12 May 2015 – Driven To Write

Theme: Secondhand – Rooting in the Parts Bins

Car advertising (like almost all advertising) commonly emphasises the new and the improved. There is not a single advert drawing attention to the subtle and not-so-subtle second lives of components intended for one car but which lived on in another…and another…and another…

The whole design takes its starting point from the door handles: www.spannerhead.com — The whole design takes its starting point from the door handles: http://www.spannerhead.com

Last week we discussed the afterlife of the Buick aluminium 215 engine. Such a re-use is not what I have in mind in terms of rooting around the parts bins. Rover had the decency to rework the engine –endlessly – to make it work so that by the time they had stopped fiddling in 2004 there was little a Buick engineer from 1957 might recognise other than the porosity problems and flagrant thirst. Continue reading “Theme: Secondhand – Rooting in the Parts Bins”

You’re Not Alone, Jaguar

We look closer at European luxury car sales

Looking at European sales of the 7 Series, A8, XJ and S Class since 1997 (figures courtesy Left-Lane.com) in chart form is revealing. Of course, each brand’s sales pick up when a new model is released, but the S Class jump with its last three model launches is proportionally huge compared with the others. But as the model becomes established, it sinks to quite similar levels as the A8 and 7 Series. Why is this? One explanation may be the private hire trade. In this a Mercedes is the default choice and, as I heard from one guy who runs his own car, clients don’t like being picked up in a previous model – as soon as the new model becomes available he puts in his order for a car that lasts him 7 years. Continue reading “You’re Not Alone, Jaguar”

Twilight of A Champion Part Two – The Next Leap Forward

Where now for Jaguar’s flagship?

jaguar_xj.above — Image credit: Diseno-art

When it comes to full-sized Jaguars, the market is at best apathetic. Throughout the leaping cat’s history you’ll find the strongest selling and best-loved models have been more compact saloons and sports models. Even the original XJ6 began as a relatively close coupled machine, coming into being out of the perceived necessity for a larger, four-seater E-Type variant and the commercial failure of the full-sized Mark Ten. Up to the demise of the X308-XJ series in 2002, it remained broadly faithful to this template: low-slung, snug, a tad decadent.
Continue reading “Twilight of A Champion Part Two – The Next Leap Forward”

The Return of the Miller Cycle Engine

The launch of the Mazda Xedos 9 in 1993 gave James May the chance to joke about Windy Miller when he reviewed the car for Car.

http://myntransportblog.com/2015/01/11/mazda-cars-light-trucks-and-engines-fuchu-aki-district-hiroshima-prefecture-japan-1920-on/ — 1995 Mazda Millennia which is like a Xedos 9 but easier to remember: mytransportblog.com

The cue for the gag came from the unusual use of the Miller cycle engine in the form of the 2.3 litre KJ-ZEM V6. All those years later the only thing I recall is the weak joke and nothing about the car or the technicalities of the Miller cycle engine. The reason I am bringing all this up is that Audi have been reported here to be reconsidering the use of the Miller cycle in the chase for better fuel stats. Continue reading “The Return of the Miller Cycle Engine”