One of the cars I have always admired is the Series 1 Jaguar XJ.   It was an amazing piece of design, and well ahead of its time.   I think the series 1 XJ was culmination of Jaguar in their heyday before they were absorbed into the mess that was British Leyland.
In particular, the car I have always admired the most was the Series 1 V12, in either Jaguar or Daimler form.   The XJ was always designed to take the V12.  I think to this day it is still the only true mass produced V12 ever made.   Given it took a while to get the V12 XJ to market, it was only offered for about a year and a half before the XJ went to the series 2.
The XJ suffers from the reputation it gained in the late 70s and early 80s for poor quality. That keeps prices fairly low for what is an amazing car. It is interesting to wonder how much more successful the XJ would have been if Jaguar was not part of BL.  Certainly they could have afforded to update the cars and the quality would have been much better.
The V12 also has depressed values due to its prodigious thirst and reliability concerns.   The thirst is less of an issue for a classic car. Reliability was largely down to things like the ignition system which is now solved.    The V12 is an amazing engine - first designed as a race engine and then adapted for road use.   It revs up to 6500 rpm and is amazingly smooth and powerful.   The later cars went to very tall differential ratios and the HE head, which made them less thirsty but also less urgent.
I would like to own a series 1 V12 one day, so when a short wheel base XJ12 in British racing green came up for sale in Sydney about a month ago, I decided to go and have a look.  The SWB is quite a rare car.   There were 2,474 XJ12s and 534 Daimler Double Six made in short wheelbase.   When Jaguar moved to the Series 2 in late 1973, the V12s were all long wheelbase.

The owner was a very nice chap who had a collection of very nice Jaguars.   This included another series 1 V12 (an Australian delivered car), a couple of XJCs, and XJS, a modified XJ6 and more.  He was selling the green car as he had found an Australian delivered example.
The XJ12 was in British Racing Green, one of the best colours for the XJ12.  The car had originally been delivered with a cinnamon interior, but the seats and door cards had been changed later for series 2 versions in black.  The black leather with cinnamon carpets was actually quite a nice combination, if not original.  It was nice to see the original thin rim steering wheel.

By modern standards, the XJ is a very low and sleek car.   In its day, it was considered a large car.  Nowadays it is dwarfed by the massive SUVs on the road.   The V12 has quite an imposing front grille on the series 1.  I think is far better looking than the grille on the six.  The Daimler versions have the same grille on the Sovereign and Double Six.
Driving the car, it was very smooth and quiet.   The cabin was cozy and a nice place to be, and i found the controls and instruments easy to read and use.   I’m very all, and I was quite comfortable driving the XJ12.   On the test drive, we had an issue when the car wanted to conk out, but changing over to the other fuel tank fixed the issue.   Jaguar XJs have twin fuel tanks and the driver selects which one should be used.   Since they each have separate fuel pumps, you have redundancy with any fuel pump issues, which I later found was the issue.

I didn’t push the car very hard since it wasn’t mine, but I thoroughly enjoyed the drive.   There was a lot to like about the car, but on reflection I decided it was not the car for me.   I could definitely see myself owning one, some time in the future.  It is much easier to find a nice Series 2 or Series 3.  For me, it would have to be a series 1.
It was interesting comparing the 560SEL I drove to the test drive.   The W126 is a much larger and more imposing car, with more space.   The Jaguar has much lighter steering and a much cozier cabin.   Due to being lower to the ground, the Jaguar feels sportier to drive.   They both have a great ride.
I drove the XJ12 over a month ago, but didn’t post until the car was no longer listed for sale for a few weeks.  I didn’t want to interfere with the sale.

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BALIPORTALNEWS.COM, JAKARTA – Industri otomotif kini bersama-sama bergerak ke arah produk ramah lingkungan yang berdampak pada keberlanjutan lingkungan dan tetap memenuhi kebutuhan konsumen. Gerakan ini sejalan dengan program Kemenperin nomor 36 tahun 2021 tentang Kendaraan Bermotor Roda Empat Emisi Karbon Rendah yang telah digencarkan sejak dua tahun belakangan.

Maka dari itu, Suzuki sebagai salah satu produsen kendaraan di tanah air juga bertanggung jawab dalam gerakan pengurangan emisi karbon dan peningkatan angka transisi elektrifikasi masyarakat nusantara.

Komitmen ini Suzuki wujudkan lewat menghadirkan pembaharuan unit berteknologi hybrid yang lebih ramah lingkungan, sekaligus memudahkan masyarakat untuk bisa memilikinya melalui penyediaan fasilitas test drive sehingga masyarakat dapat merasakan langsung keunggulan teknologi hybrid Suzuki. Calon konsumen dapat langsung mendatangi diler Suzuki terdekat di masing-masing kota untuk mencoba langsung varian hybrid Suzuki.

