RE: Jaguar E-Type V8 | The Brave Pill
Discussion
aeropilot said:
Not enough technically competent road test reviewers around now, and todays buyers are not in the majority interested in such data.........all they are interested in is what is the monthy payments, are my friends and neighbours going to be impressed, and what's the connectivity like......and maybe what's the ULEZ rating.
Thats a bit depressingBeing in my seventies I remember when this car first came on the stage, and I thought what a beautiful car and fast. From what I remember it was about £2k. Was never going to be able to afford one so bought an Airfix plastic kit and had to make do with that. My Father also a petrolhead had several Mk.2 Jags and the original S type. He always raved on about the fabulous XK engine being one of the first UK designed engines to have a 7 main bearing crankshaft. He was also the owner of several Ford V8 Pilots in the fifties (I remember as a kid) and would complain about having to replace the big ends and main bearing shells every 30,000 miles.
Times move on though, the thought of a Jag having a Ford V8 may not be to everyone's taste but probably easier service wise though recent Ford V8s (UK) had a dubious reputation for reliability at one time.
Times move on though, the thought of a Jag having a Ford V8 may not be to everyone's taste but probably easier service wise though recent Ford V8s (UK) had a dubious reputation for reliability at one time.
Hmmm...you’d really have to want to own an E to co sided that. The worst version with the lumpen 2+2 and, more importantly, missing the XK engine. The latter really lies at the heart of an E-Type so a no from me.
It looks superficially reasonably priced but you could afford a lovely fixed head by the time you’d sorted it.
It looks superficially reasonably priced but you could afford a lovely fixed head by the time you’d sorted it.
Jonny TVR said:
aeropilot said:
Not enough technically competent road test reviewers around now, and todays buyers are not in the majority interested in such data.........all they are interested in is what is the monthy payments, are my friends and neighbours going to be impressed, and what's the connectivity like......and maybe what's the ULEZ rating.
Thats a bit depressingThe vast majority of drivers have no more interest in their cars then they have in their washing machines and the minority that do take an interest seem to focus entirely on the gadget count and how much Bling £299 a month puts on the drive rather than the tactile dynamics of how the car actually performs and drives.
True - but I am probably not alone in being a stranger to fashion , lacking self concsiousness about ,my iphone'd ageing vintage, , designer trainers and being oblivious to the charms of Tik Tok, Instagram and Twitter . So let him is without sin cast the first stone eh ? Why should everyone have the same OCD interest in pricey tin boxes on wheels as I have ?
coppice said:
True - but I am probably not alone in being a stranger to fashion , lacking self concsiousness about ,my iphone'd ageing vintage, , designer trainers and being oblivious to the charms of Tik Tok, Instagram and Twitter . So let him is without sin cast the first stone eh ? Why should everyone have the same OCD interest in pricey tin boxes on wheels as I have ?
All very true. But car magazines are for car enthusiasts - how many ordinary members of the public ever bought Motor or Autocar when they were deciding whether to buy an Austin/Morris 1100 or a Ford Cortina Mk1? In fact, I suspect that now these new car buying compendiums are available, that more ordinary members of the public use a magazine as a part of the process of buying a new car than was once the case.I used to be a voracious purchaser and reader of car magazines, but gave up when they just seemed to become glossy mags -it seemed to me that journalists got fed up with the hard slog and discipline of conducting proper road tests and populating the stats, and magazine owners decided that costs could be cut....
aeropilot said:
daveco said:
Is there a website or a place one could look at/buy these road tests? loving the amount of detail/info given.
Back in the late 70's, Brooklands Books started compiling these old road tests into marque and model specific books, which are still available and being added to.Heres a link to the ones for all the Jaguar models
https://www.brooklandsbooks.co.uk/product-category...
HTH
Call me odd, but I don't have an issue with the looks of the 2+2 at all - many do seemingly, but at least the lower values open the door to E-type ownership for those that haven't got £100K+ to spend.
As far as this beasty is concerned I'd proceed with caution. Stock from that museum is always up for sale (even when it was still open), most of which is tagged with absurd asking prices. Assuming it's any good at all, it feels like about £25-£30K at best and I certainly wouldn't spend money converting it back to standard - one to fettle and just enjoy it for what it is IMO.
