1959 Jaguar Mark IX Saloon, Joan Baez, and The Long Good Friday

                                                                                                                                            photos©Anne Lennox 2015

Anne Lennox caught the Fat Jag lurking in San Augustine. Dealer plate. Jaguars were certainly among the most handsome cars around in Montreal quand j'etais jeune. Popular with London gangsters, too. Interiors, with all that glossy walnut and crackly red leather, were as sleekly furnished as the smoking room at Downton Abbey. The cars didn't have a great rep for reliability though Montreal winter may have had something to do with that. British cars were popular in Canada in the early Sixties because the remains of the old (British) Imperial Trade Preference meant  imports from the UK came with low or zero tariffs. The cars I remember had character but were badly built. But oh I wanted an XKE.

Joan Baez bought one of these in 1960...

From PHS Collector Car World: "One day, Joan went to Monterey with Michael New to buy a flashlight. They arrived to learn the hardware store was closed. Killing time, Joan walked around the corner to look at the cars in British Motors of Monterey located on 777 Del Monte Avenue. Joan was attracted to the shiny metallic silver XKE and asked questions about it. The salesman wasn't convinced this lithe, young looking waif and her tow headed boyfriend were paying customers. They looked more like a pair of high schoolers. She decided to buy the car and paid for it via check. The astonished salesman actually phoned her bank to make sure it was negotiable. Once he was assured, the sale happened quickly."

                                                                             The Jaguar XJ6 used in The Long Good Friday. 

The best British crime movie ever made? The Long Good Friday was the breakout role for Bob Hoskins. A Cockney gangster boss fights to gain control of his decaying empire over the course of a single day, trying to get things under control so he can move towards the legitimate business of property development.