RE: VOTE ur'q Car of the Century

["James A. Desveaux" <desveaux@ucla.edu>]

Maybe we should start a betting pool on what ends up as the choice.  Is this
done purely on the basis of votes from just anybody, or is it divided up
into votes by readers, votes by critics, and votes by car designers?  R&T
did such a thing several years ago, in which they tried to determine the
most beautiful car ever designed and built.  Critics and car designers were
pretty close, and the Jaguar series 1 E Type got the nod.  Readers, on the
other hand, tended toward cars like the Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, various
Porsches, etc.  The knowledge and memory of most readers (and this partly
depends on age) is a major limiting factor.

Since the E Type is the only car that I know of in the Museum of Modern Art
in New York, I'd suspect it would be a strong contender, along with the old
XK120.  They may be funky British cars, but it was this marque that first
stuck a high performance dual overhead cam, grand prix style engine in a
production car at an almost affordable price when most other manufacturers
were fiddling with pushrods.  It was also the first marque to introduce
aircraft-style disc brakes on all their cars, beginning in 1957.  THe E Type
had a sophisticated DeDion style independent rear suspension with inboard
discs.  And they won at LeMans in 51, 53, 55, 56, and 57 (in 57 they came in
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th).

Believe me, I'm not dissing Audis.  I think that, bang for the buck, they're
a tribute to innovative engineering, particularly for such a large company.
I used to restore Jaguars, but I drive an Audi (well, I still have an old
Jag, but it takes a real sport to want to spend much time in it).

- Jim

91 200QW
54 XK120DHC