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Heeeeeeeeeeere's
Baby
There's no doubt about it. The Baby X-Type Jag has made quite a splash! She's a charmer all right and a lot of car for the money. |
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| From the Past... IT WAS 50 YEARS AGO TODAY HARRY TRUMAN ASKED THE BAND TO PLAY... OK so it's not Sergeant Pepper but Truman was president of a land finally at peace after the horrors of the Second World War. Life was back to normal. An American in Paris won best picture. Univac, the super computer was introduced and in Britain the 1951 Jaguar C-Type was the car that launched Jaguar's postwar racing legend. According to an article in the Washington Post dated Sunday, August 5, "Lightweight and with a top speed of 140 mph, the C-type Jaguar would immediately win the 24-hour Le Mans race. A slightly lighter version would win again in 1953. The car had a tubular steel space frame and an independent rear suspension to go with the 220-horsepower version of Jaguar's 3.4-liter six-cylinder XK engine." The article went on to say that although these cars were made to race, some were purchased strictly for street driving. |
Evidently not too many, since only 53 of them were made from 1951 through 1953. Because of its racing heritage, the C-Type, which was a two-seater, had only one door on the driver's side. This should have proved interesting on that first date with the lovely when she had to scramble over the driver's side to get to the passenger's seat. And if you were lucky enough to get the consumer version you actually got to have a windshield which stretched all the way across the width of the car unlike the racing versions in which the driver's side only had 'coverage'. And you had better not have any plans for an overnight at the bed and breakfast unless you traveled light, because this baby had no trunk, just a rear deck covering the large fuel tank. Oh well, at least you wouldn't run out of gas. |
| To the Future... Location: Coventry Headquarters, UK Time: The Present Mission: The replacement for the XJ8 Codename: X350
Styling director Ian Callum sits behind his desk and smiles. He looks around the room at the assembled faces all keen on the project now at hand. Word from on high is to give the luxury rivals from BMW, Mercedes and Audi a run for their money. After all, muses Callum proudly, this is England, a land inviolate since William the Conqueror. Would we let those Europeans beat us at our own game? Hardly. He pushes a button under his desk activating a wall screen. |
The X350 is displayed in
vivid detail. Yes, Callum smiles broadly, many exciting innovations;
Suspension with adjustable air springs; an all-new EPS-based traction
control system using special in-wheel sensors to detect wheel slip and
spin. An all-new 4.3-liter V8 followed by a 300 hp normally aspirated 4.3
engine and a 400 hp supercharged version. And later a V.10 diesel for
select markets. Projected infiltration date for the all-new XJ: 2003. A
day that would live on in INDUSTRY or was that Infamy? Hmm… Well, never
mind, it's nearly time for high tea. And he does love his scones! -Editor's note: The facts are true. The story is… well, it could have happened like that.
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Room with a View... and Baby Makes Two It may not look like much now but wait until you see these four walls transformed into an elegant den… home to the new X-Type. Like proud parents, Bergen Jaguar is expanding its showroom to accommodate the latest addition to its feline fraternity. Welcome to the family, Baby Jag. Coo chi coo! |
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