I do like the looks of the Jaguar and liked the snob appeal. However, I couldn’t afford to purchase one and maintain it on a university faculty member’s pay. Instead, I drove the same Oldsmobile for my last 33 year’s of service. I made certain to drive my ancient heap to important university functions as well. I always felt it was better to go looking poor when complaining about our salaries. A Jaguar would give the image that we were overpaid.
It’s probably good that you didn’t buy the Jaguar
The students . . . and possibly other faculty members . . . might indeed have thought of you as a snob, as you suggested
On the other hand, I know a few people that actually pride themselves on being seen as a snob
But they’re usually the ones, that I wouldn’t consider to be friends
@db4690 – I have always liked cars that were not in the main stream but still functional. My dad was the same way. He thought a Jeep station wagon would be a great vehicle to own. I also remember looking at the Nash AirFlytes back in the 1949-51 era. Later, in the late 1950s, he was impressed with the 2 stroke Saabs. He never owned any of these cars–the 4 cylinder Jeep wagons were underpowered and the engines had a reputation for burning oil when used in highway driving. My mother thought the Nash AirFlytes with the inverted bathtub styling would go out of style quickly and then become a bad joke. My parents kept cars for such a long time that that would have indeed been the case with the Nash. I think, in the case of the Saab, my parents thought mixing oil with the gas would be an inconvenience.
In my own case, I did have two cars,that weren’t main stream. I had a1961 Corvair Monza that we bought for a second car. Ralph Nader helped me with the financing. I could buy a newer Corvair for under $500 (I paid $450 for mine in 1967) than I could for another make thanks to Ralph’s book “Unsafe at Any Speed”. I also bought a 1975 AMC Pacer X when .my son was a toddler. The wide right hand door made it easy to put him in the car seat in the back seat and yet had.2 door safety. It handled well compared to other cars in that time period with its rack and pinion steering and wide stance. The visibility was also good.
The Jaguar might be a car I would consider if I had money to burn because of its distinctive appearance. According to the last article about the Jaguar in Consumer Reports, if didn’t offer much else.
I actually have a friend who had a Jaguar Vandenplas V12. He sold his engineering company and liked comfortable luxury cars. Unfortunately it was totalled 2 years ago and he now has a Series 7 BMW with all the goodies. But he never bought any of these cars new. Realizing the steep depreciation he always bought them a few years old with low mileage.
The worst car he owned was a loaded Cadillac with the infamous 4-6-8 engine. His wife is very rational and drives a an Acura Legend coupe.
Neither he or his wife are snobs, they live in a nice house 1/4 mile form here with a beautiful view of the river valley.