JAVELIN MALIGNED

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Dear Sir,
JAVELIN MALIGNED
As a Mercedes C-class owner who for many years was pleased to ‘drive British’ and would dearly love to do so again, I read Steve Cropley’s description of the new Jaguar XE with great interest. I must however take issue with his assertion in the sidebar headed ‘The XE is unique – almost’ that the Jowett Javelin ‘was a disaster in every sense’.
Early examples were admittedly prone to crankshaft fracture, but that was cured with the oval-web redesign. After a crankshaft replacement, my 1949 Javelin took me, in 1958, on a 4000 mile touring holiday through France, Spain and Portugal with no mechanical problems. The Javelin was a splendid car, the best of Gerald Palmer’s design oeuvre, especially in its smooth and elegant aerodynamics.
A Javelin won its class in the 1949 Monte Carlo Rally whilst another Javelin – despite its flat-four engine displacing only 1.5 litres – won the 2-litre touring-car class at the Spa 24-hour race the same year. In the 1952 International RAC Rally a Javelin again won its class and also took the ‘Best Closed Car’ award, while the 1953 International Tulip Rally was won outright by a privately-entered Javelin.
Back to the XE: the all-new Jaguar 2 litre four-cylinder diesel is said by Autocar to produce a ‘healthy’ 121bhp. That doesn’t look particularly healthy to me, in comparison with the German competition; my 2.1 litre Merc diesel pushes out 170bhp. Could it be that Mr Cropley is confusing his horsepowers with his kilowatts?
ALAN BUNTING