[Leica] Jag. XK 140

[Jayanand Govindaraj]

Larry,
What would you say about new Leicas and new Jaguars? :-)
Cheers
Jayanand

On Fri, Oct 2, 2015 at 8:05 PM, Larry Zeitlin via LUG <lug at leica-users.org>
wrote:

>  Peter,?
> Unless you have a of time and a fat wallet give a Jaguar XK 140 a pass. It
> may be a nice showpiece but it makes a very bad users car. I owned one of
> these, a bright red Jag convertible in the '50s. It may have been fast but
> it was one of the worst engineered cars I ever drove. The engine featured
> three SU carbs, one for each pair of cylinders, that were virtually
> impossible to tune simultaneously. The spoked racing wheels had a tendency
> to pop spokes on fast accelerations. Every time I tromped on the throttle
> pedal I could hear the ping of a spoke popping. The knock off hubs, while
> attractive, were almost impossible to remove. The steering wheel adjusted
> to variety of positions, none of them comfortable. The engine intruded on
> the footwell space requiring you to drive with one leg straight out, the
> other bent to a crouching position. Eventually one of the brakes failed and
> could not be repaired, even by the California Jag distributor. Thr=e
> steering became so terminally loose that th
>  e car could hardly be driven in a straight line. It was a great babe
> magnet but it was a car that I was afraid to drive. Eventually I traded the
> Jag for an Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce at a used car dealership. The Alfa had
> its own problems but was a joy to drive. Both the dealer and I were sure
> that we had cheated the other. On the other hand, if you can pick up a 3.8
> liter Jag sedan,go for it. It is one of the best cars I ever owned. It's
> safer to collect old Leicas than old cars.
> Larry Z
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>