An interesting question. Like
An interesting question. Like so many Jaguar admirers, my love of the cars goes back to childhood. My father, Tom Leake, was a motoring journalist and a racing driver. With his job, he bought home such an amazing range of cars but the ones that stood out were a Jaguar Mk2, E Type and XJ6 in the '60s. He raced, in the main, Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagatos and the main opposition? Jaguars! Mk2s, E Types and XK120s. Immediately these beautiful cars made a lasting impression - they were more than a car, they were somehow 'living'. I then was privileged to spend the next 38 years working for Jaguar. The people at Jaguar were also different. The atmosphere at Browns Lane, Radford, Castle Bromwich and later Whitley was electric during the '80s and '90s. I had the honour of meeting the founder, Sir William Lyons, before he died in 1985 and it was meeting him that cemented my admiration for Jaguar. His grit and determination was carried through to modern Jaguar by Sir John Egan and his team and reflected in the workforce. Remember, coming out of British Leyland in the early '80s was not easy and needed strong leadership but I don't think anyone could have understood at the time the 'loyalty' that existed in the car buying public - there was a will for Jaguar to succeed. There is no doubt in my mind that motor racing lay at the heart of Jaguar's charisma, reflected in our marketing slogan of the early 2000's - "Jaguar. A Racing Heart". The legend of Jaguar lives on, making cars today that capture that 'fairy tale' past with the 'rational' needs of today's car buyers - and next generation of Jaguar admirers.