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Big fat tyres and everything
A 1969 Jaguar E-Type once owned by Jon Lord (in which he drove himself down to Montreux, no less) is up for sale at the Evoke Classics auction site. The starting price is £20,000, and as a carefully restored low mileage classic car it is expected to fetch well into the six digits even without the ‘nobody gonna take my car’ connection.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Two words: Buyer beware!!!
I once committed the folly of buying my first wife a late sixties Jag E Mk II 2+2 seater for her 40th birthday in 2003 “showing that something vintage can still be attractive”. Everything – and I mean EVERYTHING – you’ve heard about the unreliability of these mobile (well, most of the time not really) contraptions is true. That thing guzzled maintenance and repair hours with even greater thirst than gasoline/petrol.
But of course it looked gorgeous and driving it transported you right back in time, never mind how you smelled like a gas/petrol station attendant if you sat in it for longer than five minutes and how even a very light summer rain would have that car skid viciously in curves taken even at moderate inner-city speeds (30-40 km/h). They weren’t called ‘widowmakers’ for nothing.
PS: Lest we forget: The legendary car electrics courtesy of LUCAS INDUSTRIES aka ‘The Prince of Darkness”!
https://mossmotoring.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Lucus-and-Oscar-001.jpg
All the jokes on them were true too:
– The Lucas corporate motto: “Get home before dark.”
– If Lucas made guns, wars would not start.
– Lucas – Only their vacuum cleaners didn’t suck!
– Lucas holds the patent for the short circuit.
– Lucas – Inventor of the intermittent wiper.
– Lucas – Inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.
– The three position Lucas switch – Dim, Flicker and Off.
– The Original Anti-Theft Device – Lucas Electrics.
– Lucas is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices
Which goes to show: England has spawned the finest rock bands in the world, but hell is a place filled with English engineers before you even get to the cooks. ; – )
March 10th, 2023 at 18:42To notice such things: Look closely and you’ll see how Jon – bless him – wasn’t the most skilled driver when it came to parking. He’s dented and chipped the snout of the poor thing!
March 10th, 2023 at 18:49Those were the days, musicians & their classic cars you have to love it. Although back then the Jag was probably a run of the mill car, see them all over the place. There will be a few keen car aficionados after this one. Excellent photo of Mr Lord & he looks as proud as Punch, bless him. Cheers.
March 10th, 2023 at 20:25A-ha…So this may well be the reason we heard that line “6-cylinders, all mine”…
Should the vendors attach that line to the sales tag, it will see big numbers indeed lol !
I hope that the minor dents on the bonnet have been fixed !
Peace !
March 10th, 2023 at 22:46I have friend who has an old MG that his wife drives to and from work.
March 11th, 2023 at 02:11One day, she mentioned to him that it seemed to be leaking something.
He said, “that’s ok, it’s supposed to, it’s an English car”.
Collectors of most things of fine quality don’t necessarily mean to use them, some do a little with cars but they are usually for showing off etc. Someone may buy this & keep it for car shows etc. It has been fully restored according to the history & facts & they have the proof etc. Don’t be so down on the Brits Uwe, they have built some fine automobiles, motorcycles etc in their time, not to mention aeroplanes etc. If not for the British elite motor limousine where would all the rock stars go to to get chauffeured around living the high life? Also British guitar amplifiers, not too bad there, I could go on.. You may have purchased a lemon, sorry to hear that. It happens sometimes. Enjoyed the Lucas jokes, pretty funny some of those. They cannot be that bad a company especially back then as I know a few auto electricians & they swear by them, NOT at them. Regarding the dents in Jon Lord’s Jag it may have been Richard driving or trying to. Maybe he was looking for a pool to park it in. Cheers.
