Nowadays, when we talk about British cars, our brain reminds us something! There are no pure British cars are left, I mean the main brands. A quick flash back; Land Rover and Jaguar (Tata), Aston Martin (ProDrive and Kuwait Investment), Bentley (VW), Rolls Royce and Mini (BMW). So; when we see a British car, we will see something which is not British. However; this became normal in automotive industry, many brands are owned by some other brands. I don’t stick on that too much, as long as the brand’s heritage and spirit are alive, different companies can be their owners.
However; I cannot say British cars have very good reputation in reliability and offer competitive high technology. If we compare with German cars, there is a huge gap between them. Actually, there is a huge gap between German cars and whole world! The interesting thing with British brands is their spirit did not die, despite the adverse things happened to them. We still turn our heads and look at the new Jaguar XJ or we want to own a Range Rover or win lottery and experience exquisite time with a Rolls Royce Ghost. All these dreams are supplying blood to British brands. But how did this happen? Why don’t we feel the same excitement to a Mercedes S350CDi 4MATiC or to a Audi A6 2.8 Quattro or to a Toyota Avensis?
All those brands have something in common. The visibility factor; yes their quantity is too much to be exclusive. And this is the main obstacle, however Maybach is very rare but people don’t rush to it. This shows the importance of brand heritage. Italian cars have similar characteristics with British cars and they are very exclusive but they don’t bring the combination of different materials to create luxury interior, we don’t feel like we are inside a British palace. Porsche is a car to be loved but its product range is too wide for a dream. Nobody wants to dreams a cheaper car. And complicated engine range, you need to learn which engine is better than others.
I am not saying those are cars bad or inadequate to be exclusive. Those cars are more reliable, offers wide range of choice. You could live your dreams with sacrificing your future wealth. Drives very well, performance is great. Actually, most of the British cars are good for watching. Ferrari offers great technology, great sound. I would prefer Ferrari over an Aston Martin. Mercedes offers everything better than Jaguar. Porsche is the perfection. But we all look at an Aston Martin DBS, when we hear it is approaching to us. That’s something which cannot be described with words! Is it power? No, most of the Mercedes AMG models offer more power. Is it brand heritage, who can remember everything about that brand so quickly. Or is it the design? Ferrari has fantastic look also. British cars are showing our dreams in real life. If we want to buy one, other alternative might be offering a better car. However if we have chance, I am pretty sure that we would like to drive an Aston Martin or Bentley Azure for some time.
Pictures are from (In order);
Bentley Azure T (Website)
Aston Martin DBS (Website)
Jaguar XJ (Website)
Rolls Royce Ghost (Website)
However there are some interesting cases like Jaguar XKR’s advertisement. This advertisement tells about its performance and its new engine. Until here, everything seems normal but there is something unsual! Jaguar wants us to emerge an emotional relationship with their new engine!!! We can see this by “All-new AJ-V8 GEN III R engine” phrase in the advertisement text. I really wonder, who is going remember AJ-V8 GEN III R and ask for this in Jaguar dealer? I want to buy a Jaguar with AJ-V8 GEN III R engine and sales person will look with an interesting face. 
OK, we got the message. Jaguar developed a new engine and they want to inform us but writing its article code is not a good way. We can understand that’s a V8, third generation R engine and that’s all.