As far as this beasty is concerned I'd proceed with caution. Stock from that museum is always up for sale (even when it was still open), most of which is tagged with absurd asking prices. Assuming it's any good at all, it feels like about £25-£30K at best and I certainly wouldn't spend money converting it back to standard - one to fettle and just enjoy it for what it is IMO.
AMGSee55 said:
Call me odd, but I don't have an issue with the looks of the 2+2 at all - many do seemingly, but at least the lower values open the door to E-type ownership for those that haven't got £100K+ to spend.
As far as this beasty is concerned I'd proceed with caution. Stock from that museum is always up for sale (even when it was still open), most of which is tagged with absurd asking prices. Assuming it's any good at all, it feels like about £25-£30K at best and I certainly wouldn't spend money converting it back to standard - one to fettle and just enjoy it for what it is IMO.
I think the difficulty with the 2+2 is that it followed on from the original fixed head and, therefore, was always compared to that.As far as this beasty is concerned I'd proceed with caution. Stock from that museum is always up for sale (even when it was still open), most of which is tagged with absurd asking prices. Assuming it's any good at all, it feels like about £25-£30K at best and I certainly wouldn't spend money converting it back to standard - one to fettle and just enjoy it for what it is IMO.
The proportions lost the sleekness of the original but, as is often the case, it was driven by marketing demands and the bonus of the longer wheelbase was that an auto could be fitted for the American market.
In its day even the 2+2 was a good looking car when compared to other cars of the time - 2+2 or Hillman Imp, Humber Imperial, Rover 3 litre etc etc..
[quote=coppice]For younger readers it is hard to convey just what an impact the E-Type made in period. Most of the stuff on the road in the Sixties was tragic , slow , ugly and utilitarian grey porridge . If you liked driving you had a Mini Cooper or maybe an MGB or TR4 . Ferraris , Astons and Porsches are in every traffic jam now it seems , but back then were rarer than hen's teeth . I recall only seeing two Ferraris in my first couple of years as a teenage enthusiast , and maybe three or four 911s or 356s . Nobody you'd ever met had seen a Lambo .
In that environment , seeing an E-Type was the highlight of the week . It was gratuitously sexy , with that absurdly priapic bonnet , achingly sexy hips and even the detail entranced - those phallic exhausts pointing at the guy behind and the almost flat rear window -which was heated and tinted !
Of the week?? God, where did you live? Month or maybe year, more like! Completely agree though, that the early ones are possibly the most hyped and most beautiful cars of their period.
In that environment , seeing an E-Type was the highlight of the week . It was gratuitously sexy , with that absurdly priapic bonnet , achingly sexy hips and even the detail entranced - those phallic exhausts pointing at the guy behind and the almost flat rear window -which was heated and tinted !
Of the week?? God, where did you live? Month or maybe year, more like! Completely agree though, that the early ones are possibly the most hyped and most beautiful cars of their period.
T'West Riding. Where's there's muck there's brass lad.
Actually , in the mining village where I lived , I only ever saw one - in metallic ice blue,growling out of the Murco petrol station . But school was two bus rides away in Wakefield , and that meant 2 hours of car spotting a day !
Actually , in the mining village where I lived , I only ever saw one - in metallic ice blue,growling out of the Murco petrol station . But school was two bus rides away in Wakefield , and that meant 2 hours of car spotting a day !
I agree with that's with why the E-Type holds a special place with many of us of a certain age......
Growing up in Greater London in the 60's and 70's, I was lucky in that I did get to spot a few other exotics of the day, as H R Owen showroom/workshop on the A40 was only a few miles away, and so I'd get the odd spot of something going in and out of there when going past.
But even with that location, an foreign exotic of the period was a VERY rare sight even in Greater London.
Growing up in Greater London in the 60's and 70's, I was lucky in that I did get to spot a few other exotics of the day, as H R Owen showroom/workshop on the A40 was only a few miles away, and so I'd get the odd spot of something going in and out of there when going past.
But even with that location, an foreign exotic of the period was a VERY rare sight even in Greater London.
[quote=rix]I like it, seeing as it's already been hacked around and the engine might be worth something, surely there is a good case for whipping it out and 'popping' a modern LS lump in for top trolling ability...
No, I'd keep it original by putting a correct bonnet back on, but with an RB26 turbo underneath. Keep it straight 6 but with power and stealth.
No, I'd keep it original by putting a correct bonnet back on, but with an RB26 turbo underneath. Keep it straight 6 but with power and stealth.
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