Designer of Kimini and Midlana is jumping aboard!
#1
04-07-2022, 11:55 AM
Designer of Kimini and Midlana is jumping aboard!
Good day,
I'm located in Southern California and am the designer and builder of Kimini, a mid-engine carbon fiber "Mini", and Midlana, a turbo mid-engine "Seven." You can find both sites by Googling the names. Kimini was sold years ago, and Midlana will be sold this year. So what's this got to do with Jaguars... read on. Rather than retyping the full explanation, here's how I describe my situation on the midlana.com site:
Yesterday we test drove a 400 Sport, which is the first Jaguar I've ever driven. To be honest, I had planned to drive it, be unimpressed by the engine, and then travel further out (there aren't many Jag F-types in our area) to drive an F-Type R, which I expected to love... that never happened. As soon as I drove the 400 Sport, I found myself thinking, "Why would I need anything more than this for the street?" Also, the lightweight sports car guy in my head isn't entirely gone, and it's not lost on me that the F-Type S and 400 Sport versions are a good 150kg lighter than the V8. More over, all that weight is on the front axle where it is least wanted. This particular car had crazy low mileage and I was all set to pull the trigger, until my wife informed me that "I" don't want a black car... Initially that got me pretty wound up, but then I started thinking, which is never a good thing.
On the drive home, I started wondered what the differences are between the base model 340hp, the 380hp, and the 400hp Sport engines. Turns out that it's just the factory tune... you can see where this is headed. A base model is cheaper to buy, cheaper to insure, better mileage, and if a tune brings it up to the mid-400hp range, well that's the best of both worlds to me.
Even before considering the engine, two traits about the F-type very much attracted me: the beautiful shape, and the wonderful sound of the V6 (the V8 sound never really did anything for me, unless it's a flat plane crank.) I look at the two cars as: which would I rather date, a bodybuilder, or a gymnast? I know what I'd like. Sure, the V8 and its 4WD will beat nearly anything off the line, but once it's moving, all that weight works against it in all situations (there's the sports car designer thinking intruding again.)
So there we have it, I'm currently searching for a F-Type S or 400 Sport, in BRG, gray, or silver. A tan interior with the BRG would be wonderful, but black works as well. Anyway, I've read a number of threads here and it looks like an invaluable source of information
*The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, ah, yes. If I lived in the UK or Europe, I may well have gone with that. Alas, Alfa's dealer network here in the US is very poor, and far between, there are many reports of terrible service, supply chain issues seem to be hitting them especially hard, and then there's the reliability nightmare stories. Because of these factors, I just couldn't.
Edit: I just noticed that another Jaguar dealer has both an S and R model. I guess before writing off the R model I should at least drive one once. If I completely change my mind about them, I'll quietly come back here and completely change my story, hah.
I'm located in Southern California and am the designer and builder of Kimini, a mid-engine carbon fiber "Mini", and Midlana, a turbo mid-engine "Seven." You can find both sites by Googling the names. Kimini was sold years ago, and Midlana will be sold this year. So what's this got to do with Jaguars... read on. Rather than retyping the full explanation, here's how I describe my situation on the midlana.com site:
Over the last few years, my interests have slowly been drifting, with other projects and ideas competing for garage space currently taken up by Midlana. My interests have always been diverse, including cars, astronomy, photography, gardening, koi fish, clock design and building, and even beer making (that was a while ago).
Regarding Midlana—or any hardcore sports car for that matter—I find that I’m becoming less interested. Around Southern California, cars rule and people drive everywhere. With most people back in the office after Covid, traffic sucks more than ever, and in a raw elemental sports car, sitting in stop and go traffic is “death by 1000 cuts”. It doesn’t do you in immediately, but over time, enjoyment slowly erodes away, and at some point, I realized that I wasn’t enjoying myself. My brother argues “just go early” for weekend drives. Yes, that works, but often, car events are scheduled mid-day. I find myself making excuses not to drive the car. I find myself going through the following thought process when planning to run out to a local store for something: “I could take the cover off Midlana, start it up, check it over, get belted in, and go”, or, “will what I need to buy fit in the car?”; “or just take the truck and be back by the time Midlana is warmed up. Another reason is that if I drive it, and it breaks, I have to fix it, and I don’t want to work on it anymore. Anyway, it’s not a fault of Midlana, it hasn’t changed – I have.
