Drive Wire: June 9, 2016
Jag’s XKSS, Mercedes electric models, Skodas in America, a smart camera, and video of the Isle of Man record.
Hey guys, it’s Rebecca Canavan and this is Drive Wire for Thursday, June 9.
We have bad news for anyone who was trying to get their hands on a new Jaguar XKSS. Jaguar originally intended to build 25, but only finished 16. Steve McQueen bought and drove one of those 16, which has helped keep its memory alive. Anyway, some of the remaining chassis have been lying around jaguar’s browns lane plant, and recently their classics division decided to finish off the run and sell them for a million and a half each, building every part by hand. Jag wasn’t sure what the response would be, but basically, they sold out before we could even tell you. The first of the hand-built continuation XKSS run will be delivered next spring. Sorry you missed your chance. This one’s on us.
The electric car market is about to get a big jolt. Mercedes-Benz is planning a few new electric models, and will show the first of these at the Paris Auto Show this September. Mercedes hasn’t said exactly which models they’ll electrify, only that the list will include two sedans and two SUV’s. It’s expected that the concept we’ll see in Paris will be an electric variant on the GLC class, due for production in 2019. This is definitely a shot across Tesla’s bow, as well as a big entry into the electric car market. And if nothing else, the more companies working on the electric car, the better electric cars will be.
In news of the odd, Volkswagen may be bringing Skodas to America. VW recently filed with American agencies to protect the Skoda name and logos. Skoda is sort of, kind of a down-market version of VW, but they also make weird stuff - we’ve always wanted a Fabia FunStar, which is more or less a Golf-El-Camino sort of thing. No word if we’d get that, but the superb sedan, the Octavia hatch, and the yeti SUV are possible. Skoda’s entry into this country would be a way of selling VW products without the Dieselgate cloud that hangs over that name right now.
Today’s gear features a camera with a built-in cameraman. The Soloshot pans, tilts, and zooms to keep anyone wearing the special tag in the shot as long as they’re within 2,000 feet. The Soloshot uses cloud storage, can livestream to all your social accounts, and even identifies highlights for you. It’s basically a PR Director on a tripod. Check it out at soloshot.com.
For today’s ridiculous video, we had previously mentioned that Michael Dunlop crushed the Isle of Man lap record. Now we have video of Michael’s blazing fast 133 mile per hour run through the mountain course. It’s history, legacy, and lunacy all at once. Congrats again Michael on an incredible run.
That’s it for today’s edition of Drive Wire. For more, be sure to come back to thedrive.com, and follow us @thedrive on all your favorite social media platforms.
