If you’re a member of our car-obsessed Southern California culture, you know what that is.\u00c2\u00a0 Or maybe you’re just a fan of auto exotica.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, maybe one has whizzed by you, and you’ve asked "What is that?"<\/p>\n
That is Audi’s answer to Ferrari.\u00c2\u00a0 And Lamborghini.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s more than a Porsche.\u00c2\u00a0 And at $125,000, it should be.\u00c2\u00a0 And when Jamie Kitman asked me if I wanted to go for a drive, I said I’D LOVE TO!<\/p>\n
Mr. Kitman is in town for the launch of the new Jaguar XJ.\u00c2\u00a0 The recovering auto industry is like the music biz was in the last century.\u00c2\u00a0 They fly the writers into town, to wine and dine them, to get them to experience their new metal.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, Dan Neil got a jump on the writers in attendance.\u00c2\u00a0 He reviewed the new XJ in Saturday’s "Wall Street Journal".\u00c2\u00a0 And he RAVED!<\/p>\n
\n"Jaguar XJ: The Hottest Cat on the Road<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0 – The British marque’s revamped flagship serves notice: There’s a new leader in premium sedans"<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nBut I was here to drive the R8.\u00c2\u00a0 You see being a mover and shaker in the automotive world, manufacturers drop off exotica for Jamie to drive.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, have you read his column in "Automobile"?\u00c2\u00a0 He writes with personality and experience, hell, he owns over twenty cars!<\/p>\n
And when he’s not writing about automobiles, he’s a rock and roll manager.\u00c2\u00a0 Of They Might Be Giants.\u00c2\u00a0 Of OK Go.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s not why I said yes, I really wanted to drive the R8, but I learned a lot as we drove up Las Flores, high above Malibu.<\/p>\n
Yup, OK Go’s done with Capitol.\u00c2\u00a0 The details of their departure cannot be disclosed.\u00c2\u00a0 But now that they’re on their own, they’re booking $200,000 in licensing fees a week, $750,000 so far. No deal is too small, there is no red tape.\u00c2\u00a0 And Jamie stressed that to use the old metric, SoundScan, is a fallacy.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to look at total revenue, and OK Go is doing well, VERY well. As for the future?<\/p>\n
I wonder.\u00c2\u00a0 Do you need a major label anymore?\u00c2\u00a0 It all comes down to timing.\u00c2\u00a0 Terry McBride pulled the Barenaked Ladies from Warner too soon.\u00c2\u00a0 But now, years later, do you need the major imprimatur?\u00c2\u00a0 Does it add legitimacy…or the opposite?<\/p>\n
But I was hearing all the details with my foot to the floor, fearing we were going to drive right off a cliff, after all, I knew this road, but Jamie did not.<\/p>\n
Then, high above the ocean, he pulled over and asked…WANNA DRIVE?<\/p>\n
I was stunned at the R8’s spartan interior.\u00c2\u00a0 And I couldn’t contort the passenger seat into a comfortable position.\u00c2\u00a0 But when I got behind the wheel, it was completely different.\u00c2\u00a0 The seat fit like a glove, visibility was good, and I depressed the clutch, shifted into first and suddenly I was in charge of a machine that wouldn’t twitch, that was up for anything I was, that delivered the classic German luxury ride, but with a giant injection of SPORT!<\/p>\n
There are six forward gears.\u00c2\u00a0 You plow through a metal gate to get to them.\u00c2\u00a0 And although I had to adjust to the clutch when starting from zero, thereafter it was so natural, so easy, but so great.<\/p>\n
As were the brakes.\u00c2\u00a0 Suddenly, I was driving like Jamie.\u00c2\u00a0 Way too fast.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, I eluded the police.\u00c2\u00a0 Which doesn’t always happen with Mr. Kitman.\u00c2\u00a0 But they’ve let him off many times, because he’s a professional driver, because they’re fans of the automobiles he’s piloting.<\/p>\n
And I pull into a McDonald’s to pee, and suddenly someone’s staring.\u00c2\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n
Oh yeah, I’m behind the wheel of an exoticar!<\/p>\n
We’re high in the canyon and a twentysomething in short shorts is checking us out.\u00c2\u00a0 I now see the power of exotic steel.<\/p>\n
And after piloting the machine, I realized you could own an R8.\u00c2\u00a0 It might be spartan, but it delivered on the promise of the engine under glass behind the seats.<\/p>\n
The XJ was completely different.<\/p>\n
The Jaguar people at the Sunset Marquis insisted I take a look.<\/p>\n
I wondered about the sheet metal, in this case aluminum, it was so modern in design, but would it wear well, like its classic predecessor?\u00c2\u00a0 Then I got inside.<\/p>\n
Whew!<\/p>\n
Touch screen controls.\u00c2\u00a0 And a virtual dashboard.\u00c2\u00a0 And enough leather and wood to say luxury.\u00c2\u00a0 This was the anti-Audi.\u00c2\u00a0 I wonder what it’s like on the open road…<\/p>\n
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