British Car Day 2008

While my Dad and Mary were in town visiting this weekend, we stopped by the British Car Show at Ursuline College. While there weren't as many cars there as last year, it was still impressive.

British Car Day 2008

X-Type on the Same list as the '61 Corvair

Time Magazine recently released their list of the 50 Worst Cars of All time.

On that list, at #46, is the Jaguar X-Type. I've read a plethora of unfavorable ratings on the X-Type ever since I first considered purchasing one. This Time Magazine rating is just more of the same nonsensical journalism that most press seem to give to the X-Type.

See their reasoning for putting the X-Type on this list:

"A business case is not the same as wisdom. Certainly, Jaguar needed an entry-luxury model to compete against the BMW 3-series and Mercedes-Benz C-class. Yes, the company, owned by Ford, had access to a very successful world car platform, the Mondeo, which Americans knew as the Ford Contour. There was money to be saved. But in its attempt to turn the front-drive compact car into an "all-wheel drive" sports sedan, Jaguar ran smack into the limits of platform engineering. The result was the English version of the Cadillac Cimarron, a tarted-up insult to a once-proud marque and a financial disaster for the company. It hardly matters that the X-Type was not that bad a car. Young affluent buyers had the feeling they were somehow being grifted. They were."

So the rating actually admits that the X-Type "was not that bad" but is still one of the worst cars of all time? Interesting.

From what I can gather, car magazines (and mainstream magazines, apparently) expected the $30-$40k X-Type to have the exact same quality of material and build as the $60 - $70k XJ.

Beyond that, the press is always hung up on the Mondeo / Contour origins of the car and focus on this as a negative trait. I drove a Contour...it was a very capable small car. And the Mondeo is widely regarded as an excellent car in Europe. So why should a car that shares the Mondeo roots be slammed for simply building on a successful platform?

These types of reviews make me wonder if the author has even ever driven in the cars that they rate. Does the car have some plastic trim reminiscent of a Ford? Sure. Does the car share a platform with the Mondeo/Contour? Sure. But is the car an affordable, comfortable, fun-to-drive entry-level luxury sedan? Absolutely. If only that would count for something in the automotive press.

One Expensive Picture

I'm now the proud owner of the following digital image, courtesy of Cleveland's Operation Safe Streets (aka Operation Oh-Sh*t-we're-broke-how-can-we-make-some-money?).

I figure as long as I'm paying $100 for this picture, I might as well get some use out of it.

So...In case you were wondering what my car looks like as I drive back from my lunch break someone drives it down the street, here you go:

 

(Note the proper use of the directional during lane changes)

And in case any of you were wondering...I was doing 38 on a 5-lane (2 each direction with turn lane) road. You would think that the road would be 35 mph...but apparently I was wrong.