Staff at the feline...

Staff at the feline firm"s factory in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, are seen here celebrating the arrival of the very first new XK off the production line. Workers watched as the silver XK Coupé was handed over to the Jaguar Heritage Trust, which will keep it in a collection that includes the first and last E-Types, too.

I"m not just jumping...

I"m not just jumping on the "bash Mercedes" bandwagon here. Years ago, I highlighted the problem of production being farmed out to countries such as Thailand and India - slightly dubious car building nations with vastly different and often inferior manufacturing habits. A senior director argued at the time that his company makes vehicles to the same exacting standards whether they"re built in the Third World or Germany. I"ve never believed that, and dealers and other insiders have confirmed my doubts.