Day: Apr 21, 2016

Give Us A Brake! – Jaguar Jettisons Its Baggage.

JLR appear to have hit on a genius plan to secure Jaguar’s future. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear to involve making Jaguars. 

Here's what you can have - get 'em while they're hot, they're lovely. Image:designmagazin.cz
Here’s what you can have – get ’em while they’re hot, they’re lovely. Image:designmagazin.cz

Judging by the frequency he expounds on matters of product, anyone would think Jaguar’s design chief was solely responsible for product planning. Perhaps it’s got something to do with his mellow Dumfries lilt, but nowadays its difficult to escape the suspicion JLR’s senior management wheel him out when they have unpalatable Jaguar-related news to deliver – and frankly, has there been any other kind? Continue reading “Give Us A Brake! – Jaguar Jettisons Its Baggage.”

Theme : Japan – When Failure Breeds Success

The 1300 was a hugely significant car for Honda, but not in the way it was intended to be.

Honda 1300 A autoevolution-com
Honda 1300 Saloon – image : autoevolution.com

Since it was never properly sold in Western markets, the Honda 1300 is rather an unknown in Europe. Introduced in 1969, it looks pretty generic; it might be any ordinary European saloon of the time, maybe a Fiat. Though, if you think that the front hints at a Vauxhall Viva HB, that’s because they both took a cue from a common source – in Honda’s case the link being Soichiro Honda’s own Pontiac Firebird. But, beneath the skin, the 1300 couldn’t have been more different from the mediocre and ultra-conventional Vauxhall. Honda has never been like other Japanese manufacturers, because Soichiro Honda was never like other Japanese car company bosses. Continue reading “Theme : Japan – When Failure Breeds Success”