My favorite of all time is the Jaguar XK-SS. 1950s perfect from every angle. ... View more

Rob, what a nightmare. Glad you're through it. That said, I'm surprised you haven't tackled a Series 1 Jaguar E-Type. Nothing about the E-Type is remotely as crazy as this car, and I'd bet the driving pleasure is even better, not to mention the head nods, high-fives and compliments in the grocery store parking lot. ... View more

My family bought a 1968 850 Spyder from a neighbor in 1970. She looked hot but was a gutless nightmare under her skin. She hated the cold and refused to start in the Connecticut winter, even if you could open a door to get in. The pushbutton door openers froze and would break, a risky game of Russian Roulette depending on how many degrees below zero it was before your morning commute. She was an expensive high maintenance diva for sure. And snow? Forget it. She didn't like snow, even with studs to help keep her tootsies planted. We dumped her in the spring, having been her caretaker for less than a year. Then Dad bought a third-hand 1967 Jaguar E-Type roadster--also a diva, but well worth the attention she begged. ... View more

Face it, Rob, you're a collector with a serious addiction! 🙂 ... View more

I thought the ad was OK but contrived. More of a fantasy than down to earth. Car gets hauled away in the middle of the night and the owner doesn't know it's missing for the (ho-hum) three or four days it takes to restore it to new. Uh... that would be at least a year and more likely three. Heck the paint job alone would be a couple of months if done correctly. I would like to have shed a tear, but restoring a car takes a ton of resources and time, and this trivializes the effort. ... View more

Best line in the movie, from Marty McFly to Doc Brown: "You built a time machine? Out of a DeLorean?" ... View more

"I'm high alright. But not on false drugs. I'm high on the real thing: powerful gasoline, a clean windshield and a shoe shine." ... View more

Priceless, like the cars in the ads, lol! Firesign Theatre nut here. I have all their LPs, and two books from the 70s called their "Big Book of Plays Vols. 1 & 2." And yes, my friends and I have riffed on the dialog many times over the years. That said, I was not aware of these late night TV ads that were obviously sarcastic stabs at the "serious" car ads by competitors. That classic dry Firesign humor still floors me to this day. Ronnie Schreiber, your research and delivery on this post is sincerely the best I've seen to date on Hagerty. Thank you!! Well done! ... View more

I think this article is a bit misleading. The motorcycle driver specifically tested the tires' roadholding capabilities with positive results, but the author segues into deterioration under storage conditions, which wasn't tested. So the big question is, what are the statistics of 15 year old tires with a few hundred miles on them coming apart at speed? ... View more

Yikes! In under a couple of decades the Caddy went from chromed wretched excess to vanilla plastic. Sorry, these cars never did excite me, and the newer they got, the more the cost-reduced boxy styling became metaphorically similar to the era's muzak as a sleep aid. ... View more

Man, I am SO DARN HAPPY I restored my Jaguar E-Type back in the late 1980s with acrylic lacquer paint. I can (and do) perform my own bodywork and spot paint touch-ups in my garage with no special equipment other than an air compressor, paint gun, painter's mask and that matching 30 year old lacquer that's still available today. Yeah! ... View more

I had a friend who wrenched and raced these in L.A. back in the day, mid through late 1980s. He and his two team mates were in the lead, caught a wave wrong, and the boat flipped and disintegrated with all lives lost. Frankly I loved that he was interested in this, and dumped tons of money into his expensive hobby, but it never appealed to me. Side note: he told me that if I wanted a fast boat for calm waters, go for the catamaran. ... View more

Here's how bad the Imperial was. As a Baby Boomer glued to 1950s and 1960s media, I knew Caddy vs. Continental. My grandparents, who could afford either, preferred the latter because they felt it was a more subtle and understated ride than the Cadillac. More charming and equally capable, but a lesser statement of wretched excess. However, there was never any input in my prepubescent intellect of another car by another American manufacturer trying to compete with either of the two market leaders. I never heard of a Chrysler Imperial. Even today the name is foggy. And, of course, Mercedes, Rolls Royce and Bentley were in an entirely different game. But there was no Imperial in that crowd, either. ... View more

What a sensational read! Well done. I feel like I was there, though I'd like to breath a little more of that Ferrari V-12 smoke. ... View more

Carry a little rubberized kitchen refrigerator magnet for inspection of steel bodied cars. A mild magnet will stick to steel, but not to bondo. ... View more

This is way cool! Wretched excess in all its glory. Note that the boat had to have been extremely heavy, being both wood and fiberglass, plus those worthless fins. And, as I remember, the Evinrude Lark 2 cylinder, 2 cycle outboard (pictured) put out only 35 HP. The top speed was likely about 25 MPH on a calm day. Add a waterskier and boat guard and I'm guessing a 180 pound skier could barely get out of the water. That's likely why we never saw these boats become reality. The four cylinder OMC V4 engines weren't far behind, and Mercury made a straight 6, but the popular boats to put them on in the late 50s and early 60s were flat bottom Dorsetts, Glaspars and Glastrons.  They were light and trim; no wretched excess for show. BTW,  @DUB6, the later Evinrude line of stern drive boats was featured in the Bond film Thunderball. My family had a 1965 "Playmate," which was a 4 seater powered by the first stern drive inboard mounted outboard engine, hence the moniker "inboard/outboard." It was Evinrude's 90 HP 2 cycle V4, and it could pull a slalom skier at about 32 MPH maximum. At altitude (say, Lake Tahoe) its performance was extremely diminished. As families grew in size, so did boats. Auto engines replaced the V4 in stern drives, and Mercruiser grabbed the market lead with their effective lower units. OMC eventually dropped their line of boats in both Johnson and Evinrude livery, but their outboards still soldier on. ... View more