“Setelah resmi meluncurkan Grand Vitara dan New XL7 Hybrid tahun ini, serta All New Ertiga Hybrid tahun lalu, kami terus berupaya mengedukasi masyarakat akan keunggulan teknologi hybrid ini. Dengan keseragaman gerakan dari setiap produsen kendaraan, kami melihat antusiasme yang tinggi dari masyarakat menyambut produk-produk hybrid Suzuki. Upaya kami tentu juga terus berpusat pada percepatan ketersediaan unit dan pengadaan unit yang akan digunakan untuk pengujian atau test drive di jaringan dealer resmi Suzuki. Tentu tujuan dari test drive ini agar calon konsumen dapat mencoba sendiri sensasi berkendara menggunakan teknologi dan fitur terbaru yang dimiliki oleh produk hybrid Suzuki. Kami menghadirkan fasilitas yang test drive di 33 kota Indonesia guna memudahkan calon konsumen untuk menentukan pilihannya,” terang Donny Saputra, 4W Marketing Director PT SIS.

Promo test drive Suzuki Hybrid periode Juli–September 2023

Mengusung semangat akan masa depan yang lebih baik, kendaraan hybrid Suzuki membantu konsumen berkontribusi pada keberlanjutan lingkungan, namun tetap memiliki kendaraan yang efisien, tangguh, multifungsi, dan dengan pelayanan aftersales yang terjamin.

Sebagai bentuk komitmen untuk memenuhi kebutuhan konsumen, Suzuki juga memberikan berbagai penawaran promo terbaik bagi calon konsumen yang menggunakan fasilitas test drive untuk menjajal langsung sensasi berkendara menggunakan kendaraan hybrid Suzuki.  

Calon konsumen Suzuki yang berminat untuk menjajal dan membeli varian unit hybrid Suzuki bisa berbahagia karena kesempatan untuk memiliki mobil Suzuki yang telah dilengkapi teknologi SHVS kini semakin menguntungkan. Selain promo penjualan yang menarik, Suzuki mengadakan program ‘Test Drive Suzuki Hybrid’ yang dapat diikuti oleh segenap calon konsumen Suzuki Indonesia.

Hanya dengan melakukan test drive di salah satu dealer resmi Suzuki Indonesia, mengabadikan momen test drive, dan mengunggahnya ke dalam sosial media pribadi, maka calon konsumen berkesempatan untuk memenangkan souvenir menarik secara langsung selama persediaan masih ada.

Bagi calon konsumen yang telah melakukan test drive dan melakukan pembelian unit Suzuki Hybrid, juga berkesempatan untuk mengikuti program undian berhadiah Suzuki Jimny.

Adapun syarat dan ketentuan program ‘Test Drive Suzuki Hybrid Berhadiah Suzuki Jimny’ sebagai berikut:

- Konsumen yang telah melakukan test drive Suzuki Hybrid, lalu melakukan pembelian unit Suzuki Hybrid berhak mengikuti program undian berhadiah Suzuki Jimny;

- Unit Suzuki Hybrid yang dimaksud antara lain seperti All Suzuki Ertiga Hybrid, XL7 Hybrid, atau Grand Vitara Hybrid;

- Peserta yang sudah memenuhi persyaratan poin (a) berhak mendapatkan 1 undian Suzuki Jimny berlaku kelipatan pembelian selama periode Juli – September 2023;

- Pengundian akan dilakukan pada 15 Oktober 2023 secara resmi di hadapan notaris, perwakilan Kementerian Sosial (Kemensos), dan PT SIS yang berwenang;

- Untuk informasi lebih detail mengenai persyaratan program, silakan mengunjungi diler resmi Suzuki di dekat Anda.

Booking test drive anti ribet via website

Calon konsumen yang ingin mengenal lebih dalam keunggulan fitur dan teknologi kendaraan hybrid Suzuki dapat melakukan booking test drive dan bertemu dengan Sales Representative yang akan menolong calon konsumen memahami keunggulan, kenyamanan, dan keamanan dari New XL7 Hybrid dan All New Ertiga Hybrid.

Suzuki memberikan kemudahan bagi calon konsumen yang hendak melakukan test drive dengan melakukan booking secara online melalui website resmi Suzuki (www.suzuki.co.id) atau dengan datang dan daftar langsung ke diler resmi Suzuki terdekat.

Setiap calon konsumen yang melakukan test drive baik melalui pendaftaran online maupun offline akan didampingi oleh sales representative yang akan menjelaskan setiap fitur pada unit tersebut. Untuk pendaftaran secara online, setelah masuk ke website calon konsumen dapat klik ‘Automobile’, pada laman tersebut calon konsumen dapat melihat dengan rinci mengenai informasi dari mobil Suzuki.

Setelah itu, calon konsumen dapat melengkapi kolom yang dibutuhkan untuk mengajukan layanan fasilitas test drive di diler terdekat.(bpn)

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Another year come and gone and still beyond grateful to say I work my dream job! Thank you to Drive Marketing Group and all those who make it possible to photograph and get behind the wheel of the greatest cars in the world! These are my top picks among the hundreds I was fortunate enough to drive these past 12 months! With a special mention to what might be the best enthusiast’s sports car of all time - the 2017 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S manual.
@drivemarketinggroup
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#drivemarketinggroup #testdrive #photoshoots #lamborghini #ferrari #mclaren #rollsroyce #bentley #astonmartin #hondansx #porsche #ilovemyjob #wheredreamsaredriven #2022 #yearinreview #blakejphoto (at Vancouver, British Columbia)
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