[rescue] What a load of...

[Sandwich Maker]

" From: "Sheldon T. Hall" <shel at artell.net>
" 
" Quoth the Sandwich Maker ...
"  
" > they didn't make many of those fastbacks, just enough to legalize them
" > as a 'production' car for nascar.
" 
" They made a goodly number, but not too may of them had 427s.  Even the
" 390-powered ones were OK, though.  

oops!  that's what i meant, not many of the 'nascar specials'.

" > $6500 was more than 'a little more' back then...  i don't know about
" > cost of living numbers but taking the dow as a meterstick it's
" > something over $90k in today's dollars.  the jag was also nicknamed
" > 'the world's fastest lorry' back then, due i think to the big, heavy
" > xk engine which iirc was a prewar design.
" 
" Yeah, an E-Type was about twice what a nice American car cost.  I suppose
" you could have spent $6,500 on some ultra-luxo-barge Caddillac, but it would
" have been hard to do.

a fully-optioned lincoln mark II of the late '50s went for something
over $12k -then-.  later lincolns weren't as expensive or
[surprisingly] as big.

" The XK engine made its debut in 1948, I think, so it probably was a mostly
" prewar design.  Still, by English standards, it was big, powerful, and
" tough.  Except for the wet-deck design and the tendency of the bucket tappet
" guides to come loose if it was overheated, it's a dam' good engine. 

true, and its weight was a result of the casting tech of the time;
comparable american engines were no better.

" Given the price of the current Jaguar crumpet-catcher, I'd say your $90K is
" a reasonable guess.  Still, lots of folks bought E-types back then.  I saw a
" pre-'68 one drive by, here in rural France, last week.

there's a fellow a few towns over with a very nice s1 xke.  saw it and
him at the hardware store last summer.  might be a collector though;
also in the same town saw a beautiful '50s bmw convert, but not the
owner.

" For real Sixties Jaguar style, though, a nicely hopped-up 3.8 Mark II is
" hard to beat.  I'd rather have one than an E-Type.

the sort that insp. morse drove?  definitely has its fascination...
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh at an.bradford.ma.us                       and think what none thought