All Entries Tagged With: "Coventry"
For Profit: Spyker Shifted Production From Zeewolde Last Year; The Same For Trollhattan In The Future?
By Gunnar Heinrich
FUNNY, I thought Britons went to Holland to buy cars and not vice versa.
Not with the current weak sterling to strong euro exchange rate which was, apparently, part of Spyker CEO Victor Muller’s decision to up manufacturing from the now-well-publicized Zeewolde, Netherlands to Coventry (home of Jaguar).
The Dutch flight to Albion had to do with business logistics and to “secure the future of our business,” Mr. Muller told the Telegraph. Spyker will be moved near its main supplier CPP Manufacturing.
The November 20th, 2009 press release echoed this rationale:
“By relocating its assembly lines from Zeewolde to Coventry, Spyker will achieve considerable improvements in efficiency and substantial cost-reductions [...] With approximately half our vehicles’ parts and components sourced from the UK, and virtually all key suppliers being located there, moving closer to our suppliers and engineering partners will result in substantial savings and tangible efficiency improvements.“
In a few years time, might we anticipate the same from Spyker management in moving more of Saab manufacturing from pricey Trollhattan? It’s reported that 45 out of 135 Dutch jobs were lost in the jump to Old Blighty.
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
Jaguar’s Future Rests On The Next XJ
The marque’s fate lies just ’round the bend.
By Gunnar Heinrich
JAGUAR. Say the name: “Jag-u-ar” if you’re a Brit, “Jag-whar” if you’re Americano. Either way you say it, the name means sex on wheels. Even if the cars themselves are falling short of that sultry promise these days.
Jaguar’s heritage was born of the swinging sixties; its past and present seemingly in lock step with the baby boomer generation. And like the few baby boomers who seem to be Jag’s last paying customers, it may sadly be that the marque’s best days are well and truly behind them.
And then again, maybe not.
So much will depend on the next M.Y. 2010 Jaguar XJ flagship. Jag seems to be feeding media reports that their next top-of-the-line model will be a four door coupe in Mercedes-Benz CLS fashion. Critics of the marque almost universally agree that the current XJ sedan with its conservatively retro design is so far past its aesthetic sell-by-date that it threatens to spoil the neighboring models in the lineup.
More the case is that the current XJ can be faulted not so much on looks (though, the new aero fascia is garrish) but rather on cheap execution. Despite the sophisticated aluminum (or aluminium, if you prefer) construction, the flagship flops on the luxury details – part of the main appeal in buying an historically less reliable and faster depreciating competitor to BMW or Lexus.
The ’10 XJ cannot afford to be so cheap in execution. If Jaguar’s next top saloon / four door coupe / whatever fails to reach a Maserati-like allure in being the very essence of the everyday exotic in both look and feel, I’m afraid the cat’s seen off its ninth life.
Here’s hoping for the best.
This Week @ Coys: Exotic Dreams Revisited
Fuel for a young imagination.
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG via RapidCars.com
WHEN the eighties turned into the nineties, there were three 200+ mph supercars that diverted my attention from grammar school studies and fueled my passion for cars.
They rank as follows: Bugatti’s EB110, the McLaren F1, and the Jaguar XJ220.
Of the three, the Bugatti was my favorite for being a) Italian - molto bene! b) blending luxury with exotic performance and c) all-wheel drive.
IMHO back then, the true blue EB110 would’ve been the perfect choice for replacing the family Volvo in taking yours to and from school.
Indeed, yours was taking practical considerations into account.
The all-wheel drive would ensure that I’d make it to class on snow days; a selfless act of sacrificing liberation from school.
The EB110′s four turbochargers, performance shoes, and decisive lack of ground clearance didn’t factor in my assessment.
Time rolled on, our Volvo 740 (not-so-good in the snow) was replaced by a 940 (truly dismal polar performer) and then an 850 (damn near unstoppable), and history forgot the first and last of the super three to remember only the McLaren – a stripped down bullet that like the XJ220 wasn’t sold Stateside.
Back then, American emissions standards barred entry. And since then, we’ve all grown more practical and pragmatic. Or have we?
Spying One Pitch Perfect Jaguar XK140
By Gunnar Heinrich
CLASSIC Jaguars well maintained are about the most elegant motorcars – ever.
End of story.
So, trade in your $11 million Ferrari California Spyder and leave only one hundred and forty large for a sterling Jaguar XK140.
The Jag’s performance is on a par (despite the Ferrari’s six extra cylinders); your bank manager will thank you for your fiscal prudence; and you’re likely to catch just as many admiring stares from the world’s denizens.
As gorgeous as this car is – and it is, let there be no question! – truth be told, yours has always been partial to the earlier and saucier XK120.
If, the XK120 is Maria Callas; the XK140 is Joan Sutherland.
Both are legends.
Both make the soul take flight with their masterful performances.
It’s just that the former boasts pitch perfect proportions and is, thus, the easiest on the eyes.
In the mid fifties, Jaguar built the XK120 and later the XK140 to show the world that the Brits could sell supercar performance for a relative bargain. We might think of these price-cutting roadsters as * gasp * the Japanese or Korean competition of their day.
No. Let’s not, actually.
This sublime British racing green on tan XK140 that I captured via phone camera (it’s been coming in real handy lately) last night is the property of Hyman Ltd Classic Cars; a MO-based classic car dealer. A super-sized, enclosed car trailer holding an equally fresh E-Type convertible sat nearby.
