Personally, I see more of a Shelby 427 Cobra front-end design than I do one from a Taurus...

 

yes its pretty disappointing that this convertible still runs low 6's for a BRAND new model, but that will be taken care of when the XKR model comes out hopefully next year as well. But then again, you are going into a higher price category with even stiffer competition mainly from the SL55AMG, M6, and XLRv.

Doesnt the SL500, XLR run very similar times??

 

The 03 SL500 with the 5 speed transmission can run 6.1 sec. 0-60. I think with the 7 speed upgrade for since 04, it should go a little faster. The XLR is actually faster than the SL, it's much lighter & can run high 5's.(5.7 sec. 0-60 in one test as I recall).

 

You're talking about a 5-speed automatic, right? I don't think M-B offers a manual on this car in the American market.

 

Yes it's 5 speed automatic, & they upgraded it to a 7 speed automatic just a year after the current SL was launched.

 

Man let's hope the Jag designers don't ever come here. The oval opening is meant to be retro to the E type. OK, I don't see it either but we will either have a flame war or a suicide on our hands if the Jag designer pops in here and find the snout compared to either a Taurus or a Cobra.

 

Well, here is the E-type. Notice the similarities now?? Not much Shelby as it has a much larger grill. You can almost get away with saying it looks like a 98-00 Taurus, but the E-type been around DECADES before the Taurus.

 

Believe me, I know what the E type looked like. When I met the woman who became my wife, we both had E types. Mine was a sable Series III and hers was a yellow series I. According to what I have seen about the new one they will not offer anything like sable which was a putty brown type of color. My wife and I both figure that is a great color for the new one. We also think british racing green is better left to racing cars than XKs.

Anyway, I think it takes more than an oval grill opening to evoke the E type in my mind. I don't agree but yes, there were Taurus's with oval grill openings. My wife and I have discussed this for a bit and no, the new design does not really evoke the original E type to us. But maybe that's a good thing. The original E type was one of a very limited number of absolutely beautiful automotive classics and we both doubt modern designers have it in them to improve the design and update. But Jaguar suspensions have managed to keep a better ride/handling balance than other cars - I have mentioned that both bimmer and merc are much worse at this now than they were ten years ago. Progress, go figure.

But the XK8 really was a tight car with a massive sill. Of all the stupid things to carry over from the original E type was that ridiculous sill that you had to slide over getting in and out. But if what I have read about the E type is true and my wife can be convinced once we see one in the flesh, we may decide to put a little excitement back in our lives. But reliability remains a concern.

 

Oh no, I wasnt doubting you. I just posted the pictures for quick viewing.

That is pretty damn awsome that you actually owned a E-type. I've never seen the Sable color, but everytime I see Jaguars at ANY auto show its always in the British Racing Greenor that Red color above. A very eye catchy color I think. I honestly like that Jaguar still uses it. One of my favorite colors.

Considering that you were an original E-type owner, you probably had a special connection with that car that no other car was able to duplicate. So for you to say the oval grill opening doesnt evoke the E-type in your eyes was expected and the fact that they probably could have done more to evoke that style and maybe feel of the E-type. But doesnt that go with all older cars?? Jay Leno says the same thing all the time. New cars pale in comparison to cars generations before it.

Lastly, why did you get rid of that classic??(that is if you did)

 

Last quesiton first - it seemed like a good idea at the time. Hindsight is always 20-20 but it was time to move on. The case for my wife was about the same. Among other things, she go tthe E type when her first marriage folded and there were a few too many memories around it. When I first got mine I did the brakes and finding those inboard rear disks was a treat. I was racing Trans Am, F500, and Can Am (ASR) at the time but that rear suspension was beautiful. I just laid under that car and looked at the rear suspension for probably an hour before I finished the brake job. The E type never stranded me, as opposed to every bimmer I have ever owned, but that doesn't mean it was fault free. The Lucas electricals came straight from he**. And the British at that time had this notion that taking a coat hangar and wrapping a rag around it made a wire. It didn't help.

