced starting from $65,000, the S Coupe adds $12,000 and the R Coupe starts at $99,000 (prices don't include $895 destination fee). For more F-Type Coupe info, check out our previous post on it, or head on below to read the press release.

Jaguar readying a pop-top F-Type Coupe? [w/poll]

Typically convertibles are spun off of coupes, but sometimes it goes the other way. Like the Porsche Cayman that was based on the Boxster, the Lotus Exige spun off of the Elise, and the Jaguar F-Type, which arrived as a roadster before the coupe debuted. But if the latest reports are to be believed, Jaguar could be planning something in between.
According to Auto Express (which has, mind you, been known to stretch the rumors out some), Jaguar is toying with the idea of offering a partial convertible version of the F-Type - something Porsche would call a Targa (and which we would too if Stuttgart weren't so litigiously protective of the name). The additional roof configuration would give the F-Type three body-styles, giving its customers more choices.
It wouldn't be the only sports car to offer three roof options: There's the Porsche 911, of course. Ferrari once offered GTB, GTS and Spider versions of the 348 and 355. The Chevy Corvette has been offered in all three forms, as was the Pontiac Solstice many moons ago. But that kind of variety in roof configurations has become scarce. Jaguar's decision reportedly depends on whether it can make the business case or not. Do you think there'd be enough demand for a lift-roof F-Type?