And while, this cat is not listed for sale on the company’s website, another XK140 in every bit as mint condition (but finished Ferrari rosso) is.
And for only $127,500.
Next to Enzo’s precious pony, the Jag’s cost amounts to buying orchestra seats at the Met for standing room prices.
[Linked: JagLovers.org | XK120 - XK150 Info | Hyman Ltd]
Jaguar’s New XJ8: More Pace, More Space, Less Grace
d as Jaguar’s motto for over four decades. Critics of the British marque will quickly snub the last model XJ (1995-2003) as lacking in the space category (I agree). These same critics would also dismiss the preceding series XJ (1986-1994) as not only short on space, but lacking grace due to overt rectangularity (I do not agree). From the Jaguars that never ran well to the Coventry Cats of today, the very essence of a Jaguar is gracious transport.
The new XJ sedan
which premiered in 2003 is, as I have argued previously in “The Gremlins That Plague Jaguar” (12-12-05), less gracious than previous cats. When the new design premiered; though it was conservative and part of me thought that Jaguar designers would create a new version of the 1960s Mark VI & VII (Lincoln beat them to it with the current Town Car), I applauded the logical progression in the design that carried many of the lines from the sublimely elegant previous generation XJ to the current. The new XJ8 is actually a composite of looks from the previous XJ sedan and the Series I, II, III XJs of 1968—1985.The XJ8 is larger in every respect than its predecessor. The doors are big and open wide to allow for easy ingress/egress. Driver and passengers are seated higher on larger-still Jaguar chair-like seats. Though the car is visibly taller, it still retains the crouched, low profile stance of its mammali
an namesake. This is crucial to Jaguar’s raison d’être. Designing a more upright sedan in the model of a Bentley would have worked against the svelte character that every XJ sedan has espoused.
My first approach toward the new XJ8 was with enthusiastic fervor. After all, it was a new Jag. The car’s increased size was inescapable and the Cat-like character was there. And then I reached my hand to touch the chrome door handle and the enthusiasm left in an instant. The chrome was plastic. I tugged (no longer a lift action) and the door swung lightly open. This was due to the aluminum
construction that has allowed the XJ8 to be by far the lightest in the premier sedan class. The XJ8 touches the scales at only 3,726 lbs as opposed to rival BMW 750i’s corpulent 4,482 lbs –over 750 lbs heavier! Still, I could not help but feel that the rest of the door was plastic too.
Once inside the new XJ8, I breathed expectantly for the familiar and wonderful fumes that only Connolly leather is able to emit. The blessed sent was gone. The new sent, though new car hide, was quite different and less tantalizing. The burled walnut paneling, though real wood, looked like plastic. Alas, the times, they are a changin’.
A twist of the key brought a more remote powerplant to life. The new engine did not sound or feel like Jaguar. It seemed like that of a late 90s BMW 740iL. It was the sound and feel of a well insulated and decidedly understated V-8. Like the 7 series I so enjoyed, I thought that this car must be swift, but quiet about building speed.
I was wrong.
Foot to floor generates the rage of a hardcore V-8 that roars up through the RPMs and peaks into a maniacal wail. The 740iL would have dropped back into the rearview 
mirror in the short time that 60mph arrived. But, not incidentally, fast enough to outpace the current 750i to that mark. The nod must go to the current 7. Both the 750i and the XJ8 have roughly equivalent 12.4 lbs per horsepower ratios, yet the Bimmer manages to be quicker to 60 at 5.8 seconds vs. 6.3 seconds, respectively. The sound and speed roundly beats any previous normally aspirated XJ sedan, though. The new V-8 is magic.
The rest of the XJ8, aside from exterior good looks, fell short. The new interior is spacious, though not noticeably quieter or more comfortable than the previous sedan. What was painfully clear was the cheaper feel of the materials. It was also more techy, with a large GPS monitor in the center console. The GPS was touch screen – thank you Jaguar – and pretty easy to use. Though, the system could not find my home town for some reason.
The velvety ride that blessed owners of older XJ models is gone. What was once one of the finest gliding suspensions on the road has now been scrapped. The new sport tuned air-suspension coupled with the low profile performance tyres permits a hard ride. Though, to be sure, anyone swapping a 7-series for the new XJ8 would find the ride to be of similarly comfortable damping. It’s just hard by previous XJ standards.
The new XJ8 does corner flatly. Gone is the wallow and lean that made new-to-XJ drivers insecure. The old cars could grip the road. The new one does it better and provides a more secure feeling. The same enthusiastic steering feel is still there.
To the sedan’s credit the brakes are uncommon-for-Jaguar strong. The previous generation had luxury car brakes and to appreciate the meaning of this term, one would only have to feel the immediate and fade free reaction of the new brakes as opposed to the lazy, long pedal travel of the old. Also, the new suspension nixes the body dive that hard breaking used to induce of the old sedan.
Overall, were I to decide between purchasing the new XJ8 and the previous generation XJ8, I would opt for the previous generation. Were space and power the highest priorities, then the choice would be obvious. It is not that the new XJ is lack luster in comparison to the current competition (think BMW’s ungainly 7 or Mercedes-Benz’s blandly suburban S-Class). This car simply cannot outshine its predecessor. The 2002 XJ8 is also half the price of the current. And both are warrantied. I’ll take grace over space or pace.