March 11th, 2023 at 02:15No worries, Gregster, the consequences of Jon’s poor spatial vision have long been eradicated – and a luscious black paint job added.
https://www.evoke-classics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_9077-scaled-e1678104482418.jpeg
Those Mk II (or Series 2) 2+2 Jags are not that collectible for E-Type design purists – the two additional “emergency” seats (comfortable for small children – Jon was probably thinking of his young daughter when he bought it – or knee-amputated adults only) made a change of the roof angles necessary, they are also a little longer (9″) than the standard models. Moreover (given that E-Types were sold outside the UK in their majority, with the US of A being the biggest market with the most – that mild and dry Californian climate – vintage survivors in drivable condition), demands from the U.S. National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration meddled with the overall design of the car (as always: Blame the Yanks!), yet became the standard for the whole Series 2 for cost efficiency reasons.
Hence, the vintage car market favors the Series 1 and Series 3 generation of vehicles, the latter of course for the legendary V-12 engine (not that that was a prime example of reliability either!).
They are precarious beasts, but of course also design icons.
March 11th, 2023 at 02:55@1 ROTFLMAO !!! I was once a mechanic by trade, so I see things differently, as I could usually get parts cheaper, & usually avoided any labor-bill, if the repairing could be done at home…
I agree however, buyer beware…I could write a book here, but rest assured that Jon’s old beast may be blessed with the updated electrics, where-by the “earth” became the “-” pole in the late 1960’s models…Spare parts will be hard-to-find, so speak to club-members or people that own one first, before even thinking about grabbing an old beast like this, as they’ll know where to find cheaper parts.
That said expect to change-out all rubber items from fuel-hoses, radiator & heaters, & brake hoses, if you want reliability, & safe motoring. And get new tyres too, if they’re over 5-years old & especially if the have Dunlop printed on them somewhere….
To be quite honest, any old car purchased by anyone, should also have at least a 2-K allowance in the budget added on top of the paid price, so you get a reliable run, without on-going issues.
That said, cars got pretty good & reliable through the 1970’s, & 1980’s, & are 10-times better than any new vehicle made today. The electronics on today’s vehicles will catch any owner out at some point in time, & you’ll need that 2-K mentioned earlier ( at least ), to keep your new car going, especially if it has an electronic key, or is key-less entry…You’ve been warned ! LOL !
“All-right, hold tight, I’m a “….
Peace !
March 11th, 2023 at 07:20@ Uwe Hornung
March 11th, 2023 at 10:10Two words before you consign all British engineers to Hell; Rolls-Royce.
Tom, BMW affiliates are of course excluded from my criticism!
! – p
Which reminds me of an American girl I once knew who thought BMW (a brand she liked) stood for “British Motor Works”. She was from Detroit to boot, thus adding insult to injury.
Did someone mention Dunlop? I only recently had the original Dunlop tires on my Harley-Davidson Fat Bob changed to a set of Metzeler Cruisetecs – it’s like riding a different motorbike now, agility, stability and grip are beyond compare.
March 12th, 2023 at 02:32@7… Agreed, the V-12 is the one to get imo. 5.3-ltrs of super easy going, laid-back lower revving power & similar fuel consumption, if not equal to the 4.2-ltr when in cruise mode on the hwy, though perhaps a little wanting in acceleration for those expecting race-car performance. Smooth refinement with high-speed reliability would be the V-12’s best attributes. On the basis that a car manufacturer has it’s design & gearing correct, fuel consumption will be the same between the two, since every drop of fuel has the same energy stored within it, & so the same amount is consumed to pull the same weight in cruise conditions.
You have to pay a lot of money to get good Dunlop’s, & your bike couldn’t find better tyres than Metzeler imo Uwe. Pirelli & Metzeler are the same company believe it or not. The Pirelli Angel ST’s I fit up to my bike have “Made in Germany” stamped on them lol !
Peace !
March 12th, 2023 at 13:05Why do they drink warm beer in England?
Because thy have Lucas refrigerators.
