JagXFRGuy

I used to be JagStypeRguy..then got the xk..so I was JagXKguy...and now JagXFRGuy...

I added a pic to my profile...

Richard, Don't get me started on the owners manual...the quick guide says that I simply hold down both the left and right mirror adjustment buttons at the same time. The owners manual itself states that there's a setting on the a/v unit under settings to select if you want it to electronically retract or not... Someone from Jaguar HELP! LOL

Driving me crazy...thanks for the kind words..yeah...I drove from downtown to O'hare and back today and got it up over 100 mph for a brief moment...it handles like nothing I've ever driven or been in before... Now if I could just figure out the damn mirrors...I do have to say...the whole interface sucks after watching the My Ford CES presentation....the screen is too small and the fact that I have to push multiple times for a simple task....it sucks..really... XK was the same way...but I'll have to live with it..

You mean to run into? I swear it's driving me crazy..I actually need the mirrors to fold in when it's parked in our garage otherwise the Range Rover's door comes really close to it...such problems...LOL

Amazing that we still have on pics of anything for tomorrow....well off to get the new XFR washed.

I bought an '10 XFR yesterday....WHAT A CAR!..IT'S INSANE......JUST INSANE... so far only two things I don't like about it. Alot of feedback in the steering wheel from the road...and the other...I can't for the life of me figure out how the mirrors work....they're supposed to be electronic folding but neither the a/v unit or the actual buttons work to open and close them....

good catch.....never thought of that...guess I'm the idiot...LOL

I'm going to start a board that somehow doesn't allow idiots to make posts.. YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT. Having an autoshow without concepts is like driving a Mustang without a horse on it....It's part of the entertainment experience..it talks to the future..it speaks to the ideas that could some day become reality... My god...the entire Ford display without concepts.....I love Ford and I've made 100K on the stock in the last few days by selling like a freak when I bought it $1.95 because I believed in what they represented and what they will become but no goddamn concept cars? I'm going to GM...wait...they make nothing I'd every want to own...guess I'll stick with Jag's and RR's...LOL

One of the fun things about an auto show are the concepts...what the hell are the advanced studio's working on FOR A YEAR that can't become a concept?

You will notice that Ford will have not one concept vehicle on the floor this year — not one,” said Marisa Bradley, Ford’s manager for the Detroit show. “Instead we are focusing on real vehicles, in real time, that are the real deal. This sucks...part of an autoshow experience is dreaming about what might be....

I find this hard to believe that still nothing yet shown for Detroit.....

You guys are dumb..seriously...he RUNS GLOBAL DESIGN FOR GODS SAKE..everything that comes out of all of those studio's has his approval and take on each individual product. You seriously think that one designer designs a product?

And you think that what..Mays doesn't approve and signoff on all of these designs?

Because you guys confuse design with the state of the company..what I mean by that is that Ford could never really be a successful global company without a global design strategy. For years, Mays has had to design for what really was four different "Ford" brands around the world. And look at all the early concept cards that he did..hell, look at last year's Lincoln C. Let's see..the Flex is completely different and has become a Top 10 Ford NA product. The Mustang now has a cleaned up surface that Mays led. Heck, I"m not going to defend him..he doesn't need any defending.... He's a rock star...

Here's a few comments from an interview that he gave to Car Design News in June: How would you say you've changed over time as a designer? "I've got the long game and the big picture in mind. There are a lot of designers that think about design as fashion, or think about it as a quick hit. And what I'm looking at is out ten years from now. I've probably got about ten years left in this industry, and I would like to think at the end of it - when I'm 63 and decide to hang it up - that we will have moved the Ford brand on to a completely different plateau." What would you say is the specific front-of-mind challenge for you at Ford today? "Nothing in particular over the next three months. Now and over the next 24 months the main goal that I've got is having Ford design here in the United States recognized at exactly the same level as the work we've been doing in Europe. We've got Europe hitting on all cylinders right now, I think you can see with the Taurus that it is starting to percolate here as well, but over the next 24 months there is a lot of stuff to come to market and I want the Americans to be saying ‘Those guys are different - they're not just different to domestic automakers, they're different to the Japanese as well'." You look at what he's done..my god..Ford 49...the Flex..427 Concept...the Ford 24-7 Concept...it goes on and on.... What would you say is good design? "One thing that sets us apart and continues to differentiate us is that we're not chasing every single trend. In fact I think it is almost the opposite. There's been a lot of Kinetic Design lurking in the other manufacturers' designs for the last few years and we're already working on the next generation of design language. So we don't want to follow what everyone else is doing. Once a certain number of shapes and lines get onto a car there becomes so much noise that customers can't read what you are trying to say to them - and I think we have more than surpassed that as an industry now. I think that there's way too much surface entertainment on a lot of our competitors' cars. We're looking to keep all of the exuberance of Kinetic Design but present it in simpler, more graphic language." The cutlines on the sides of cars...that's kinetic design and if you look af many cars you see the same slanted cutlines that make everything look the same...

