It was like seeing a unicorn, Robocop and Jesus all at once. In 1948 Jaguar created one of the greatest engines of all time. Problem was they didn’t have a car to put it in. They basically copied a Bugatti (some people say it was a copy of a BMW body, however they are all stupid and must die) and dropped the first XK series engine in it.
Behold the XK120-
So I am sitting at the gas station this morning and I look in my rear view to see a 40′s Bugatti roll in. I crap myself. I watch it in awe, hoping it stops. It does. I jump out of my car and try to keep myself from acting a fool. I set up my gas pump and wait for the driver to exit. As soon as he does I am on him, “Excuse me, is that a Bugatti?”, I am drooling as if I was meeting *insert your fav celeb, rock star etc*. He looks at me with wonder, “Wow you know what a Bugatti is?! No, this is a 49 Jag XK120″. I almost crap my pants, from a distance I couldn’t see the Jag ornaments. It was all original, matching numbers, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance ready. “HOLY CRAP! This is the Jag that took the Bugatti body and dropped in the first XK!! I couldn’t tell from across the parking lot, it looks just like a Bugatti form behind! Where did you, how did you, WOW. This was the first car to hit 120 mph, some say faster than that…holy..fast car in the world at one time.. -incoherent mumbling- Can I touch it?”
For the next 15 mins me and this guy talked about the history of his car and I listened on like I was sitting at the foot of Jesus himself. I think this is what people must feel like when they find god. I got to sit in her and crank her up. For a second I was about to knock him out and take it. I always said I wanted to die in a legendary manner. Well, a ball of fire and gun smoke in a XK is a decent story for the grandkids, however the sacrilege of the event rendered that impossible. Instead I payed homage like a good car geek, and then I headed to work to get laid off. This is honestly one of the greatest days ever.
like a automotive Jesus
It was like seeing a unicorn, Robocop and Jesus all at once. In 1948 Jaguar created one of the greatest engines of all time. Problem was they didn’t have a car to put it in. They basically copied a Bugatti (some people say it was a copy of a BMW body, however they are all stupid and must die) and dropped the first XK series engine in it.
Behold the XK120-
So I am sitting at the gas station this morning and I look in my rear view to see a 40′s Bugatti roll in. I crap myself. I watch it in awe, hoping it stops. It does. I jump out of my car and try to keep myself from acting a fool. I set up my gas pump and wait for the driver to exit. As soon as he does I am on him, “Excuse me, is that a Bugatti?”, I am drooling as if I was meeting *insert your fav celeb, rock star etc*. He looks at me with wonder, “Wow you know what a Bugatti is?! No, this is a 49 Jag XK120″. I almost crap my pants, from a distance I couldn’t see the Jag ornaments. It was all original, matching numbers, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance ready. “HOLY CRAP! This is the Jag that took the Bugatti body and dropped in the first XK!! I couldn’t tell from across the parking lot, it looks just like a Bugatti form behind! Where did you, how did you, WOW. This was the first car to hit 120 mph, some say faster than that…holy..fast car in the world at one time.. -incoherent mumbling- Can I touch it?”
For the next 15 mins me and this guy talked about the history of his car and I listened on like I was sitting at the foot of Jesus himself. I think this is what people must feel like when they find god. I got to sit in her and crank her up. For a second I was about to knock him out and take it. I always said I wanted to die in a legendary manner. Well, a ball of fire and gun smoke in a XK is a decent story for the grandkids, however the sacrilege of the event rendered that impossible. Instead I payed homage like a good car geek, and then I headed to work to get laid off. This is honestly one of the greatest days ever.