The early E-Type Jaguar is the most beautiful production automobile ever
made. What's odd is how little dispute there is about this. Go ahead...send
in your nominees; at best it will be an argument of whether or not your
alternative is really a "production" automobile. And at that,
half of them are likely to be earlier Jaguar roadsters! I picked this one
up "cheap" over ten years ago, and have it more or less in great
shape at last. From the beginning I felt like a design this important should
be out on the street where people could see and appreciate it, so, it is
developed as a road car not a trailer queen. The numbers don't match and
it has some gigantic Italian carburetors on it, not to mention a long legged
rear-end and dual point ignition, but, even today with it's light alloy,
high winding turbo charged "sports cars", nobody leaves us very
far behind, fully capable of 145+mph. It is one of the last automobile designs
made which is more or less the conception on one designer, and produced
by a company runby one person with the courage of his convictions about
how things should look and function. At one time or another almost every
design element of the car has been ripped off and grafted onto something
else. But, they just don't get it. Today, everything looks like a refrigerator
because it is designed by committee. Western civilization is about individualism.
Don't let the new agers wear you down.
Learn to tell one old Jaguar from another and get lots of technical
advice and sympathy (and Lucas jokes) if you get seduced by the 
murmuring
growl of the hunting cat...
If there is a more beautiful car than the E type perhaps it is the XJ-13
which, if there was any justice in the world, would have been the F type.
Why not give Vicarage a jingle and have them whomp
you one up...(a mere 195,000 Pounds) or a E or Mark II convertable.
Once you get him up and running, you will need to know where to go... for
a good time call this Dutch guy to find out what's
neat about our country...
Since Jaguars are really only happy at ton up speeds you will find this
site indispensable. The Speed
trap registry. I was reminded on the Jag lovers use group to remember
that traffic lights that are timed for 30 mph are also in synch at, 60,
90 and 120...sound advice.
Finally, when you settle down to reflect on it all you may need a glass
or two of decent whisky. Suggest you check out this great site. Perhaps
you will discover how it was that from Scotland the last of the gentlemen
privateer racers were able to sweep the 1957 Le Mans in their Ecurie Ecosse
blue "D" Types...leaving the factory Ferraris and Maseratis far
behind. Chianti just doesn't cut it boys...to dream big and go the distance
you need a good single
malt.
It helps to be
Scottish too (we're of the "wilde McGraws")
JAG-LOVERS BADGE PROPOSAL