Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => General Discussion => Topic started by: Danesgate on July 06, 2010, 21:42:45
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Hi
Next months Classic & Sports Car magazine will feature an E-Type vs 280SL article - it may be the cover story and to be in significant detail over a number of pages.
This is a decent monthly magazine, published in the UK and this is likely to be one issue not to miss!
Available in UK retailers from 5th August.
Phil
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Is it the August issue? C&S usually hit the shelves mid-month...
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Interesting! I'm really looking forward to reading that one!
Understand that I have owned British sports cars (mostly M.G.s) for nearly 40 years. For the bset part of 20 years, I told "she who must be obeyed" that my ultimate mid-60's sports car purchase would be either a Series I 4.2 E-Type Coupe or a 230 SL with both tops, and If I could find one of either that met my expectations, I would buy it and stop looking for the other! They are very different cars to be sure. The 230SL won and I haven't looked back!
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Hi
Next months Classic & Sports Car magazine will feature an E-Type vs 280SL article - it may be the cover story and to be in significant detail over a number of pages.
This is a decent monthly magazine, published in the UK and this is likely to be one issue not to miss!
Available in UK retailers from 5th August.
Phil
Phil,
Are you sure its Classic and Sports Car?
My August issue has Ferrari/Maserati on the cover and Sept issue will have a Delahaye special on the cover.
No mention of E type/Pagoda.
naj
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Phil,
Are you sure its Classic and Sports Car?
My August issue has Ferrari/Maserati on the cover and Sept issue will have a Delahaye special on the cover.
No mention of E type/Pagoda.
naj
Hi
Take a look at the August 2010 issue (Ferrari & Maserati on the front cover) then check out the inset at the top of page 117 - hopefully the article won't get edited too much, a W113 and and XKE on the front of a summer edition would be very good for sales!!
Cheers
Phil
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Just went to check - it will be in the September issue, so we'll have to wait it out...
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This will be fun to read. I've owned both - very different cars.
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:-[ My Sept 2010 issue has arrived and there is no 280 vs E article :-\
Hope it has been bumped to next month because it just took up too much space.... :-\
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Thanks for that. I'll look out for it. We get most UK magazines here in HK (US ones too). My personal opinion is that while the E-Type is decent, it's way overrated...especially by the British media...
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Just went to pick it up, but as far as I could see there were no pagodas featured - only a celebration of Jaguars 75th anniversary???
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what, another article of the 75th of the Jag? ::)
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Hope it will appear next month instead - funny thing is, that the Pagoda was way more expensive than the e-type when they were new, but now it's the other way around. A friend of mine had both (until his wife intervened) and the jag broke down constantly - even when used as a wedding car - but the Pagoda kept going...
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A slight delay, but the article does appear in the October edition, available in the UK later this week. ::)
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All good things come to those who wait...
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Read it, and I know the car and owner of the red SL (Paul Jobling)
The outcome is......
sell you Pagoda and buy a series 2 E-Type
There. I have saved you a few quid/bucks/euro
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Come now James, now you have to clarify that statement... :o
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According to the magazine... after assessing on Performance, Handling, interior, Styling, Engine and Drivetrain
"it is clear that the e-type was a runaway winner on the day... you fall in love with the e-type when you see it and again when you drive it, because it makes you feel like a special driver."
ALthough reading the verdict doesn't seem to suggest runaway winner...
"while you might prefer the Jag for the thrill of the drive to the South of France, getting it there will be more of a challenge. The E-Type will certainly put a bigger smile on your face and those of onlookers. But take the Mercedes and you'll probably step out of the perfectly blended-in car next to a St Tropez marina with barely a crease in your designer linen jacket, ready for a good old fashioned Martini. Even if the drive took you a little longer, you'll probably beat the E-type driver to the bar because they'll be stuck talking to the car's admirers - though still smiling. Which experience would you prefer?
And finally, as any E-type owner will tell you, the car has it's faults and can be a frustrating and expensive car to live with. The truth is, the one thing it lacks is the class and sheer quality inherrent in the Merc. It's like pulling a gorgeous athletic girl in a club only to discover she talks like a (Coventry) market trader and drinks light and bitter. Yet despite that, you still come away from the experience knowing that it was worth it and you'd do it again"
Which sounds to me that they think the Merc is the sort of car you marry, whereas the Jag is one you have drunken flings with.... ;D
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I'd prefer to stay married to my pagoda though than to have drunken flings on the side.... ;D
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Having owned a new 1969 E-Type Coupe as well as a show quality 1965 Series I Coupe, I am certainly able to comment on the Jaguar. I currently own a 14,000 original mile 280 SL. They obviously come from the same era but are remarkably different vehicles. While the Jaguar's appearance was a sensation when introduced, I now find it almost silly in its proportions. Too long, very narrow, and wheels that get lost in the wheel wells. Build quality as well as some of the materials are absolutely primitive.
