I've always had a "Why" question in my head when I go to put the cover on the top, once it's down.
The question is; why did Jaguar design the folded top to extend above the cars body, like 'cooked chicken legs' when you take them out of the oven?


Why couldn't they have taken just a little more effort and made the top go down further into the folded top cavity? The "top down" appearance of the car would have looked so much better. As it is, it looks like your carrying a bunch of scrap metal around back there unless you either put the cover on, or, as in a lot of cases, you have to pull off the road and put it on.


Maybe some of you engineering guys out there can come up with a way to make the top recess deeper. You've come up with some good improvements before.


Ideas/ opinions?

 

Trying to mirror the E-Type look?

Plays critical some part in the air flow dynamics?

Saved some development money?

Pick one.

 

As written by Mike
I agree with all of the above, Also I think it's kind of a British car thing, take a look at a Aston Martin of the same years they're like a couple of turkey wings much higher. It gets to be a hassle, but it only takes less than a minute. I believe that the headliner takes quite a beating with out it with the wind.

 

Trade up to an '07 or later...problem solved !

 

I think the answer is also related to why they didn't design a "tuck-away" fully automatic design that other convertibles started using in the late-1990s (or possibly earlier) with automatic covers. In addition to the added expense and complexity (although these are very common now), you lose some trunk (boot) space. So the reasoning I have heard put forth is that Jaguar wanted to retain some of that old-time British sport car experience.

Doug

 

A British thing, I think not. Having some of the folded top stick out the car is just a "it's always been that way, so why change" British thing.


Maybe so for the old cars that had so many other things sticking up here and there, but for a beautiful design like the XK, I think it was just a "that's it, go no further".


Trade up to an 07, could be an answer, but like most of the 07's Jags and other car makes that use this system, although it's nice to have the top tuck away, the "Hump Back Whale" look of the side profile, isn't pleasing to me at all.


Oh well, maybe someone will come up with an answer and fix the darn thing.

 

Here are some shots.

 

Take the MGA or AC Ace/Cobra path... just get rid of it!

Put the top in the boot along with some sticks to hold it up. If it starts raining you can pitch a tent.

 

At least they could have made it fold so the outside of the top is up instead of the inside. My Miata folds that way and it works well, flush and the outside up.

 

cc, that would work well in AZ where you have tea cup amounts of rain a year, but elsewhere---like Fl., we would be pitching a tent all the time..........


enderle, That looks nice, but costly, plus the legs are still there, just covered. Sort of a bat wing effect, but better then the chicken legs------I think.. Plus no "mans best friend" room in the back.

 

I gave mine a real good look and I think the room, which would allow the top to go lower into the recess, is taken up by the tall fuel tank. If it wasn't as high as it is and was a little flatter, the top could go down more and hide the chicken legs and get the inter-liner out of the wind. A flatter tank would take up a couple of inches or so (if that much) of the forward portion of the boot space, but what the heck..

 

I don't think it's really that big a deal. After all anyone buying the car clearly knew what they were getting--at least as far as the looks of the convertible top. It's not like all of a sudden you discover "hey look, the frame sticks up when retracted".

Anyway, the discussion about this in Nigel Thorley's book is:

Contrary to prevailing practice in some prestige convertibles, Jaguar opted not to go for a fully retracting hood arrangement with an integrated metal tonneau cover. Instead, there was a good old studded leather tonneau, which had to be fitted manually. Cost played a part in this decision, but it also meant that space for the fuel tank and the all-important luggage accommodation in the boot wasn't compromised. At the XK8's launch, Jaguar commented that the hood standing proud with a prominent cover epitomized the English sporting car -- good try, Jaguar


Doug

 

They're not chicken legs...they're cat ears...

 

Chicken wings? the VW Beetle could seat a family of four for a picnic

Volkswagen Beetle Convertible picture # 98 of 191, Rear Angle, MY 2013, 800x600

 

Yep, that's seriously ugly...