Jaguar ownership, respected or not?
Discussion
Very amusing, all this 'perceived image' and stereotyping by car brand-with most of the negative associations being directed towards the Teutonic brigade.
Whilst there will always be certain groups of people attracted to certain types of car, one would hope that on the motoring forums a larger percentage of us are car enthusiasts first, for the love of the machine, and image/status seekers last.
When younger I always wanted a Jaguar, but read the numerous reliability topics and, coupled with the fact that they were all out of my price range at the time, I went down the German route after a couple of big old Mk2 Ford Granada's.
Getting to my place of work is a 30 minute drive by car or a horrendous 2-3 hour trip involving 3 trains and a bus, plus the same on the homeward journey, so I just could not risk an unreliable car.
So I started down the BMW route, because I was attracted to the engineering of the car, and knew nothing of the 80's 'Yuppie' image attached to the smaller BMW's at the time-I was a simple, young technical/engineering worker from the North, and I needed a decent set of reliable wheels to perform a functional task.
That was 13 years ago, and I had 10 BMW's since then, and still have 2 old ones now which I have no desire to get rid of.
However, at the back of my mind was always a desire to aquire a Jaguar, preferably a big one. I'd looked at XJS's and XJ40's, and more recently the X300's, which in my opinion were the first Jags to be able to compete head on with the Germans in all engineering/reliability areas, and give them a 'damn good thrashing' on the styling front.
The question was, which X300? I didn't have a huge budget, and however much I lusted after them, V8 XJR's were out of my league in all respects.
Then I read the tales of woe with the early V8 Jag engines, and decided that the V8 was a non-starter as I already have a V8 in my old BMW 540i-and it had it's Nikasil engine replaced by the previous owner so I didn't want more Nikasil problems, coupled with the timing chain tensioner problems I'd also read about on Jag forums.
I also ruled out the six-cylinder X300's as I'd had years of BMW sixes and wanted a different engine configuration.
So that left the one engine I'd always lusted after anyway-the Jaguar V12.
Well, last weekend I realised the dream, and bought a 1995 (X300) Daimler Double Six, which is my first ever Jaguar, and I love it to bits as it's in a completely different league to the BMW's, and the V12 is simply the most magnificent engine I've ever cracked the throttles open on.
The car itself feels like Blenheim Palace on wheels, and whilst the V12 may not be exactly light and efficient, it does at least have the 4-speed autobox with the torque converter lock-up clutch, so it's not too bad.
In cold terms it's no faster than my BMW 540i, but it's sooooooo effortless, and there's mountains of lazy torque low down, meaning that the 'small' 286bhp multivalve BMW V8 really does have to have it's neck wrung to keep up, and comes across all raucous and noisy next to the whispering V12.
Driving the Daimler V12 is an event, not just a drive-the BM's now feel like just like overpowered, well built Ford Mondeo's by comparison!
So what of image compared to 'Ze Germans'? Well, I'll sum it up like this. The Daimler, and Jaguars in general seem to exhibit a very English effortless superiority, as if they are not even trying. I think this makes them lovable to people, and not threatening.
The Germans, on the other hand, exhibit what I would call 'earnest ultra competence' They are trying so hard to be perfect that they lose all warmth and charm in their quest to be technically superior to anything else.
This cold, clinical Teutonic quest for perfection seems to give them that aggressive edge that makes people wary of them, and not warm to them like Jaguars (or Rovers!!!). It's like they are trying so hard to be perfect that they've forgotten the very reasons why they want to be perfect.
Where I live, in a Merseyside suburb, I don't really see vastly different attitudes to different car makes on the road, although there aren't exactly vast amounts of aristocratic English cars in my small industrial town! Multitudes of German cars though...
Jaguar still has the image though, even the smaller ones. To most people up here the phrase 'it's a Jag' still carries clout, probably because it's a rarity in my home town!
Ironically, for all the negative German car connotations, people walking down my street when I've been polishing the BM's have only ever made complimentary remarks about the cars, and my old 635CSI used to draw people at petrol stations etc.
But for now though my new Daimler thrashes the Teutonic lot of them for image, presence, desirability, and sheer splendid magnificence of the whole V12 motoring experience!
I respect the German cars for their abilities in their own fields of competence, but I love my Daimler and would rather put my hand in a bacon slicer than ever give it up! I just have to polish everything and I can't exist now without having my 'fix' of toeing the big, long stroke V12!
