In 1959, the car magazine The Motor described a car as, "the fastest closed car the magazine had ever subjected to a full road test". Was it the fuel-injected Corvette? Perhaps a hemi-head Chrysler with dual-quad carburetors? Maybe the supercharged Studebaker? Nope. It was a Jaguar XK150S with a 3.7 liter, six-cylinder engine.
The car pictured was the final, and most powerful iteration of the XK120/140/150 cars introduced in 1948.
Sold from 1955 to 1975, the DS was decades ahead of its time. Its curious to me why its many innovations did not appear in American cars a lot sooner.
* A hydro-pneumatic suspension. By creating a
sphere of liquid with compressible gas above it, the ride was such that many still regard this to be the best riding car ever built. The spheres used for the suspension also controlled the brakes.
* The roof is made of fiberglass to lower the center of gravity and save weight.
* The DS introduced swiveling headlights that turn with input from the steering wheel.
* Citroën had been using radial tires since 1948, while American cars were still using inferior 'bias ply' tires into the 1970s!
I've never seen one of these before, not even in a museum. The N600 was the first Honda imported into the US. According to californiaclassix.com, "Informed sources claim that of the circa 35,000 Honda N600s sold in
North America, there are fewer than 1,000 extant, and most of those do
not run." The N600 was succeeded by the slightly sportier Z600 (I've never seen one of those on the street before either). Then in 1973 the first Honda Civic arrived, and the rest is history.
You have to stand next to this car to appreciate how truly tiny it is. Then engine is 598cc (hence the model name '600'). In today's dollars, this car cost about $9,700.
