Monday, September 04, 2023

Automotif CCCXCVI...

Nikon 1 V1 &  1 Nikkor 32mm f/1.2

A 1996 Jaguar XJS convertible in Signal Red.

The basic lines on this grand tourer were twenty years old by '96, with the car having been introduced as the XJ-S in 1975. The hyphen went away with the light styling refresh of 1991 that followed Jag's purchase by FoMoCo.

Like my '94 Mustang GT, this is a design that predates the Euro pedestrian-protection standards that went into effect around the turn of the millennium. As a result, the sixteen-inch wheels and tall sidewalls of the 55-series rubber look oddly quaint after a couple decades of grocery-getter sedans and secretarymobile sporty coupes flaunting 18+" rims and 45-series (or lower) rubber.

They sure make a lot more sense on the bomb-crater pavement of Indianapolis, though.