Aggrieved owner

Dr Peter Clarke expresses his disappointment over factory non-support for his XK-R.

- Dr Peter ClarkeAdelaide

THANK YOU FOR MAKING the courageous decision to call out the actions of Jaguar Classic and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) regarding the bewildering Swedish court case over the matter of copyright of the design of the C-Type. The financial and personal cost to Karl and Ann-Christine Magnusson would be devastating. I do not understand how their C-Type project differs from those and other models produced by hundreds of individuals and businesses over decades. The feedback on Facebook with over 350,000 hits to your single site is a testament to a disastrous PR situation for JLR. The existence of Jaguar has been threatened many times from the scourge of the Leyland era, industrial disputation, a reputation for poor reliability, fuel crises, world financial crises, the pandemic, and now, of course, the unknown outcomes of electrification.

The autonomy of Jaguar was challenged in the Leyland and Ford eras. Remarkably though Jaguar survived whilst many marques disappeared. The reasons that Jaguar has survived include its heritage of unique style, owed originally to the founder Sir William Lyons and the legendary sporting achievements, particularly with the C-Types and D-Types in the '50s.

We owe an absolute debt to the Jaguar stalwarts within the Company during the most challenging periods. However, no company survives without customers, and the loyal Jaguar aficionados have stuck by the marque. The new car customer base is underpinned by the classic car enthusiasts, many of whom are Club members. Club members also make up a significant proportion of new car customers.