One Cool Cat: The AUTOart 1/18 Jaguar XKR-S

The XKR-S is Jaguar's high-performance take on a car better known for its styling and luxury than for going fast. Even with a few minor tweaks, it still does not boast the feline quickness of its competitors, but it certainly stands out visually with an aggressive bodykit that changes the personality of the XK from purr-ty to cool. The XKR-S is also available in the always-gorgeous French Racing Blue color, a welcome departure from the traditional British Racing Green that Jaguars are best recognized with.

AUTOart's model is equally as visually appealing as the real deal. I had zero issues with the exterior, from the accuracy to the detailing to the overall execution. The badges throughout the car are nicely done, the carbon fiber work is there, and all the minor details are recreated with individually crafted pieces. It's about as eye candy as it gets, particularly with the blue paint, which is the option that I would recommend.

Cost-cutting is apparent when you open up the compartments to reveal the oft-criticized dogleg hinges on the hood and the rear hatch. With AUTOart, you're used to seeing a glorious series of struts and linkages fastened together with tiny screws, but this particular model doesn't have that kind of craftsmanship. It's a non-issue for the most part because these cars are typically displayed fully closed, and it's understandable given that the XKR-S sits on the low end of AUTOart pricing.

As far as the interior and the engine bay go, there's not a whole lot to see. Basically, lots of black plastic everywhere, with few contrasting colors to make it pop. Again, not a problem for me, and I would gladly take fewer interior details at a lower cost if that's the way to go.

There aren't a whole lot of cars I'd want 1/18 models of from Jaguar, but the XKR-S was certainly at the top of the list. If somebody would like to tackle the XFR-S, I would be ecstatic.

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 17: An Off-Road Jaaaaag

Take a look again:

Oh no!

The culprit is a combination of the casting and the suspension that these Premiere and World Class models come with. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. It's too bad that one of the most beautiful exotics of all time had to be ruined. This is one of the very few that Matchbox truly messed up on. I somehow doubt it will ever make a comeback, but we'd all like to see it. The Hot Wheels version doesn't have the same issue as this one, but the casting is rather sloppy in contrast.

If you made it this far without hitting Alt+F4, I'll throw you a bone. Here's that other Jaguar XJ6 I hinted at in the last feature. Finally, freed from its cage.

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 16: Oh, It's Good To Be Bad

First thing's first. I'm going to have to make some changes with my features. I initially wanted to do one feature every day for a whole month. Obviously, that hasn't been working out lately due to most, if not all, of my time being sucked up with other things going on right now. However, it is very important to me that I showcase these cars because I want to hammer home the point of how great these models are. I won't be featuring one a day, but I'll do it when I can, and I'll keep doing them until I run out of cars to show. So, instead of showing "only" thirty-one castings, I will be revealing the whole arsenal. I've got a bunch of cars now, a few on the way as we speak, and much more planned in the future.

When it comes to older Matchbox releases, most of the spotlight goes to the golden-era stuff and the Lesney/Superfast models. Those are awesome models in their own rights, and I've even gotten the itch to start collecting some of the Superfast cars recently. If I eventually go down that road (OK, maybe I already have), you'll surely see it here. For now, it's time to shine that light on the Premieres and the World Classes.

With that being said, today's feature is ironically neither Premiere nor World Class. You just heard me go on and on about them and I ended up throwing a curveball.

Oh, it's good to be bad.

Unlike those terrible, overrated, and overhyped Jaguar ads from a couple years back (and I can't believe they still show them today), this Jag fortunately does not possess those traits. As I mentioned, it's not from either of the series that I've been raving about the past few weeks. In fact, I'm not even sure what one should call this. I've heard somewhere it's a European dealer exclusive. Information is scarce, and so are these models, but there are others out there besides this XJ6. I've seen a Ferrari F50, for one, and I have another model which came in a set with this Jaguar. That one will be revealed and profiled at a later date.

Not surprisingly, this one cost a pretty penny. It wasn't cheap, but it's most definitely not unobtanium either. This is yet another one of those old Matchbox castings that we would all love to have today. As I will frequently tell you, I love collecting "normal" cars, and this one fits the bill. Not every diecast piece has to be a sports car to be desirable. Isn't this one quite the looker? That British Racing Green paired with the gold stripe down the side and the tan interior is a deadly combination.

There is a more common version of this model in the World Class series. Actually, it's not common at all, but more so than this one. It's a dark blue variant, and I have it sitting under my desk right now amongst a pile of other cars, all still in their packaging, waiting for their proper DLM treatments. That pretty much sums up my situation right now. Some of the cars down there have been sitting for a couple weeks. There's some really neat Premieres and World Class cars in the mix. There's some new product, across various brands, that I'd like to feature on here as well. All I can say is, stay tuned!

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 15: Jaaaaaaaag

Boy, I'm falling further and further behind on these features. Not only that, I'm running out of things to say about these models. Really, they're all so similar yet so different. Different models, yes, but all done up in more or less the same way. You may have noticed that all the cars are very simplistic, in a good way. They've been represented in stock form, without wild graphics or tacky add-ons. That just might be the best feature of the Premiere and World Class lines. Whereas most other Matchbox from this era have crazy paint schemes and unrealistic designs, these are very golden-era-Matchbox-esque, except that these came first. I'm Christopher Columbus; y'all just the Pilgrims.

Today's feature is from a sub-series of the Premiere series that I haven't yet introduced. Or maybe I did, but only very briefly. This Jaguar XK8 is part of a 2-pack from the Premiere: First Edition line. You might see it called the Inaugural Release or Inaugural Collection if you're browsing around on the web. The bottom line is this: you get two versions of the same cast in the 2-pack, one painted and one raw, zamac, unpainted, whatever you want to call it. This red Jag, obviously, is the former.

I wish I had the raw version for comparison, but I don't. The reason is because I got this one, loose, as part of a large lot of Premieres in which its counterpart wasn't included. Luckily for you, I do have other castings in their raw and painted versions, which you may see at some point later this month. More on that in the future. Let's focus on this Jag for now, because it's perfect.

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 14: Catching Up

Miss me?

You may have noticed that I've been on a hiatus lately. Three days and no features? What's up with that?

Not to worry. Nothing has happened with me; I just needed a little time off from diecast and blogging to focus on my other interests. I'm back now, and it's time to get the ball rolling again. I've got some catching up to do, and you will see me spontaneously post features at various times of the day until I get caught up with the days. Let's begin!

This is the first truly vintage car that I've featured during Premiere/World Class month. There aren't a lot of them across both lines, and perhaps that may be for good reason. Anyways, let's see what you guys think about this Jaguar XK120 convertible.

As you can already tell, the Premiere treatment isn't exactly for cars of this era. Wide wheels definitely don't work here, even though these aren't even wide by Premiere standards. Not even the white wall tires can hide that. The casting itself isn't that bad, but my god, look at those huge gaps between the wheels and the fenders! I'm not fond of the wheel design either. They look downright cheap and don't have that classic vibe. As I'm looking through these photos myself, this model actually looks better here than in person. Compare this to the newer XK120 SE casting by Matchbox and it's a no brainer which one is better.

This also appears in black and has a release in the World Class line. Will I be rushing to get those? Hell no. But if the opportunity comes up, either for a very good price or as part of a lot, I wouldn't mind.