Grace... Space... Pace...

[Morris Minor]

Cover of the magazine I rescued from the attic of my mother's house:

This was probably Jaguar's heyday. Three years later they would become part of British Motor Holdings (BMC) which became BL.

[FoMoJo]

I got a bunch of '60s and '70s, mostly Road & Track, that are headed for the dump.  Been taking up space for too many years.

[12,000 RPM]

IIRC Jags brought luxury and exotica to the working man. What would such a brand look like today.... is there a modern Jag? Or is such a brand not even necessary with Camry V6s running the 1/4 in the low 14s.

[MX793]

Jag's never really been a working man's car.  They have always been a tier (or more) above true "normal person" cars like Austin, MG, or Vauxhall.  Not as high up the totem as Bentley or RR, but certainly not a mainstream brand.

[Rupert]

E-Type performance and quality was up there (or better than) the real exotics, but it was much cheaper. Not a working man's car, of course, but a good deal nonetheless. Maybe the GT-R is the modern equivalent?

[Laconian]

Jaguar : British Leyland :: Cadillac : GM

[Eye of the Tiger]

Jaguar : British Leyland :: Cadillac : GM

Mitsubishi : Mighty Max :: GM : Corvette

Did I do it right?

[MX793]

Jaguar : British Leyland :: Cadillac : GM

More or less.  Ignoring that, pre-WWII, Caddy was building legitimate Rolls Royce competitors.

[Morris Minor]

My dad stayed with British cars until 1970. He got sick of the oil leaks, the bad electrics, the rust etc.

Then a friend of his suggested he try a Renault 16 - a 5-door hatch. It was so streets ahead of anything else he'd seen, he never went back. From then on he had a Volvo, a Peugeot 505, a Lancia Beta (neither of those lasted long), then a long line of Saabs, which he loved.

[Laconian]

I have a set of British "automotive encyclopedias" that makes for fun bathroom reading. The article on British Leyland is hiiiiilarious. The tone it set for BL's future was so optimistic, so naive - but then, midway through the article, you can see an illustration of the huge rat's nest of mergers that lead to BL's formation. LOL. "Yeah, we're going to win with this... thing!" British love of bureaucracy, I guess?

I should scan that article and post it here. Much more interesting than the Wikipedia page.

[280Z Turbo]

So many fun yet underengineered turds. I was looking into a Spitfire until I fount out that it had 3 main bearings instead of 5. Chevy guys worry about 2 bolt vs 4 bolt mains but that BL piece of shit is missing two entire main bearing assemblies and they thought it was OK. Anything over 100 hp is apparently pushing it. Junk.

[Eye of the Tiger]

So many fun yet underengineered turds. I was looking into a Spitfire until I fount out that it had 3 main bearings instead of 5. Chevy guys worry about 2 bolt vs 4 bolt mains but that BL piece of shit is missing two entire main bearing assemblies and they thought it was OK. Anything over 100 hp is apparently pushing it. Junk.

Just keep it stock, yo. Nobody really needs more than two main bearings - one on each end. Anything more is just masturbatory.

[MX793]

Just keep it stock, yo. Nobody really needs more than two main bearings - one on each end. Anything more is just masturbatory.

On an inline 6, they're kind of important.

Then again, perfect excuse for an engine swap.  Perhaps drop a Rover 3.5L V8 in there to keep it British?  Ford 302?  Or, if I6 is still desired, I'd bet a Nissan L-series I6 (from the 1st gen Z cars) would fit.

[280Z Turbo]

On an inline 6, they're kind of important.

Then again, perfect excuse for an engine swap.  Perhaps drop a Rover 3.5L V8 in there to keep it British?  Ford 302?  Or, if I6 is still desired, I'd bet a Nissan L-series I6 (from the 1st gen Z cars) would fit.

The Spitfire had a 4 cylinder tractor engine.

[MX793]

The Spitfire had a 4 cylinder tractor engine.

Doh, got the Spitfire mixed up with the TR5/TR6

[Eye of the Tiger]

On an inline 6, they're kind of important.

Then again, perfect excuse for an engine swap.  Perhaps drop a Rover 3.5L V8 in there to keep it British?  Ford 302?  Or, if I6 is still desired, I'd bet a Nissan L-series I6 (from the 1st gen Z cars) would fit.

