From the moment I first saw an XK120, followed by a Mark V, then a Mark VII, I fell in love with Jaguar cars. The sheer voluptuous beauty of those curvaceous, elegant lines did it for me. The famous double-overhead-cam six, one of history's great engines, merely added to the romance. Five (later, six) LeMans victories convinced me that Jaguars were the fastest road cars on earth. Test-driving the new E-Type for Track & Traffic magazine was sheer ecstasy.

In spite of a few less-than-perfect moments I'm still a fan, yet I'm disappointed with Jaguar's latest sedan: the XF. It has been described as the most important car in the company's history, another way of saying "if this doesn't work, guys, we're dead." The Jaguar XF replaces the S-Type which, when launched, was widely praised by the automotive press. The S-Type was a modern version of the legendary mid-size Jags of the 60's, arguably the most beautiful production sedans ever created. When the S-Type arrived the world's car writers, including me, wrote lavish reviews. Now (typical of my cheap-date colleagues) they're bad-mouthing the S-Type as being too reminiscent of the company's past. Ian Callum, Jaguar's design director, insists that the new XF was intended to maximize "Jaguarness." Sorry, Ian, but at a glance I'd mistake this for a Japanese luxury car or even a European competitor.

However the current trio of XF, XJ, and XK collectively symbolise what a luxury/sports marque should be. Let's hope its new Indian owners appreciate the meaning of Jaguar's one-time slogan "grace, space, pace" and ignore the car industry's foolish stampede to a car for every niche. Jaguar is a niche.

Well, this could get me back to using snail-mail! The U.S. Postal Service is issuing a second set of automobile stamps as part of its "America on the Move" series. The first set included cars up to 1950; the new set showcases "50s Fins and Chrome." Five 42-cent first-class stamps will be issued, featuring a '57 Chrysler 300C, '57 Lincoln Premiere, '57 Pontiac Safari, '57 Studebaker Golden Hawk, and a '59 Cadillac Eldorado.

A gorgeous collection, for sure, all created by the wonderful Art M. Fitzpatrick, whose paintings were often used as advertising illustrations during the heyday of Detroit Iron. Fitz is now in his 80's, helping prove my personal adage that "you can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old." The collection will be on sale from October 3, 2008.

Links (with thanks) are to the Autoblog stamp gallery.

Until my good friend and Brit-car enthusiast Nigel Matthews brought me up to date, I hadn't realised that this year marks the Land Rover's 60th anniversary. Like most folks who watch movies and adventure travelogues I tend to relate Land Rovers to treks across barren deserts or through the jungles of Africa. I've never driven one and the only time I was a passenger was during a vacation in the tiny Caribbean island of Besqui where our driver never departed from paved roads. Regardless, I admire its rugged, go-anywhere character and totally functional appearance.

There's quite a story behind the Land Rover's history, thus it seems appropriate that the company has just launched "Born in Lode Lane," a book written by one of Britain's best-known motoring journalists, Gavin Green, bringing together behind-the-scenes recollections of Land Rover's history with anecdotes from Roger Crathorne. A Land Rover employee for over 45 years, Crathorne was born in April 1947 in Solihull Hospital, a mere mile from what was to become Land Rover's historic manufacturing plant on Lode Lane. The same month, incidentally, that the Wilks Brothers conceived the first-ever Land Rover vehicle.

Having served as an engineer for 15 years, he is now widely regarded as one of the world's best off-road drivers and instructors and is expert in demonstrating the vehicle's all-terrain capabilities. He has trained royalty, was deeply involved in the development of the original Range Rover, turned off-road driving into a science while traveling to all four corners of the globe... from the muddy tracks of Britain's Eastnor Castle to Central American volcanoes and Sahara sandhills. The book includes interviews with the likes of managing director Phil Popham; Spen King, the father of the Range Rover; and renowned explorer and adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, all of which provide a unique insight into Land Rover's past and its future. "Born in Lode Lane" goes on sale from April 28 at Land Rover Gear. All proceeds to the British Red Cross.

The merry month of May is almost upon us and for those lucky enough (or wealthy enough) to attend the Ferrari - Leggenda et Passione auction in Maranello, Italy, on May 18th it has to be a very exciting time. Indeed, if there's one auction I'd like to see in my lifetime, this is it. Leggenda et Passione is conducted by Canada's RM Auctions at Ferrari's Maranello factory, close by the company track, and has to be a feast for the eyes - and maybe the ears if one of the F1 cars is being tested. Among the magnificent vehicles up for grabs this year are two rare California Spyders: a 1958 250 GT LWB Spyder, and a 1961 250GT SWB California Spyder with celebrity provenance. The latter car was purchased by Academy Award-winning actor James Coburn, who shared a passion for Italian sports cars with close friend Steve McQueen. Another star attraction is a restored 1951 Ferrari 212 Inter Coupe Pinin Farina fitted with a prototype 3.0-litre 250 type V-12 engine. It was purchased new by director Roberto Rossellini and used on a road trip to Sweden by he and his wife Ingrid Bergman. To coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Ferrari Daytona, the May event will also offer an award-winning 1971 Ferrari GTS/4 Daytona Spyder, a fully restored 1971 Daytona Coupe, and a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona with just one owner from new and 2,500 original miles. Be sure to visit RM Auction's Web site for more superb cars and descriptions.

I'm always delighted to discover a new (to me) classic cars site that I can recommend to our viewers. In this case two, although they're both connected. The first, a Web site, is called The Old Car Manual Project. It contains an interesting variety of features, including 100's of brochures to which you are invited to contribute, repair manuals for dozens of old cars, free want ads, and some very useful links. The site is not-for-profit, although it accepts donations to help pay housekeeping costs and has a long list of international contributors. It's sister, the Old Car Blog, is an easily-navigated blog site with a news/opinion column and reader contributions that anyone who owns a collector car will find handy. The above brochure illustration heads up the home page. (Looks like my late mother's 1934 Pontiac, although hers was a 4-door with an inline eight.) Special thanks to former car magazine colleague and ex-racer Diana Carter for making me aware of these sites. Diana and I recently enjoyed a reunion after a 40-year gap. Of course, we haven't aged a bit.

I don't know how I missed this but on April 3rd theCarConnection's daily blog included an article on the passing of Larry Griffin, a long-time editor of Car and Driver. I'd never met Larry but his name was familiar from years of reading the magazine. So who was this guy? As with all car mags (and automobile Internet sites) we enthusiasts get to know, vicariously, the editors and writers, perhaps wonder what they're like as individuals, wonder where they came from, what they do when they're not testing cars. Or we just take them for granted; names on a page. I confess that Larry Griffin was one of the latter. Larry, my apologies and wherever you are, thanks for years of great reading. As a former car mag editor I know how difficult it can be to fill those pages while keeping the publishers happy. Apparently Larry Griffin preferred to be behind the lens, so no photos of him are available but he loved the wide-open (driving) spaces of Utah. Hence this view. You have to love it.