Never owned a Saab. But I always admired the car.

 

I am an engineer, MSEE, and I bought a Jaguar. So there you go. Anecdotes don't make things true. Before the era you are taliking about enthusiasts bought Jaguars, and worked on them. Not many Mercedes owners worked on their own cars. My dad bought Mercedes and Chevrolets, and Alfas and his Belair was far more admired on the autobahn than any Mercedes or Jag in the 50s and 60s. As far as "people with means" I think you are being silly. People with means in those days bought Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Rolls. Mercedes, Alfas, BMWs and Jags are middle class cars.

 

In the USA both Jaguars and Merceds were expensive cars when compared to a Cadillac or Lincoln -- that's what I was getting at. There was also a time when many people in my area of NYC and Philadelphia's ML would not buy a german car .. they bought Jaguars. RR -- was a step many would not take. People who bought italian cars were a different breed back then .... cars were not for everyday family transportation. We had to have tool kits for a MB -- it was very common to find service stations w/o metric tools even into the 70's. Sounds like a different circle of people .. very few BMW around. My bother bought a used 68 2002 .. a real oddity even into the mid 70's .. can't remember where the first dealer was (BMW). I'm sure the first MB came from Max H in NYC ... I forget the Jaguar's. I'm only giving my experience ... for the people who cared about engineering .. they bought MB's. Jaguars were about the style and performance. Male doctors were the biggest buyers of Jaguars in the 60's.

 

Great seats ..

 

Here's one I made off the ebay photo about 2 years ago.

 

 

It was an optional extra and not a standard fitting in the UK and I expect it was the same in the US.

When I bought my 2001 X308 as a one owner, two year old car from Jaguar Liverpool, I noticed the tool kit was missing. Dealer explained about it being an option that the original buyer didn't specify (confirmed by the factory build sheet) but then ordered it for me.

I kept it when I sold the car, expecting to have another X308 at some stage but never did. Must get round to posting it in CLASSIFIEDS some day!

Graham

 

I am in no way impressed with the OEM tool kit's functionality. I am only interested in the cool factor of having something that was part of the new car (optional or not) when it was new. Kind of like having all the manuals, the second remote, the valet key etc.