All Entries Tagged With: "Jag"
Cinema & Car: Vertigo’s Jaguar Mk VIII
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG via IMCDB.org
VERTIGO is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s all time greats.
Shot in 1957, released in ‘58, the film is a distant, surreal look at unrequited love, betrayal, and revenge. Vertigo envelops us in a San Franciscan fog of mystery. There’s little dialogue and each scene takes on the dreamlike, melancholic din of an Edward Hopper oil-on-canvas.
It’s said that Hitchcock dedicated months to story boarding so that every cinematic moment would symbolically transmit the plot’s (and perhaps his own) naked message of lust, vulnerability, and rage.
Our darkest conditions, in otherwords.
When I first watched Vertigo ten years ago, I discovered that part of this gothic work’s appeal is in how Hitchcock artfully implements automobiles in establishing scene and, of course, to transport the story. Herein the graceful Jaguar Mk VIII played a central role.
The casting was perfect.
Jaguar represented an exotic alternative in the American car market circa 1958. The Mark series presented the same upstanding chrome and burl inlay qualities of a Bentley but with the sporting forward lean of the Jaguar S-Type.
The big cat’s flowing fenders, shown in the above screenshot in three quarter, perfectly compliment the deportment of our mysterious, anglophilic lady (Kim Novak).
Notice how the car’s right fender is in direct line with the Golden Gate’s abutment and seems to point at the actress; framing the action that’s about to ensue. An artful confluence of automobile and cinema, no doubt.
And, ladies & gents, a stylish template for automotive product placement for years to come.
In Defense of Last XJ’s Staidness
Before the revolution
By Gunnar Heinrich
“DON’T be fooled by the fact that the styling of the latest Jaguar XJ is so evolutionary – for which read, if you will, staid [...] beneath the shape there’s little danger of the XJ being anything other than an excellent car.”
So wrote CAR magazine, the great defender of the scions of the British Automotive Empire. The year was 2002 and the “excellent” XJ in question was the rather unremarkable X350 generation XJ (2003-2007).
In those days, nearly a decade ago, Rover was still on life support, Bentley was busy unveiling the Continental GT, and Jaguar was part ‘n parcel of a London based subsidiary of FoMoCo called the “Premier Auto Group”.
Ford had strictly classical views for the marque and seemed to provide a development budget to match; that is to say, one that didn’t quite reflect decades inflation.
One thing that did seem to inflate with Jaguar was that the initial sticker shock when the company was bought in the 80s and the subsequent half-hearted maintenance of one of Britain’s finest cost Ford a billions of greenbacks.
But all that’s beside the point, really.
What matters is that what made the X350 so unremarkable wasn’t the “staid” styling but in fact that the quality did not match the look of heritage. The XJ had become a cheap imitation of its venerable, if quirky forebears.
And for all the ground made in technology and practicality (aluminum frame and new V8), Coventry’s quintessential Britishness – the heavenly Connolly leather scent, the cast iron feel of interior bright work, the heft to a door that didn’t feel like it was made from a recycled coke can – all were conspicuously absent in the new car.
Couple those lackings with staggering depreciation and the chorus of cranky car journalists who bemoaned the fact that the package looked to similar to its predecessor and its easy to see why the car faltered in the face of Teutonic competition.
But on that last point I’d like to counter it with this alternative: so what?
So what if the X350 looked so similar the X308 which preceded it.
That sedan was the most elegant post-war saloon yet built. What it lacked in space, it made of up in grace. And why not carry such eloquent design language forward? It was unlike anything else on the road in a market where there remain too many cars that look and feel like everything else.
And why can we forgive Porsche for the subtle evolution of the 911, an iconic shape if a simple descendant of the VW Beetle, and not Jaguar for evolving a sexy icon from the 60s?
Given that the 2010 XJ shared next to nothing with Jaguar’s glorious past, you can’t help but feel that the company has caved into a pressure that stemmed from a complete misunderstanding.
To be classic is to be timeless. Jaguar buyers get this which sets them apart from say, Lexus, Audi, Mercedes, or BMW buyers.