The 113 is a much more subtle car and in my opinion has remained as lovely as when it was introduced 47 years ago. Build quality and materials are the best.
As a teenager, the Jaguar easily won out. Today however, the little Pagoda is my choice.
ljg
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That then explains why most of us are on the wrong side of 40... a couple of notable exceptions to prove the point!
Peter
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Is it really useful to oppose two great legends? the point is that these two cars, for different reasons, remain two great yet distinct stars of the olditmer car era. I agree that built quality is different, technical solutions may surprise some of us etc. etc.
Pilots keep arguing about advantages of low and high wing planes, some of us prefer blonds while some others don't, and so on...
The truth is that both cars make us turn our heads when they pass by, and that's what matters.
the only reason I can see as a valid one is to have it as a pretext to talk about our lovely cars. Which is fine :D
Stan
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I returned to my car which was parked in the high street of my local town just in time to over hear
a young lad (maybe 4/5 yrs old) point to my car and say to his mother 'look at that nice car mummy'.
This I think really shows the timeless beauty of the Pagoda. His ideas of what is nice would not have been
influenced by too much by advertising etc at his age, he just recognised what we have always thought :)
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While the Jaguar's appearance was a sensation when introduced, I now find it almost silly in its proportions. Too long, very narrow, and wheels that get lost in the wheel wells. Build quality as well as some of the materials are absolutely primitive.
The 113 is a much more subtle car and in my opinion has remained as lovely as when it was introduced 47 years ago. Build quality and materials are the best.
As a teenager, the Jaguar easily won out. Today however, the little Pagoda is my choice.
ljg
Absolutely agree with this and could not add much more. You can drive a Pagoda today and it's as stylish and timeless as when introduced. The etype looks very out of place on todays roads and i would feel a bit silly driving one around.
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A couple of years ago, a friend of mine was getting married and had borrowed an e-type from one of our common friends, who also happened to own a Pagoda that he himself was driving on that happy day. Outside the church, the e-type stalled with both the bride and the groom and could not be restarted no matter what we tried. Then we swapped the e-type for the Pagoda and the married couple drove off into the sunset (the owner called a both a towtruck and a taxi...).
These 1-on-1 comparisons really get people excited - I imagine that the e-type forum is getting flooded with comments like ours somewhere else on the Internet this very moment. A couple of years ago it was Pagoda vs TR6 that really stirred a few opinions and I remember reading a very nice comparison between the 280SL and the (Ferrari-engined) Fiat Dino Spider.
Can't wait to get my hands on this issue...
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Don't bother. I read the article (in the bookstore) and decided not to buy the mag. Only once in all my years of reading Classics and Sports Cars and that other mag hailing from the UK, Classic Cars have I seen them favour a german car over a british product... so I'm not surprised at the verdict. Luckily the e-type has a pretty good following too...
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Though I usually lurk here I can add some input to this discussion since I own both a Series I XKE convertible and Series III V12 coupe along with the 280sl. The positives of the SL over the e types: ease of getting in and out, classic styling, no blind spots with the hardtop on. I find the SL great to use around town running errands. On the highway the car is busy though acceleration is good up to about 80mph. The Series I to my eye is one of the greatest automotive designs of all time. It garners more looks than the other 2 cars combined. Around town it can be a handful at low speeds. At 6' 1" and over 200 lbs. getting in and out with top up is challenging. I hate to park it anywhere because you fear someone backing up in an SUV is never going to see it. On the highway is were the car shines; fast, great cornering and a surprisingly comfortable ride. Even though it is considered the ugly step sister of the E series the Series III is the car I take when I want to just go for a ride. It has a longer wheel base than the Series I and is easier to get in and out of. The power steering makes around town trips easy and on the highway from any speed the car accelerates with joy. Though I have not had the guts to take it much over 100mph it still has plenty of room from that number.
I feel fortunate to be able to own all of these icons and have great respect for the owners of each and the companies that built them. On a side note my Jags have proven to be extremely reliable and have had fewer repair bills than the SL. In fairness the SL had a hard life before I bought it 20 years ago and I had to learn its mechanics on the fly.
Enjoy your cars and drive 'em like you stole 'em
Joe