Another moment happened at the Virginia City hill climb. Midlana did very well, but when the next event came up, I had zero interest in going… why? Instead of looking forward to an awesome experience again, I found myself making excuses: getting the time off, the hassle of renting a trailer, towing the car 500 miles, the $600 entry fee, the expense of food, gas, and a room, worrying about potential repairs, and, lastly, something that surprised me, mortality. You know that dream of having a really fast and agile car, one that’s as fast as a sport bike? What’s left out is the potential consequence of driving very fast on twisty roads. That never used to bother me, but now it bounces around in my head. People have died doing the above hill climb, and while it didn’t bother me then, but it does now.
Another life event that had an impact on me was my father passing away, and mom is currently at the point where she’s no longer sure who we (kids) are, it’s a reminder that we have only so long here, physically and mentally, and that if we want to do things, it’s better to do them now while we can.
Yet another event, one that’s been building for years, is that our sad old house was in dire need of a remodel. That kept getting pushed off due to me spending 100% of my time designing and building Kimini and Midlana. Then recently, my employer offered early retirement… and the time was right, so I took it. That freed up the ability to do the remodel, entirely on my own to save money, learn new things, and keep me busy. As I type this, it’s well underway. Point being, my time is being spent elsewhere while Midlana languishes, battery charged and always ready to go. I think it’s time to pass it on to a new (and very likely younger) owner who’ll use it as intended.
So, sometime this year, Midlana will go up for sale, most likely on Bring A Trailer (though it’s 100% street legal and runs fine, but whatever.) Oh and lastly, the draw to sports cars isn’t entirely gone from my system. The plan is to sell Midlana and my wife’s car, buying a fun car for shopping, day trips, and maybe longer road trips. Something more suitable for… sigh, older people. You know, something with heating, cooling, windows, and an automatic transmission, something that I don’t mind being stuck in traffic in. And no, it won’t be electric (for a commuter, yes; for low miles driven in retirement, it doesn’t make as much sense). What it needs to be is to be something that I look forward to driving. Something special.
So there you have it. How I ended up here was the result of creating a list of cars that I like to replace Midlana with, that's fun to drive, something special, a bit exciting, and something with an automatic/paddle shift, one with heat and air—a GT cruiser, not a hardcore sports car. The list, in no particular order:- BMW M2 Competition
- Porsche Cayman GTS
- Audi RS3
- Audi TT RS
- Jaguar F-Type... something
- *Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Yesterday we test drove a 400 Sport, which is the first Jaguar I've ever driven. To be honest, I had planned to drive it, be unimpressed by the engine, and then travel further out (there aren't many Jag F-types in our area) to drive an F-Type R, which I expected to love... that never happened. As soon as I drove the 400 Sport, I found myself thinking, "Why would I need anything more than this for the street?" Also, the lightweight sports car guy in my head isn't entirely gone, and it's not lost on me that the F-Type S and 400 Sport versions are a good 150kg lighter than the V8. More over, all that weight is on the front axle where it is least wanted. This particular car had crazy low mileage and I was all set to pull the trigger, until my wife informed me that "I" don't want a black car... Initially that got me pretty wound up, but then I started thinking, which is never a good thing.
On the drive home, I started wondered what the differences are between the base model 340hp, the 380hp, and the 400hp Sport engines. Turns out that it's just the factory tune... you can see where this is headed. A base model is cheaper to buy, cheaper to insure, better mileage, and if a tune brings it up to the mid-400hp range, well that's the best of both worlds to me.
