JAGUAR!

Someone at the venerable British automobile company Jaguar–someone no doubt not destined for a long career in sales or marketing–thought it shrewd to invite an unemployed editor to come up to the Monticello Motor Club in, appropriately, Monticello NY, to preview the 2010 high performance XFR and XKR. Their weakness, however, is not my problem, so Molly and I drove up their (in Grandpop’s reliable and comfy 2000 Buick Century) to see what they had in mind. Well, we had a splendid time. We received a lovely presentation about the superior performance of these cars. Each of then got to take a couple laps around the track in one of the cars (accompanied by a certified, honest-to-goodness race car driver, whose number included two-time Indianapolis 500 runner-up Roberto Guerrero (above left) and the 1996 winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Davy Jones (above right) . I was awfully cautious (that’s me, above, resembling Michael Dukakis), and probably didn’t top 80 mph on the straightaway–slower than I drive on the New Jersey Turnpike. My driver then took a lap, going mostly 110 mph all the way, making sharp turns and sliding all over. Drifting, I think the kids call it. Exciting! Almost nauseating! The funny thing is, you may not be moving any faster than you do on in normal traffic, but when you hear that monster engine roar, you feel like you’re moving much faster. Molly, still the same speed queen that she was when she was little, thought her trip around the track was “awesome” (that’s her at left, looking awesome and then some.) Then our hosts took us on a 20 minute car caravan around Sullivan County, with Molly behind the wheel of a luxury high-performance convertible. Seems like the perfect accessory for a young lady Molly’s age. Alas for her, the Jags start at around $55,000. Luckily, she likes her Toyota Yaris.