Jaguar XK picks up more awards
While Richard Hammond picks up Man of the Year
Jaguar XK in Mumbai
Magazine editor Michael Harvey said: “We feel justified in handing our big one to the fabulous XK, a car everyone now recognises as magnificently beautiful, that reclaims the lost role of the Grand Tourer and, we suspect, might reclaim the art of ride/handling compromise in the portfolio of skills any purveyor of so-called luxury cars must possess.”
US editor Jamie Kitman said: “This is not only the best Jaguar in 40 years, it is a real Jaguar; one knows it in seconds. Jaguar has thoroughly demonstrated with the XK that it is an utterly serious modern engineering entity with a priceless institutional memory of that which made Jaguars great.”
Design director Ian Callum collected the award for ‘Car of the Year’; he said: “It was a tremendous honour to receive this award for the XK and for Jaguar to be recognised for creating such an accomplished vehicle by real enthusiasts such as Top Gear. I feel very proud of everyone at Jaguar responsible for their contribution to the success of this car.”
Jaguar's UK boss Geoff Cousins said: “We are delighted Top Gear have chosen the XK as their ‘GT of the Year’ and ‘Car of the Year’, particularly as the awards represent the views from a panel of judges comprising BBC’s Top Gear TV and the magazine. To be the favourite is testament to just how great this car really is, and our sales figures show that the public think so too.”
Jaguar reckons it's sold over 2,000 XKs in the UK already, and dealers have taken over 800 advance orders for the supercharged XKR. Globally, Jaguar has already sold over 10,000 XKs since its launch and taken over 1,500 advance orders for the XKR.
The XK has already picked up otehr awards this year including ‘Most Exciting Car to be launched in 2006’ by What Car? magazine, ‘Car of the Year’ and ‘Best Coupe’ at the Auto Express New Car Honours 2006, ‘Scottish Car of the Year 2006’ and ‘UK TV People’s Car of the Year 2006’.
Across Europe and the United States it has also been gaining accolades including ‘Austrian Car of the Year’ for the convertible and ‘Most Chic Car of the Year’ by Spain’s biggest selling women’s magazine, Telva. Other awards were in recognition of safety features on the car: the Prince Michael Award for Safety and the World Traffic Safety Symposium’s Traffic Safety Achievement Award in the Automaker category.
Hammond
Meanwhile, Richard Hammond picked up Man of the Year award at the same ceremony.
I think the only thing carried over is the engine, however re-worked and more BHP, but thats the case for all manufacturers at this level, I think...
Body wise and interior wise nothing is carried over.
The car seems to have been universally praised elsewhere,so is he the one dissenting voice ??
Yes, he did didn't he - was he not aware of the groundbreaking, multi-award winning pedestrian impact system????
Felt a bit sorry for Jaguar in this case as, had they not had to spend the money on this system, they could have afforded a lot more technology for the driver/occupants.
Don't get me wrong, pedestrians safety is important, however the best pedestrian protection is
DON'T WALK ON THE BLEEDIN' ROAD IN THE FIRST PLACE - THAT IS WHERE THE CARS ARE!!The car seems to have been universally praised elsewhere,so is he the one dissenting voice ??
If you listen to Clarkson, you'll never buy anything. He hates a car one week, and loves it the next. He is entertaining, but I have found that he is often wrong when talking about a car's attributes.
I think May and Hammond give a much better opinion of the cars they drive.
As for the XK ?? Damn nice car, although I wish they would change that fish mouth grille. I would consider this car based on everything I have read about it. I have only seen one in the flesh (in Switzerland) and I have to say that pictures don't do it justice.
The car seems to have been universally praised elsewhere,so is he the one dissenting voice ??
Most of what dear JC says, I think he just says to be controversial
G
, in the group test against the Merc and BMW he rated it well and in his newspaper articles he has been singing it's praises more.Don't see the fuss over the aeriel BTW - it's a convertible. Sticking a shark fin on the bootlid would look plain odd.
Anyone point me in the direction of a car that does the same thing in an acceptable way?
I favour bonding it into the windscreen as on some porsches, but I'm out of touch with what the current vogue is.
Don't see the fuss over the aeriel BTW - it's a convertible. Sticking a shark fin on the bootlid would look plain odd.
Anyone point me in the direction of a car that does the same thing in an acceptable way?
I favour bonding it into the windscreen as on some porsches, but I'm out of touch with what the current vogue is.
I have an A4 Cab. I've not found any trace of an aerial or shark fin yet, but I get an excellent radio reception.
Should've added - Jag management are well aware of the criticism re the aeriel and I expect they won't let it happen twice.
Personally I wouldn't be bothered by it and it wouldn't stop me buying one, but then everything I drive is 10 years old at least so like I say I'm out of touch. My Nissan has a mast aeriel and I'm chuffed that it's electric
The 10K worldwide sales figure is pretty good considering the price bracket and market sector they are aiming for. Its not supposed to be flooding the roads in vast numbers but something to aspire to.
The "fish mouth grill" is the oval intake shape for pretty much all Jag sports/GT cars since the E-type (XJS excepted) and to do away with it would lose the Jaguar identity and personally I like it, otherwise I would have bought another "brand" (OK I like the Aston Martin grill better on a DB9, but that was the dirty business of finance intruding on my desires
). The aerial is a minor but poor choice, as Jaguar have had a rear windscreen embedded aerial for quite sometime now (I had one in my 2001 SType and it worked flawlessly). Perhaps it was something to do with commonality of parts between the coupe and the convertible, as the embedded one would work in the former but not the latter and each difference in construction adds cost.
Don't see the fuss over the aeriel BTW - it's a convertible. Sticking a shark fin on the bootlid would look plain odd.
Anyone point me in the direction of a car that does the same thing in an acceptable way?
I favour bonding it into the windscreen as on some porsches, but I'm out of touch with what the current vogue is.
I have an A4 Cab. I've not found any trace of an aerial or shark fin yet, but I get an excellent radio reception.
It's in the boot lid on the A4 cab. Something Jaguar couldn't achieve given the aluminium construction.
Don't see the fuss over the aeriel BTW - it's a convertible. Sticking a shark fin on the bootlid would look plain odd.
Anyone point me in the direction of a car that does the same thing in an acceptable way?
I favour bonding it into the windscreen as on some porsches, but I'm out of touch with what the current vogue is.
I have an A4 Cab. I've not found any trace of an aerial or shark fin yet, but I get an excellent radio reception.
It's in the boot lid on the A4 cab. Something Jaguar couldn't achieve given the aluminium construction.
So what do Chevy do with the composite CORVETTE body or Ally bodied FERRARI or PORSCHE?
They don't go to Halfords for a 1970's Electric Aerial, thats for sure!!
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