You guys kill me. You seem to know everything about Ford and the size of a pistonhead but don't know anything about J Mays. The guy is responsible for every FMC product since 1997. Period. In fact, there's a story about a previous generation Mondeo that he personally taped up in a courtyard in Germany in three weeks because the design was so bad. CarDesignNews.com is a terrific source about designers in the car business and they do profile J Mays from time to time... I went to a Jaguar launch party for the XF in Chicago (and just recently to the launch party for the XJ) and several Jaguar designers were at the event. Anyway, I was talking to the guy that did the XF interior and I asked him about J Mays...this eyeballs about dropped out of his head..he said.."When J comes for a design review it's intense and he is universally one of the greatest designers..ever..his words not mine" ...the guy knows his shit. I've never met the guy and he didn't get kicked out of Dearborn..he spends about 10 days a month in Dearborn. He got permission from Alan Mullaly to live in London vs. Dearborn. What you all don't understand that the design process, from start to finish, is touched by so many people because of local and regional management decisions along with all the crash and safety decisions that team design is a complex process. J is like an editor..just like Ed Welburn is at GM...Just like Chris Bangle was at BMW..etc..their editors of a process. I've never met the guy personally but I'd love to....he has a since of what great design really is and what bad design does to a brand. He took responsibliity for the few flops on his watch..the 500 was a dog but lots of political nonsense got in the way with that car...and he was dead wrong about the blackwood... Look at Audi...its no where near where it is today with out J Mays.

No pics yet? No news yet about Detroit? We know about the Focus but where are some leaked embargo pics or news?

J Mays said 10 years ago..actually I think 1997 that it would take 10 years for Ford to have it's design shit together..and he's right. What I don't think many of you realize is that the guy has had like 4 CEO's in 10 years and god knows how many Ford NA chief's to have to deal with.. He's not perfect..but look at the brands he's touched? The guys a rock star....

I hope so..the SHO has piano black and alum. and it looked way better....but the exterior and the details and the cut line that goes down the body of the car...seriously..it's one of best executed exteriors I've ever seen..PICS's do not do that car justice....

I went to the charity event tonight at the Chicago Auto Show. Some of my impressions.. The Ford display looked to be one of the best overall. I have to say in person the new Taurus simply shocked me. The exterior design is so well done...I simply couldn't believe it. The SHO was pretty impressive. I wasn't overly thrilled with interior. The base model had this horrible fake wood that looks bad. The fit, finish and quality of materials was ok. Lots of cuts and choppyness all over the interior. The Lincoln display was also terrific. The "C" is by far the best concept at the show. It's a terrific piece and is so damn good inside.. The Jaguar display was also very good. I have an XF for the next week because my XK is having several issues..(that's another post)...anyway, I wasn't overly thrilled with the XF-R. Now..GM folks, don't get pissed..but I have to say the GM display was a trainwreak...overall it was just so uninspiring I just my god no wonder the company is a mess. Now I realize we're on a Ford board but when I looked at the F150, the Flex, the Mustang..these cars..the quality and the fit and finish are so good..

Something struck me today as I was reading now that GM is trying to finally tie it's reorg to the Delphi situation. While people love to bash the car companies over management that made some terrific mistakes....think about this. What if Ford had sold FMC and didn't structure the Visteon assistance two years ago? While I think Ford has made it's share of mistakes you have to say that not selling the credit company and doing the Visteon/ACH deal a while back look like smart business moves now... The other issue I was going to raise was did you all read AutoExtremist this week? I almost fell over when I read what that nutcase said about Ford.....never have I seen that much praise about Ford from that guy..

You guys are missing the point of my argument (spoken like a true lawyer..LOL) Ok, for years and years Auto Shows were the stage for demonstrating the future of the automobile. While I get the whole BEV and plug-in technology, which does hark back to the past where OEM's would get up and talk about the future in almost buck rodgers style, they also used the shows to capture the imagination of the public. Hell, even a few years back Ford would have 3-4 even five concepts at the show. And the money argument is dumb. My god, Ford has more than enough cash to make a few fun loving, dream-making concepts...I mean, GM had a few, (ugly as hell, but at least they had them). So my point is this. Auto Shows are part fantasy, part reality. I get the reality part..but where's the fantasy part?

Two disappointments...first, where's a concept? I mean, Auto Shows are partly about the future and fun..no Ford concept? And for years, J Mays was the presenter at NAIAS...no room for him today? Farley for that matter as well. So does that mean that we get a Lincoln concept or is the Volvo S60 the only real concept car for FMC at NAIAS? That sucks..sorry..

I swear they just added that..LOL..thanks.