No way dude. Just put one main bearing in the center of the I6, and change the firing order to maintain exact symmetric forces. The transmission input shaft will assist in stabilizing the rotating assembly, but only when the clutch is engaged - which makes sense, because that is the only time a significant load is placed on the engine.
I got this figured out.

[12,000 RPM]

So many fun yet underengineered turds. I was looking into a Spitfire until I fount out that it had 3 main bearings instead of 5. Chevy guys worry about 2 bolt vs 4 bolt mains but that BL piece of shit is missing two entire main bearing assemblies and they thought it was OK. Anything over 100 hp is apparently pushing it. Junk.

[280Z Turbo]

I lol'd

[MX793]

In classic British fashion, they've provided an adequate number of main bearings.

[93JC]

Lots of older four-cylinders had only three main bearings. Hell, the Ford Flathead V8 had three main bearings.

[12,000 RPM]

Lots of older four-cylinders had only three main bearings. Hell, the Ford Flathead V8 had three main bearings.

Lol that engine is literally like 100 years old. They were making Spitfires in the 80s

[shp4man]

A high school buddy in the late '60's bought a car from a college professor for $300. It was an Austin Healy, bout a '64 model, with a 3 liter inline 6, 3 SU carbs and a 2-speed rear axle.
My car was a '51 Chevy, slow as molasses with the cornering capability of a modern motorhome.
Driving that Healy was like flying an airplane compared to my Chevy, and it was a fairly decent car, as my buddy drove the shit out of it. Thing would do 120MPH if the carbs were synced right.
The Brits could do engineering if they really tried. The Spitfire fighter and the Mosquito light bomber are good examples.
The Harrier jet is also a British design- still used by the Marine Corps. 

[Eye of the Tiger]

A high school buddy in the late '60's bought a car from a college professor for $300. It was an Austin Healy, bout a '64 model, with a 3 liter inline 6, 3 SU carbs and a 2-speed rear axle.
My car was a '51 Chevy, slow as molasses with the cornering capability of a modern motorhome.
Driving that Healy was like flying an airplane compared to my Chevy, and it was a fairly decent car, as my buddy drove the shit out of it. Thing would do 120MPH if the carbs were synced right.
The Brits could do engineering if they really tried. The Spitfire fighter and the Mosquito light bomber are good examples.
The Harrier jet is also a British design- still used by the Marine Corps.

Yeah, airplanes...
So the Healey had a 2 spd rear end? I want one for my truck.

[MX793]

Lol that engine is literally like 100 years old. They were making Spitfires in the 80s

1980 was the last year.  And other than cosmetic updates, it was largely the same as the 1960s cars underneath.  Engine was likewise basically the same, just larger displacement and changes made for emissions and unleaded fuel.

[Byteme]

I got a bunch of '60s and '70s, mostly Road & Track, that are headed for the dump.  Been taking up space for too many years.

At least recycle them.  And if any have e-type road tests in them I'd gladly take them off of your hands, pay postage, mow your lawn, whatever. 

Seriously, PM me if you want to send the E-type one's to me.   

[93JC]

Lol that engine is literally like 100 years old. They were making Spitfires in the 80s

The Triumph engine dated to at the very least the early '50s. I'm not saying they should have kept on selling Spitfires to 1980 ('80 was the last year; Triumph production ended altogether by 1984) but the "EHRMAGERD 3 MAIN BEARINGZ " overreaction is just that.

Like I said lots of carmakers made four-cylinder engines with three main bearings, and well into the '70s. Citroen comes to mind immediately: the engine in the DS was basically the same one from the Traction-Avant of the '30s, just modernized with fuel injection and a few other things. The Japanese were definitely still pumping out three-bearing four-bangers; at the very least Toyota and Nissan were (perhaps not Honda).

And then there's Subaru. Now, granted, they made a boxer-4, but they didn't have a five-bearing engine until 1989...

[93JC]

I got a bunch of '60s and '70s, mostly Road & Track, that are headed for the dump.  Been taking up space for too many years.

Throw an add up on craigslist or kijiji and list them for free. It'll save you the trouble of hauling them away and save them from the bin too.