Even before considering the engine, two traits about the F-type very much attracted me: the beautiful shape, and the wonderful sound of the V6 (the V8 sound never really did anything for me, unless it's a flat plane crank.) I look at the two cars as: which would I rather date, a bodybuilder, or a gymnast? I know what I'd like. Sure, the V8 and its 4WD will beat nearly anything off the line, but once it's moving, all that weight works against it in all situations (there's the sports car designer thinking intruding again.)
So there we have it, I'm currently searching for a F-Type S or 400 Sport, in BRG, gray, or silver. A tan interior with the BRG would be wonderful, but black works as well. Anyway, I've read a number of threads here and it looks like an invaluable source of information
*The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, ah, yes. If I lived in the UK or Europe, I may well have gone with that. Alas, Alfa's dealer network here in the US is very poor, and far between, there are many reports of terrible service, supply chain issues seem to be hitting them especially hard, and then there's the reliability nightmare stories. Because of these factors, I just couldn't.
Edit: I just noticed that another Jaguar dealer has both an S and R model. I guess before writing off the R model I should at least drive one once. If I completely change my mind about them, I'll quietly come back here and completely change my story, hah.
Last edited by kb58; 04-07-2022 at 06:06 PM.
The following users liked this post:
Norri (04-08-2022)
#2
04-08-2022, 06:12 AM
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: PHX some of the time
Posts: 117,463
Received 6,326 Likes
on
5,512 Posts
Welcome to Jaguar Forums kb58,
Good to have you with us.
Too late to change your story now!
Enjoy the forum.
If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help
Good to have you with us.
Too late to change your story now!
Enjoy the forum.
If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help
#3
04-08-2022, 08:57 AM
Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Tehama County, California, USA
Posts: 25,536
Received 9,302 Likes
on
5,424 Posts
#4
04-08-2022, 11:38 AM
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Summerville, South Carolina
Posts: 24,680
Received 4,303 Likes
on
3,720 Posts
#5
04-08-2022, 12:59 PM
My dear wife knows me better than I thought. I'd all but decided to tune the V6 model, keeping that decision to myself. My wife just said, "You aren't going to start modifying it, are you." Note the lack of a question mark...
So I'm back to considering the R model, something that would (probably) be fine as-is
So I'm back to considering the R model, something that would (probably) be fine as-is
Last edited by kb58; 04-08-2022 at 03:05 PM.
#6
04-08-2022, 04:25 PM
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Dural, Northwest Sydney. Australia.
Posts: 40,104
Received 3,964 Likes
on
2,865 Posts
#7
04-09-2022, 04:44 AM
Trending Topics
#8
04-10-2022, 04:56 AM
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Delaneys Creek,Qld. Australia
Posts: 28,381
Received 6,327 Likes
on
4,370 Posts
#9
04-10-2022, 05:51 PM
I was in a similar position before I got my F-Type. I had (and still have) a motorcycle described as "the most mental bike ever made" and for a few years it was. Before it even hit the market I saw pictures and knew I had to have one. I had a similar feeling seeing pre-production pictures of the F-Type, but didn't settle on that choice for a while. I was looking at one of three categories: Sports, GT, or track car. I ruled out a track car first. I'd raced motorcycles for many years, but was enjoying having weekends again. I drove a TT RS and liked it, but I wasn't ready to buy. I liked the Cayman also, but decided that most of the time, a GT was going to be a better choice. It was down to a new F-Tppe or a used Aston Martin, probably a V8 Vantage with a manual transmission. The thought of an out of warranty Aston Martin as my sole car gave me pause, and the F-Type coming out with a manual transmission sealed the deal.
#10
04-11-2022, 04:48 PM
Veteran Member
#11
05-01-2022, 08:35 PM
#12
05-10-2022, 03:41 PM
So I was taking additional detail photos of Midlana (with fenders) and to make room, backed the Jag F-Type R out of the garage. About then the UPS guy stops and carries over my deliver. As he walked up, he said "that's a really nice looking car." I said thanks, then saw that he was looking at the Jag, not Midlana. Well, then, that's humbling!
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)