The X350’s shape, for all the saloon’s other pitfalls, had the aesthetic qualities of an excellent car.
Castle Bromwich’s Too Quiet Campaign
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Jaguar Cars
ARE we having fun yet?
It’s been some months since the XJ launched in a posh London art gallery amidst summer’s heat and Jay Leno’s chin wagging wise cracks about the ill economy. And what more have we learned of Jaguar’s latest flagship since?
Precious little. Another storied marque that’s operating perilously below the radar.
On Jaguar’s main site – jaguarcars.com – there’s a tiny spittle of information about an XJ “boutique” installed at The Berkeley hotel in Knightsbridge. That, plus the standard boilerplate details about lighter than-its-rivals specs and too-many-electronic amenities with a few glamour shots and that’s all there is too know.
Apparently.
Too paraphrase Mad Men’s Conrad Hilton, show us a little wow!
Here’s a thought – how about one of the Jag test driver’s “challenge” one of BMW or Merc’s test drivers to duel? You know, something like pitting the 510 hp, supercharged XJ against an S63 AMG? Hell, come to think of it, Cadillac pulled off the same stunt with marketing the CTS-V against the M5 with R&T playing host. And marketing maven Lutz has made a similar challenge since.
But then again, such comparison events tend to highlight the rivals a bit too much and the rivalry a bit too little. There’s nothing quite like paying for the other guy’s air time.
Hmm… Jaguar’s people need a rethink on how best to market their sleek new exec, lest it be forgotten in advance of the 2010 delivery dates.
Blogsite Suffers From Premature Release: Jag XFR jpegs Hit Net
2010 Jaguar XFR unleashed.
By Gunnar Heinrich
WELL, somebody had to do it.
Despite a “strict” embargo that no Jaguar XFR pictures were to be released in advance of the car’s Detroit Auto Show premiere, some snarky bloggers @ 4WheelsNews went and did the unthinkable: they let the cat out of the bag.
I’m sure that the Jaguar press team in true Captain Renault form is shocked! Shocked! to find image leaking going on here.
And so there is. Pics of Jaguar’s supercharged, M5 chasing, Hail-Mary went live all over the internet like some feral cat finding freedom from captivity.
Wisely, Jaguar sought fit to feature the sports version of its mid-size saloon a color (or colour, if you like) that wasn’t predictable-technology-silver nor pensioner’s-sick-bag-green. In midnight black, with those new bumpers and chrome matrix ventilation ducts, the XFR is actually sharp.
Five hundred and ten horsepower with 460 torques all pump through a relatively modest five liter AJV8 that lets a supercharger do all the dirty work. Judging from the delicious sound that Jaguar’s supercharged V8s have made in past models, this cat is sure to purr at idle and roar at speed.
Zero to 60 bounds right alongside the performance Audi-BMW-Cadillac-Lexus-Mercedes competition at 4.7 seconds.
But just so the record’s straight – the concept, that is the C-XF, remains far better looking. Still, the XFR’s rakish new looks has put the XF line back on the road to redemption.
And thanks to some snarky bloggers, the cat’s got a head start on that journey.
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.
Passing Shot: Jaguar XJS V12 Droptop
By Gunnar Heinrich
ACTION movie fans who love car chase scenes will have a good idea what would come next for this Jaguar XJS V12 décapotable.
Hint: “There’s a bomb on the bus!”
I’m not too sure how well my car would hold up to an accelerate/open door/ brake hard unhinging maneuver from a four thousand pound cat compared to that of a SoCal battle-hardened ‘66 GM TDH 5303 bus.
ADL devotees will note that the early 90s blue Jag that I spotted this weekend, and the flic’s M.Y. ‘91 XJS V12 are both the same body style as the recently posted Ebay listing that featured a later vintage XJS V12 convertible powered by Jaguar’s 6.0 Liter V12 (what’s pictured has the older 5.3 Liter powerplant).
Elegant car. Too bad so many have met hard ends.