March 12th, 2023 at 16:59Regarding the Metzeler motorcycle tyres, yes indeed a superior tyre back in the 1980’s for me. Also Pirelli although they didn’t wear as long unfortunately. I cannot remember the other tyres that were on the bikes when I purchased them, possibly Dunlop’s. Avon were another rather good tyre. The Germans did know a few things in regards to auto transport, give them their fair share of accolades. Porshe & BMW are not too bad. Although I have had a few mechanics tell me over time to stay away from certain BMW’s. It is horses for courses again folk’s. I had better mention Deep Purple & Blackmore getting driven everywhere back then in a Roll’s or Bentley? Or was that only for the camera photo opportunity. I am not sure, maybe a Morris Minor or a Mini or even a Rover? The list is endless. Cheers.
March 12th, 2023 at 20:19Uwe #10: Agility?? Stability?? On a Harley???? HA HA HA!!! You a funny guy!! As a former (and NEVER AGAIN!) Harley owner, all I can say is you must have modified that bike VERY seriously. What did you do, slap a Harley-Davidson logo on a Yamaha or BMW? Or is this your first bike, so you have nothing to compare it to?
March 12th, 2023 at 20:23Was that 4.2-litres?
March 12th, 2023 at 22:59LOL !
Before this gets too out-of-hand, there’s a fraction over 61-cubes to a litre…So a 4.2 ltr capacity engine is near enough to 250-cubic inches. The general hp figure wanted by any company building a high-performance engine, with long-term reliability included, was the generally recognized 1 x hp per 1 x cubic inch of displacement ideal.
Mercedes Benz generally closely followed that guide above with all their engines, & even today, the AMG people don’t go over a general 57-hp per litre of capacity.
I’ve had my little 350SLC sitting just under 200-kmph / 124-mph at around 6,000 rpm, so the Jaguar should see that easily in 4.2 ltr guise, & I’d be disappointed if the V-12 didn’t see 140-150 mph fully opened-up on an autobahn somewhere lol !
Jon had a fast car imo, if needed lol !
Peace !
March 13th, 2023 at 06:29LOL, the Honorable Reverend @14 – I of course know how the image of Harleys among ‘real’ motorcyclists is poor, but in my case the 2018 Fat Bob (not: Fat Boy) received accolades even from Harley-haters and -sceptics in the motor press along the lines of “Harley-Davidson has for the first time in its history built something that actually deserves the name motorbike”. It’s a break in their tradition.
https://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-reviews/harley-davidson/fat-bob/2018/
And the “slight reluctance to turn into bends” mentioned in the article is indeed really down to the factory Dunlops which apparently only had to meet two specifications: driving straight in dry weather (think Arizona …) & utmost durability. But as we all know: optimal performance tires can’t last forever.
First motorbike? Are you friggin’ kiddin’?! : – ) My first motorbike was actually a 27 hp Honda CJ 250 T some 45 years ago, I rode that thing for ages through every winter (I didn’t own a car back then) until I had rheumatism in me butt … – let’s just say that I find the torque of my Fat Bob today more appealing! And I still ride it in the winter, something Harley-Davidson fans generally abstain from.
March 13th, 2023 at 11:41Uwe
How does one recover from such an illness in the backside?
March 14th, 2023 at 22:21Asking for a friend.
It got slowly better once I had a car and stopped riding a bike in the Winter! With “slowly” I mean it actually took a few years until my cocccyx***/tailbone no longer hurt during abrupt weather changes or in a cold environment. Now I’m back to using my bike during Winter again (less of a hassle getting thru inner city traffic + finding a parking spot in Frankfurt at my office), but not on a daily basis (also our Winters these days are but a pale shadow of what we used to have, this year we had freezing temperatures only once for about a week or so), I also have more fat covering it ; – ), so touch wood. But rheumatism is complex, I can only speak for myself.
*** Pronounce this very carefully to not provoke a mouthful of misunderstandings!
March 16th, 2023 at 16:35