Haven’t seen the “by British” anywhere on any of the XJ6. S3s, can anyone point me in the direction of what it exactly means?
At the time, UK was abandoning manufacturing and the trade deficit and industrial relations etc were still pretty dire. It was a campaign to reduce imports and back UK businesses.
It failed and the Brits soon got to the point where buying foreign cars was far more fashionable than supporting home manufacturers. It still is in so many other regards. In Europe, if your offspring tells you they are dating an engineer or craft apprentice it’s like a doctor or lawyer, so you are very pleased. In UK many just think oily fingerprints and overalls.
2 Likes
Thanks for the mini history lesson, that makes sense. So these were a small time span in which they were manufacturing them domestically and used the “by British” to signify? or was it after and an outsourced car with a slapped “by British” logo on it?
I would have thought it would have been Buy British.
1 Like
Or maybe By British Leyland?
A close-up may be helpful.
Hmmm… It might be part of a ‘By British Leyland’ label but I have never seen that before, it could be a weird dealer applied thing. It’s not likely to be part of the ‘Buy British’ campaign (partly because it is spelt wrong but also because that might not work so well for a business dependent for more than 50% of its sales on exports…)
I was talking about stickers and ‘Buy’
If that smudge under the Jaguar badge is a sticker or badge I assume it’s a dealer item.
You knew you were in France in those days because most of the cars were French and people didn’t need to be told to buy French. In Germany most cars were German and Italy was full of Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Innocenti and Lancia. In Antwerp Belgium we had a few American imports for some reason and buying French or German had political undertones for some.
Buy British became Bye British and suddenly we’re leaders again - this time in the new ‘Post-industrial Revolution’. Fingers crossed the knowledge economy doesn’t become the know nothing economy…
It used to be common in USA for car dealerships to add add a badge with something like “by Townsend Ford” right under the maker badge. Townsend Ford still does… most now just have a sticker or a license plate frame. If in USA, my guess is it said “by British Motors” which is still a Jaguar dealership in San Francisco. At one time they were the west coast distributor for almost all British cars. Kjell Qvale - Wikipedia
1 Like
That would be a logical explanation, however the 1st owner is from Florida. Not entirely impossible though. You can check out the close-up I followed @Nick with
I’d guess some part of a dealer mark too. Mine has a JAGUAR CLEVELAND plaque there.
You lived in Antwerp, Peter? In 1976 when I visited , I couldn’t understand why a significant quantity of cars driving along the Keyserlei and Pelikanstraat which looked like series 2 XJ6 were badged as Daimler. Only then did I learn of the Jaguar Daimler connection, as Daimlers were never sold here in the US.
Sort of ‘lived’. All my extended family is/was there. So as kids we went there for summer or Christmas. Always on the 4h Oostende ferry and often at night falling asleep on the back seat as the car went over the concrete joints of the Jabekke motorway.
Did you ever go through the voetgangers (pedestrian) tunnel under the river? If so, do you remember the mural halfway along?
I dunno about elsewhere, but around here “British” is an adjective. Which means that “By British” is either incomplete or incorrect grammar. “By British Motors” or “By British Leyland” would make more sense.
Unfortunately, I did not, though I visited Antwerp many times over the years. What’s on that mural?
The tunnel is a dead straight featureless tiled tube maybe half a mile long and twelve feet wide? with a strip of fluorescent light central at the top. With the lack of any features (or people at quiet times) you have a strange sensation of walking briskly and not moving because nothing changes. The effect is heightened for children, for whom the tube seems truly endless and their faster shorter strides more urgent. You walk for some minutes before you detect the far end getting even faintly closer. At the mid-way point there is a mural on the painted upper part signaling the half distance. It features a blonde mermaid with her ‘Dad, why does she have no clothes on?’ tits prominently displayed. Despite having a mother and four sisters in the house, this seemingly had a tranformative effect on my awareness of the female form. There was some kind of stylised blue dolphin or fish, and some bearded sea god sharing the pose, but I only had eyes for her… LOL.
Thankfully, because that part of my family lived on the left bank and the sights and shops are all on the right (eastern) bank of the Scheldt, the tunnel was a must-do several times every trip. Cyclists ride there too at slow speed, but it is inconceivable that I could ever have lived there in my teens and NOT experimented with riding flat-out at midnight under the influence of one or other controlled substance. I expect it would be truly mind-bending!
It looks like a better lit tunnel than the one in Greenwich/London. No, unfortunately, I never had occasion to see it. My numerous visits to Antwerp were limited to the areas within a mile radius of the central station. Though I’d walked as far as the Schelde Too bad, I missed out river, I never did cross over to the other side. Too bad, I missed out on something unusual. Thanks…
No sweat - it wasn’t a Rubens portrait. She only looked enticing to six year-old boys, and seven, and eight…
1 Like
https://m.facebook.com/groups/61457262184/permalink/10157013388372185/?anchor_composer=false
Some more, not sure if you can see it, otherwise let me know.
No, can’t see it without joining the group. I am contemplating doing so, seems like an interesting group, but I don’t really use facebook.