Battle of the Barge

[chaseracer]

The March issue of Classic&Sportscar.  Yes, really.  A six-way test with SD1, mk2 Grandad, Datsun 300C Toyota Crown   , 604 (Pete M's old one...?, Alfa 6 and Tagora.

 

Enjoy.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

It does sound like my kind of article. I would have thought an Alfa Six was more 'OMG!' than the relatively common Tagora  

 

Does anybody read Classic and Sportscar? - Is it just a lifestyle magazine nowadays? I know they managed to reduce the XJ40's significance to one line in their,  "Jaguars stunning XJ- every model covered from Series 1 to the current day," Jaguar XJ retrospective in January. Not fashionable enough for them, clearly.

[HMC]

Anything barge related in c&sc has usually been penned by Martin Buckley. Being sometime custodian of a nissan 300c, various austin 3 litres and a zodiac estate he is a bit of a barge connoisseur.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

I wonder why he was so dismissive of the poor old XJ40, then.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

C&SC is a great read, I have a subscription to it and am amazed every time I get it at the variety of interesting stuff they cram into it. I love it.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

And didn't they do an interview with Jim Randle recently??? I'm sure I read one, you're not going to get a better source of XJ40 information than him

[Pillock]

You can get a trial issue if you have an Android phone or tablet, go into the "Newsstand" app and you can set up a subscription with a 14 day trial. Download the issue and if you don't like it, cancel within 14 days to pay nothing or keep going at £30 a year. Just checked and it's still the Feb issue on there though.

 

I thought all paper magazines were crap, but since Danterzza has sent me some Car Mechanics (A++ service!) I've found that I really like just having something to read without squinting at a screen, or running a battery down. Turns out new technology is crap and sometimes what you need is a thinly-sliced tree with ink on it.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

And didn't they do an interview with Jim Randle recently??? I'm sure I read one, you're not going to get a better source of XJ40 information than him

 

Did they speak to him about the XJ40 though, or just the XJ220?

 

I haven't read the January issue, I'm just going by the universally negative response the article received on Jag XJ40 forums. I will see if I can find it at a decent price on Ebay.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

C&SC just flopped onto my doormat. It can be a good read but it is still a bit lifestyle/investments with half the mag crammed with pretentious dealers asking POA for million quid cars. Buckley is a bit of a one trick pony but still makes me chortle and his column is the first bit I read.

 

The XJ40 will be 30 next year.   They were a bit rubbish in some areas but an early one on those TD alloys is thoroughly winsome. 

[chaseracer]

I would have thought an Alfa Six was more 'OMG!' than the relatively common Tagora  

 

Weirdo.

 

 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

This has made me realise that the subscription my daughter got me for my birthday last year must have finished, bollocks. Looks like I'll be buying a paper magazine at a newsagent tomorrow, considering up till a couple of years ago I was buying about 20 magazines every month,I can't remember the last time I bought one.

 

I like the glossy million pound ads in C&SC and find Buckley a bit annoying but also always read his column first.

 

Regarding Alfa 6s, in late 85 Alfa Romeo in Edgware Rd had 2 sitting in the showroom,when I went in to look at Sud Sprints. They were trying to flog them for about £8,000 ,which was my budget for a new company car. I can still hear the lease company bloke laughing now,I ended up with an XR3i. Can't blame a man ( boy) for trying , can you?

[willswitchengage]

No Renault 25? Boo

[ChinaTom]

And didn't they do an interview with Jim Randle recently??? I'm sure I read one, you're not going to get a better source of XJ40 information than him

 

For sure. He even came along to an XJ40.com meet a few years ago.

 

[RoadworkUK]

For sure. He even came along to an XJ40.com meet a few years ago.

 

Not a bad bloke. I spent six months in the same design studio as him in Nuneaton back in 2003. I don't think he trusted me, i was too young and generally suspicious looking.

[chaseracer]

I don't think he trusted me, i was too young and generally suspicious looking.

 

You didn't refer to the XJ40 as "that old pub landlord's banger", did you?  Oh dear... 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

They defo spoke to him about the XJ40, I remember he said he still owned 2 examples!

 

One-make forums always pan anything that makes it into the mags about their chosen favourite motor as there are always countless folk on the forums who 'know better' than the hapless journalist who wrote the article

[dugong]

They defo spoke to him about the XJ40, I remember he said he still owned 2 examples!

 

One-make forums always pan anything that makes it into the mags about their chosen favourite motor as there are always countless folk on the forums who 'know better' than the hapless journalist who wrote the article

Er, quite.

[Partridge]

They didn't pan me. I am the special one.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

C&SC is very good this month - the article about replicas is amazing.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

No Renault 25? Boo

 

It's more of an early 80s line up - the Renault 25 is from the generation on. The could have included the Renault 30TX, which would have brought the article a very French front wheel drive barge. A Citroen CX would have done the same.

 

In some ways I'm surprised one of the two wasn't included - along with the Volvo 760GLE, which was creating a lot of waves amongst the barges back then. Either would have been a more likely choice for buyers in 1981 than the Toyota or Alfa. No BMW  E28 or Mercedes W123 either - but they have to draw the line somewhere and the cars they have chosen should make an interesting article.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

They defo spoke to him about the XJ40, I remember he said he still owned 2 examples!

 

One-make forums always pan anything that makes it into the mags about their chosen favourite motor as there are always countless folk on the forums who 'know better' than the hapless journalist who wrote the article

 

Er, quite.

 

The complaint wasn't disputed 'facts', it was that the car wasn't included.

 

Jags seem to attract a certain kind of purist snob. Presumably the journalist is one of them. Still, a magazine is more than one poor article. I used to enjoy reading Classic and Sportscar and bought it fairly regularly from the mid '80s 'till the late '90s. It could be I would still like the magazine, just not when they are writing about a car I know. 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

As someone who can remember these things as £200 auction fodder and the distinctive camshaft and timing chain sound,if there was a 30 and 760 to accompany the other 2 PRV V6s , it would be like a skeleton wanking in a filing cabinet convention.

[r.welfare]

They didn't pan me. I am the special one.

Hang on - are you telling us you're a motoring journalist?

[NorfolkNWeigh]

No,he's an illustrator for Anatomical Retail Architecture Weekly.