{"id":2702,"date":"2006-08-23T02:07:00","date_gmt":"2006-08-23T06:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2006\/08\/some-day-ill-have-jag\/"},"modified":"2010-12-30T12:02:03","modified_gmt":"2010-12-30T17:02:03","slug":"some-day-ill-have-jag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2006\/08\/some-day-ill-have-jag\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Day I’ll Have a Jag"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jaguar<\/a><\/p>\n

“Jaguar” means sports cars to most people my age (and for the moment let’s imagine the British pronunciation – JAG-you-ur, three syllables, not JAG-wahr as most Yanks say it). The XK-120<\/a> gave great speed (120 mph), thanks to an advanced twin-overhead-cam six-cylinder engine<\/a>, at a bargain price. The voluptuous E-Type<\/a> (XK-E in America) aroused the hormones of more than a few adventurous youth.<\/p>\n

Jaguar’s birth was less auspicious. An outgrowth of the Swallow Coachbuilding Company, whose initial products were motorcycle sidecars<\/a> and custom bodies for Austin Sevens<\/a>, the early cars were badged SS. The first, the SS-I<\/a> came in 1931, followed by a smaller-engined SS-II<\/a>. Particularly attractive were “Airline” coupe<\/a> bodies available in the mid-1930s. The Jaguar name first appeared on the SS-100<\/a> of 1935, built until World War II.<\/p>\n

After the War, when “SS” had sinister connotations, Jaguar became the marque name and so it has been ever since. My sports car period<\/a> having ended many years ago, it is Jaguar’s sedans (saloon cars) that appeal to me now. A Mark V provided my first Jaguar ride (saloon<\/a>, not drophead<\/a>) and a Mark VII<\/a> was the first Jag that I drove. By the time the Mark designations reached X<\/a> the cars had become rather ungainly, but a smaller line, variously called 2.4, 3.4, 3.8 and Mark II<\/a>, appeared in 1956. The flagship XJ6<\/a>, introduced in 1969, had a near-20-year run before being replaced by a less svelte XJ40<\/a> (called, curiously, XJ6 in the USA). In 1975, the E-Type was replaced by the somewhat nebulous XJS<\/a>, based on the XJ cars. Jaguar’s fortunes have ebbed and flowed, as quality and fashion have varied. Today the marque is owned by Ford<\/a>, which is both a blessing and a curse.<\/p>\n

Today’s Jaguars don’t excite me very much. The entry-level X-Type<\/a> looks too much like a Buick<\/a> (although the Sport Wagon<\/a> is interesting). The XJ8<\/a> comes only with a V8 engine (most un-Jaguarlike), and the “sports” XK8<\/a> is hardly more exciting than the XJS. The only current Jag for which I feel any empathy is the S-Type<\/a>, and that may be only for its retro themes.<\/p>\n

Some day I’ll own a Jag. It must have the XK-type dohc engine; preferably it should be a Series III XJ6<\/a>. I passed up a cheap Series I<\/a> at Hershey (at least the clock worked<\/a>). A 3.4 Mark II<\/a> at Beaulieu Autojumble last year was downright scruffy, but came with carefully-preserved vintage cigarette butts<\/a>. The car I probably should have bought, a 1986 Series III XJ6<\/a>, was being offered by the Larz Anderson Auto Museum<\/a> last summer but is no longer available. One day I’ll find my Jaguar. Folly, you say? Don’t forget: I once drove a Rover 2000<\/a> as my everyday car for fifteen years and 120,000 miles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Jaguar” means sports cars to most people my age (and for the moment let’s imagine the British pronunciation – JAG-you-ur, three syllables, not JAG-wahr as most Yanks say it). The XK-120 gave great speed (120 mph), thanks to an advanced twin-overhead-cam six-cylinder engine, at a bargain price. The voluptuous E-Type (XK-E in America) aroused the….<\/span>
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