This is the year of the Jaguar. The storied marque is celebrating its 75th anniversary and is doing so in style, with all sorts of concours and British car shows honouring the name. I'll even raise a glass myself as Jaguar is one of the first sports cars I'd ever seen (an XK120) and the impression it made remains with me to this day. I've owned three used Jags: two mid-80s XJ sedans (one a V-12, the other a six), and a 1961 3.8 sedan with right-hand-drive.
The latter was one of two brought from England by a friend who'd planned on selling them at a profit. I borrowed the "dog car" (so-called because its owner primarily used it to chauffeur his show dogs) for a weekend with no intention of becoming the owner. But when my girfriend of the time, a Montreal model who was as gorgeous as the Jaguar, said I should buy it because "you and that car belong together," what was a poor guy to do? Right. Sadly, I no longer have the girl or the car.
The second Jaguar in my life was given to me by a grateful ad client. All I had to do was ship it from Toronto to Vancouver and pay for a few minor repairs, the mileage being remarkably low. Never look a gift Jaguar in the mouth, right? Wrong. Eager to possess a beautiful Jag I jumped at the opportunity, only to discover on arrival at the railyards that the mileage was much higher than quoted and that after being stored outdoors for a year, some rather expensive work was required, including a paint job and a heater/air conditioner core replacement. Fortunately that V-12 was as powerful and smooth as ever and I really loved the car but couldn't afford to keep it.
Now you'd think I'd have learned by then, but when I moved to Vancouver Island a Victoria import dealer and restoration specialist informed me that he was just completing work on a 1986 XJ that an elderly lady had owned from new. Forced to give up driving she'd finally agreed to sell. It looked like new. It drove like, well, not new but good enough for a 20-year-old car. It had a mere 156,000 kms on the clock, which I verified on first glance. By the time I got around to taking a second glance, those kilometers had changed to miles and I'd been duped. I should have demanded my money back but by then I was in love. Jaguars can be very seductive.
The moral of this tale is that your reporter, a car fancier with neither mechanical skills nor financial resources, should never dabble in expensive automobiles, no matter how desireable. Having admitted to all these follies I still love Jaguars and I'd happily buy another one if I could. They're elegant, they're fast, they have a great racing history, and they attract beautiful Montreal models. What else could you ask of a car?
[Photo Credit: tevami.com]
As I was surfing the web, I was also watching a Brit. TV show “Inspector Morse”. He drives a Series 2 Jag. Marron with a black peble-grain vinyl top.
April 27, 2010 @ 6:46 am