Whilst there will always be certain groups of people attracted to certain types of car, one would hope that on the motoring forums a larger percentage of us are car enthusiasts first, for the love of the machine, and image/status seekers last.
When younger I always wanted a Jaguar, but read the numerous reliability topics and, coupled with the fact that they were all out of my price range at the time, I went down the German route after a couple of big old Mk2 Ford Granada's.
Getting to my place of work is a 30 minute drive by car or a horrendous 2-3 hour trip involving 3 trains and a bus, plus the same on the homeward journey, so I just could not risk an unreliable car.
So I started down the BMW route, because I was attracted to the engineering of the car, and knew nothing of the 80's 'Yuppie' image attached to the smaller BMW's at the time-I was a simple, young technical/engineering worker from the North, and I needed a decent set of reliable wheels to perform a functional task.
That was 13 years ago, and I had 10 BMW's since then, and still have 2 old ones now which I have no desire to get rid of.
However, at the back of my mind was always a desire to aquire a Jaguar, preferably a big one. I'd looked at XJS's and XJ40's, and more recently the X300's, which in my opinion were the first Jags to be able to compete head on with the Germans in all engineering/reliability areas, and give them a 'damn good thrashing' on the styling front.
The question was, which X300? I didn't have a huge budget, and however much I lusted after them, V8 XJR's were out of my league in all respects.
Then I read the tales of woe with the early V8 Jag engines, and decided that the V8 was a non-starter as I already have a V8 in my old BMW 540i-and it had it's Nikasil engine replaced by the previous owner so I didn't want more Nikasil problems, coupled with the timing chain tensioner problems I'd also read about on Jag forums.
I also ruled out the six-cylinder X300's as I'd had years of BMW sixes and wanted a different engine configuration.
So that left the one engine I'd always lusted after anyway-the Jaguar V12.
Well, last weekend I realised the dream, and bought a 1995 (X300) Daimler Double Six, which is my first ever Jaguar, and I love it to bits as it's in a completely different league to the BMW's, and the V12 is simply the most magnificent engine I've ever cracked the throttles open on.
The car itself feels like Blenheim Palace on wheels, and whilst the V12 may not be exactly light and efficient, it does at least have the 4-speed autobox with the torque converter lock-up clutch, so it's not too bad.
In cold terms it's no faster than my BMW 540i, but it's sooooooo effortless, and there's mountains of lazy torque low down, meaning that the 'small' 286bhp multivalve BMW V8 really does have to have it's neck wrung to keep up, and comes across all raucous and noisy next to the whispering V12.
Driving the Daimler V12 is an event, not just a drive-the BM's now feel like just like overpowered, well built Ford Mondeo's by comparison!
So what of image compared to 'Ze Germans'? Well, I'll sum it up like this. The Daimler, and Jaguars in general seem to exhibit a very English effortless superiority, as if they are not even trying. I think this makes them lovable to people, and not threatening.
The Germans, on the other hand, exhibit what I would call 'earnest ultra competence' They are trying so hard to be perfect that they lose all warmth and charm in their quest to be technically superior to anything else.
This cold, clinical Teutonic quest for perfection seems to give them that aggressive edge that makes people wary of them, and not warm to them like Jaguars (or Rovers!!!). It's like they are trying so hard to be perfect that they've forgotten the very reasons why they want to be perfect.
Where I live, in a Merseyside suburb, I don't really see vastly different attitudes to different car makes on the road, although there aren't exactly vast amounts of aristocratic English cars in my small industrial town! Multitudes of German cars though...
Jaguar still has the image though, even the smaller ones. To most people up here the phrase 'it's a Jag' still carries clout, probably because it's a rarity in my home town!
Ironically, for all the negative German car connotations, people walking down my street when I've been polishing the BM's have only ever made complimentary remarks about the cars, and my old 635CSI used to draw people at petrol stations etc.
But for now though my new Daimler thrashes the Teutonic lot of them for image, presence, desirability, and sheer splendid magnificence of the whole V12 motoring experience!
I respect the German cars for their abilities in their own fields of competence, but I love my Daimler and would rather put my hand in a bacon slicer than ever give it up! I just have to polish everything and I can't exist now without having my 'fix' of toeing the big, long stroke V12!
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