That car was rolling automotive art. I didn't mean to sound like some kind of old fart no it all but the E type was a complete car. Don't know if that makes sense but when I think of it it was how it looked with the top down in the summer. The oval grill opening did not define that car. I understand Jag putting it on the new one but it is almost a trivial affectation. Sort of like the distinctive grill on the new Aston. Yeah, it is Aston shaped but it doesn't make the car retro. Of course having said all this, there isn't anything that modern cars don't do infinitely better than thirty year old cars. That Jag would overheat idling in the middle of winter in Chicago and there wasn't anything you could do about it. As for the newer cars evoking the older ones, I don't know about the current designs paling in comparison but doggone, we sure could use some more style with something other than Pep Boys wings stuck on rice rockets. The E type was only made worse with aero aids.

British Racing Green looked good on D types although the real ones were black. BRMs and Lotus looked good in it especially with the yellow stripes that went along with it. But the E type? Not for me. Most E types I saw in the early 70s were sable, black, or the yellow, a pale yellow, which was primrose. I can't say I ever saw any red E types. I don't get the feeling that that new XK (don't lose sight of the fact that Jag didn't feel it was evocative enough to call it an F type or G type or whatever, just XK and they dropped the 8) will look good in colors as vibrant as the red. Obviously that is is personal opinion and that is why they offer different colors but that XK and cars like the Aston or Bentley Continental are out there enough with there designs without arrest me red. It is fascinating that for a couple that valued reliability above all else five years ago, my wife and I are getting more interested in putting some style back in our lives and leaving the Lexus fold to do it. Time was when I was very impressed with the European suspensions for their ability to combine ride and handling. I think some of them, like bimmer and those bloody run flats and that miserable excuse for a test track Nurburgring are making both bimmer and to a lesser extent merc ride harder than I want. So Jaguar may be on our list shortly. Still hard to believe but the XK is viewed by us to have more refinement than head turning abiity. If it has a bit more room and they have Jag handling, we will probably put our better sensiilities on the shelf and pop for one to put a bit more excitement in our lives. But we don't expect, and sincerely hope, the new XK to have much relation to the E type other than two seats and a good balance of ride/handlng.

PS. As for special connections,the E type was one of them but driving a 69 Z28 Camaro the summer of 69 was hard to beat.

 

Now that was an awsome post my man. I respect everything you just said. Your okay in my book.

I have nothing else to say, you answered a lot of questions that I was going to ask.

 

Geez, I appreciate that. I believe that I am a lot older than most of the people here but it is tough to try and share a "more experienced" perspective without sounding arrogant or just plain out of touch. When you are in your twenties, there is no doubt that sex appeal has a lot to do with your automotive purchase. And an E type with the top down was pure sex appeal. I don't know how much it had to do with me winding up dating a girl that was a Playoy bunny in Chicago but that's another story. At least my wife doesn't see my posts here, don't know if I ever told her about that.

I think it is very difficult to top an E type. But I have to say that with apologies to Ferarri, the Miura was a car that was just flat beautiful. But, once again, make no mistake about it, modern cars do everything quite a bit better than those things. Exotic cars were definitely limitted volume and all had a kit car quality about them. You put up with a lot of bits falling off, more so than your average Chevy.

I haven't gotten old enough to start revising reality with my memories. And there are some very good designs coming out today. But really classic style is getting harder to get. I see a lot of the posts here about guys comments regarding this or that new model, and some of them just get me shaking my head. Almost makes you wonder if some of the posts aren't from marketeers trying to convince guys with more money than sense to go buy one of their latest. I understand the business reasons for the way cars are developed and produced nowadays but I would have to admit that I have grown to miss the changes that used to happen every year. I think that if a manufacturer could design a car from the start with some extra grill and body panels that could be easily and economically changed during the life so they could do some minor tweaking on a yearly basis, would probably get some additional sales.

Then again, I haven't considered a Jaguar seriously for a lot of years because of my and my wife's experience. But I look at the XJ and I have started to think that if you are going to buy an expensive luxo barge and keep it for a while, it is nice to not have it really outdated by the nextgen. How about that for automotive schizophrenia? Probably getting pretty far off of the purpose of this thread. I still can't believe that my wife has agreed to seriously look at that new XK. Maybe she has decided to give in and hope this is all I do for a delayed mid life crisis.

 

Some more pictures are being printed on the XK now and it doesn't look quite as good as those initial shots. Whatever vestige there is of E Type in that oval opening is ruined by the chin extension underneath. Interesting that it will probably be in the ballpark of the Cayman price wise. Cayman is one good look car in its own right and will be a very different and more sporting driving experience. But I actually think the XK will have more presence to the wider portion of the population. Still can't believe this is a serious possibility for me.