Wondering about wild grapes

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Wondering about a Couple of Vehicles.

I am wondering about Jaguar and Land Rover today.  Why?  Funny you should ask, but since you did, I will tell you.  Ford Motor Company announced its sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata on this day back 2008 for $2.3 billion, which was less than half what Ford had originally paid for the two.  Why did they do that?  The auto industry had been suffering through a sales slump and I guess that Ford needed the money more than the right to make those two brands.

This made me wonder where the two vehicles got their start in the first place.  I will start with the Jaguar.  It started from the Swallow Sidecar Company which was founded in 1922 in England.  They made motorcycle side cars and was renamed SS Cars Ltd and in 1935, its first Jaguar automobile (the SS Jaguar 100) was launched.  After World War II, since the letters "SS" had an evil connotation, they changed their name to Jaguar Cars Ltd.

The XK-120 made its debut and was capable of speeds up to 120 mph or so.  This was in 1948.  Now, this information really surprised me since I had no idea that a production car capable of those speeds existed that early.

The other vehicle I am wondering about is the Land Rover which made its appearance in 1948.  How did it come about?  Maurice Wilks used an old American-made Willy-Overland Jeep to do work around his farm in England.  The Jeep had mechanical problems and so he designed a more reliable vehicle, meant for use on farms so that the farmer would have something more versatile than a tractor.  It was boxy, had four wheel drive and a canvas top.  The Land Rover was so popular that they spread all over the world.  Ford Motor Company acquired Land Rover back in 2000 for 2.7 million dollars.  So now you know some more useless information which you may never use, but try to have a great day today anyway, you hear?

15 comments:

  1. In 2009 when Nicolas Rapp decided to drive around the world he knew he's need a 4 wheel drive. For parts & service world wide his only real choices were the Land Rover or the Toyota Land Cruiser & the Land over was too much money for his budget.
    It was an interesting read, I enjoyed it
    http://transworldexpedition.com/

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    1. Glad you enjoyed my blog today. Toyota took a lot of business from Land Rover, for sure.

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  2. I forgot to say that I got my info from This Day in History, an interesting website.

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  3. I think the Land Rovers were made out of aluminum.

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    1. I don't know, they could have been aluminum. Remember when Ford made a Thunderbird out of stainless steel?

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  4. It's a shame Ford bothered with either of those companies.

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    1. Ford came out with some other cars that didn't last. Can't win them all.

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  5. Ive used the "day in history" for birthdays. Everyone loves em. ESPECIALLY us old ones,,,,lol Mine is Dmarie, covers everything on that date.

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    1. I like that site and have used it before for reference for my blog. You have a good idea to use the information for the birthdates of the people you know.

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  6. If only we could get the Totota 4X4 diesel truck in the US.

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    1. I didn't know that they didn't sell them here, in fact I didn't know that Toyota made a 4x4 diesel truck.

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  7. I've always thought I'd like to have a Land Rover.... so far I've settled for a John Deere Gator ;-)

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    1. A John Deere Gator is a great all terrain vehicle. I would love to have one of those.

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  8. My father bought a used 195? Land Rover when I was a junior or senior in High School. We only used it during hunting season and it beat any Jeep that I ever road in for comfort. I then got to use it during the summers when I returned home from university. Sure wish I had it today for a toad!

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