On the bright side, it could always be worse, Rob. I have a friend who has a similar problem with Jaguars, PLUS a sport plane addiction. His garage fits three cars, but his RV-8 kit plane takes up all the hanger space at the air strip. ... View more

Sounds like McQueen was having a bad day and took it out on the poor interviewer, who got the interview of a lifetime--if you can call it that. He didn't even have to ask a question to elicit multiple jaw-dropping responses! ... View more

Seems to be both a dismal swan song to Jaguar as a carmaker and the legacy of the E-Type. ... View more

"A little elbow grease" will add up to another $150-200k. So then you have $500k in a car worth less than half that. Just my .02 ... View more

Fabulous you got out of the house and connected with your fellow 2002 lovers while appropriately social distancing!   I have only one comment: you refer to your beloved "Louie" as "it," when he is most certainly a "him." That's how connected we are with our beloved vintage four-wheeled soul mates.   Mine is a 1967 Jaguar E-Type OTS I've pampered since 1971, and she is a "her." She has been more faithful to me in our 49 years together than most of the women I've known. She's truly a diva, and since I treat her right, she returns my love in every way. Her favorite pastime is to meander topless with me on windy country roads on summer days. What's not to love about a girl like that? ... View more

@Sajeev, note that the Auris Blume is a high end (and expensive) Bluetooth transmitter. It's not wi-fi enabled, so it is good to broadcast from your phone to one stereo system via bluetooth. You'll need wi-fi to transmit to all your sound systems and powered speakers. Bluetooth won't do it, from my experience. ... View more

@Sajeev, note that Chromecast runs from the Google Home app, and Alexa Input from the Amazon Alexa app, both free and not very invasive. I've set up both systems for myself and others, and prefer Chromecast, for various reasons. But, Unfortunately, you'll have to get them in the used market at this point.   The Alexa Input has its own advantages such as choice of bluetooth or aux input capability. Bluetooth means fewer wires, but the speakers get out of sync with each other, depending on the quality of your wifi router. Hard wiring from the devices offers seamless sound. ... View more

(I moved this post) ... View more

@Sajeev @, the sound quality is as good as your sound system and the ability of your router to send a signal to the Chromecast or Alexa Input device. The Alexa Input is similarly shaped (a little bigger) and can also link to powered speaker via Bluetooth, as well as wired via the "Aux Input" on your old school system. You can run these devices from your phone or tablet, controlling both master volume and choice of music.   First thing I do in the morning before getting out of bed is turn on some classical. It is heaven to have it wafting throughout the house...and garage, of course! Best news is I've made use of all my old gear, plus portable powered speakers I've collected more recently ... View more

@Sajeev , the Chromecast I use are the audio-only versions, much less expensive, but, unfortunately discontinued by Google. I bought the first six about two years ago, and found the four others new on eBay. You can also use the video version of chromecast and add a converter from HDMI to audio RCA jacks,  but that gets expensive, and the sound isn't as good.    The alternative is Amazon's Alexa device  called "Input." This is pretty cool, too, as you can control the music and volume with the Alexa voice command.    Keep on wrenchin' and rockin.' ... View more

Oops! That's nine of the ten! The last group is a stereo pair of powered Kurzweil speakers in the living room on the piano. Ooh la la! ... View more

Great article! I heartily agree.   In my garage, I revel in my 1982 Hitachi HTA 3000 receiver coupled with my 1990 JBL Control SB5 speakers with subwoofer. These were stored away for a few years, and then I gave them to my son to take to college (he wasn't born before the receiver, and was an infant with the speakers). Off to medical school in 2013, he dumped them back in my lap. So, I did the logical thing: I put a classy stereo in my garage.   But here's the coolest part: using Google's Chromecast devices, I have all 10 of my old stereo systems and newer powered speakers linked together via wi-fi. So my ancient Hitachi system in the garage works alongside my Bose Revolve speakers in kitchen and hallway, my Bose Acoustimass sound cubes in the dining room, and my Denon Dolby 8 channel surround system in the family room. Then there are the powered speakers in my office, master bath, and exercise room, and the digital 5.1 Soundbar in the master bedroom-- all playing the same music.   Yeah! ... View more

I don't think the original can be improved upon. This exercise looks like the result of a huge weight being placed on top of the original E-Type coupe, flattening it and bursting the shocks. It doesn't do the 1961 masterpiece justice, which, to me, is a timeless design that will forever turn heads and evoke smiles. ... View more

And the Dodge Viper somehow doesn't make this list? ... View more

What, no Mustang? It's likely number 1. Cheetah? Gimme a break. This article can't be taken seriously...   And, of course, let's round up all the Jaguars and relegate them to a zoo. After all, it's not a manufacturer we're identifying. It's the name of a car.     Even the Ford Pinto deserves a place here.  ... View more

Agreed. It depends on the car and whether its speaker enclosures are built-in with acoustic sound quality in mind...or not. A convertible Jaguar E-Type will never have great sound, unless you are able to plug in a set of headphones. ... View more

What a fabulous story! Thanks for sharing. ... View more

Huh. What's wrong with Bluetooth from your phone?   I installed a "hidden" stereo in my 1967 Jaguar E-Type. It allows my phone to act as a "pre-amp" with everything I want. I can play my own MP3 catalog, stream from my favorite music site, or listen to an Audible book.  ... View more