A wise old man once told me: “you can’t just own a Jaguar, you have to have a love affair with one.” The reasons for this were several, the sexy rooflines hampered head room and visibility, trunk space was non-existent, and then there are those reliability woes. Although my 2000 XJ8 has (no kidding) been the definition of a reliable car for the past 120,000 miles, the mantra applied. When Jaguar came out with a new S-Type, the restrained classic styling screamed “this is your father’s Jaguar.” When Jaguar created performance models like the XJR and S-Type R, they were just fast fat cats, not really holding their own against the Germans. But that wasn’t their goal at the time, the goal was to propel an English gentleman’s club on wheels with “swift progress” to quote the XFR’s owners guide. Jaguar styling was the definition of restrained classic elegance. Everyone who saw a Jaguar would gush about how gorgeous they looked in the parking lot. Consumers loved the look in someone else’s parking lot, but put a BMW in their driveway. Like the box of abandoned kittens at the PetCo front door, nobody really wanted to take the kitty home, and that’s a pity.
Recent Comments
dwford - The real question is: Which is better the 2013 Santa Fe or the 2014 Sorento? A sibling rivalry test is in order…
Thomas Kreutzer - Thanks, man! I’m glad to see you posting over here once in a while! If I get back out this way later this year I will make it a plan to drop you a note and come...
Halftruth - W123 or not, like Sajeev says, old cars suck. I like to wrench myself but only minimally, not as a part time fleet mechanic. I have heard from more than a few...
al w - The only transmission-related problem that I recall on my father’s ’57 Dodge that I learned to drive on was that he would...
28-Cars-Later - That’s nice to hear… the Panther is obviously a superior choice :)
28-Cars-Later - I had an ex who in 2006 was obsessed with the idea of seven row seating in an SUV (she had three kids). She had a ’99 Caravan held together by...
maciejewskiadam - Jonny- great review. I have one thing to say, though: ‘Aluminum Look’.
MRF 95 T-Bird - Corvair’s with automatic transmissions(Power-glide) had the lever on the dash which lacked the Park function. Just...
Scoutdude - Those Chinese bumpers will likely loose their chrome or start rusting like crazy in only a couple of years and even brand new it...
Landcrusher - No, I in no way even implied that. You could demilitarize DARPA, whatever. Besides...