Re: Yet another XK8 sighting report

["John T. Horner" <jthorner@garlic.com>]

> I'm glad it's selling well for them.  I hope they are investing the
profits 
> wisely; their long-term outlook doesn't look too good to me.

I was likewise underimpressed by the XK8 when I looked at them at the local
dealer.  It just doesn't do anything to stir my soul.  Heck, I've never
liked Corvettes, but the new '97 Corvette has 10x the heart stopping power
of an XK8 and can be bought in the "bargain" $40k range by comparison.

My guess is that the XK8 will sell pretty well for a year or two, but once
the novelty wears off it will not be distinct enough to lure lots of people
away from competing offerings.  Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, and Corvette all
have compelling new designs competing for the high dollar two door buyer's
fickle favor.  

Now all we need to do is hold our breath and wait for the combined
Lincoln/Jaguar "large car platform" which will replace the XJ6 and the Ford
Germany derived small Jaguar.  Little by little the magic continues to slip
away despite the best efforts in Coventry and the best intentions in
Dearborn.  The death knell will come the next time we have a major
worldwide auto recession.  It is during such times that draconian
"rationalizations" take place in auto maker's portfolios.

In my opinion Jaguar needed it's equivalent of the Porsche Boxster, a car
which would fire the imagination while diving deep into the nostalgia
waters all at a bargain price.  $80k is a lot of money for a new car and it
must return amazing amounts of specialness and perfection to be a plausible
proposition.  But then again, the real target buyer might otherwise pick a
Mercedes SL which is awesomely overpriced and stylistically commonplace for
what it provides.

Gotta love those old Jaguars .....

John

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Follow-Ups:

• Re: Yet another XK8 sighting report
• From: Victor Naumann <jagdoc@erols.com>

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