JustBritish

An interesting article from The Yuma Sun ….

Stan Gourley is a man who obviously loves cars, particularly his 1970 Triumph TR6. The car sits in his garage, partially restored.

“You know,” Gourley said, looking at his jasmine yellow car, “it’s really sad to think that in 20 or 30 years this would probably be a Chevrolet Camaro or a Pontiac GTO or an Oldsmobile 442.”

Gourley, a man who knows British sports cars, explains that he thinks what happened to the British Leyland Co. back in the ’70s and what is occurring to General Motors now is too similar to be ignored.

“They were a giant company that dominated the market for British cars in the ’60s and ’70s, but then they had real labor problems, the government nationalized the companies, then guaranteed billions of dollars in bailout money but formed committees to run the companies.
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Jaguar has emerged from its stuffy, country-club period, the one that saw it essentially remake over and over and over again the original XJ for 41 years. Jaguar now wants to be sexy and modern. Founder Sir William Lyons would most certainly approve.

He was never a man to look backwards, to live in yesterday, endlessly reliving the great triumphs of the past. He was a forward-looking, innovative fellow. His cars of the 1950s and into the 1960s were cutting-edge and daring for their time.

That’s what Jaguar is trying to recapture.

“It’s about making Jaguars that are quintessentially Jaguars,” O’Driscoll said.

But this is a nervous business. Jaguar, now part of Tata’s integrated Jaguar Land Rover Group (JLR), is not swimming in dough. Far from it.

Tata Motors’ Indian business, which relies mostly on truck sales, made a profit for its last fiscal year, but the group as a whole was dragged into the red with a consolidated net loss of 25.1 billion rupees ($576-million). The problem was a 32-per-cent fall in sales volumes at Jaguar and Land Rover combined.

Land Rover has been the hardest hit by the global recession. Its sales fell 39 per cent to 120,000 units during the June, 2008, to March, 2009, period under Tata ownership. Jaguar sales fell only 4 per cent to 47,000 car.

But in the bad news there was something encouraging to be found. Jag’s XF mid-size sedan, launched last year, rescued the brand’s overall results. The car is a hit. And the design cues first shown in the XF are advanced much, much further in the new XJ. That has the Jag types feeling pretty hopeful.
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Just noticed on Craigslist this morning that there is a 1974 Triumph Spitfire being offered for a good price. I know nothing about this car and have no interest in its sale, so please use the contact info in the ad! The ad says the car is in Charleston, SC, but I have no idea where that phone number goes….

This car is a great fixxer upper. Needs paint and body work has 95% of the parts this is a steal at 800.00 If interested call 1-423-277-9273. Needs some mechanic work. Basically needs to be put together.

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This year MINI celebrates 50 years of the iconic Mini, and as a part of that celebration MINI is releasing a limited edition of the Cooper Works car, the John Cooper Works World Championship 50, of which only 250 will be produced and made available in Europe.

Inspired by John Cooper’s son Mike who was heavily consulted during development, the vehicle will be adorned with the British racing green of days gone by. According to the BMW press release, the car will be powered by a “155 kW/211 hp four-cylinder engine with Twin-Scroll turbocharger and petrol direct injection. The production version of the MINI John Cooper Works World Championship 50 features numerous exterior and interior details reflecting the racing pedigree of the brand.
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