The Big Idea!
KWE provides discerning individuals with high performance
luxury cars that bridge the gap between bespoke, fully restored
classic cars and good quality, un-restored second hand vehicles.
The cars are extensively restored in all the performance,
safety and visual areas to as-new or better, and carry a
guarantee. This formula gives the company car user a 'new'
car but with typically only half the burden of benefit-in-kind taxation, and
with very low depreciation. We also provide an
environmentally
responsible alternative to new cars.
A classic luxury or performance car fully restored to new condition will cost at least £80,000, and when performance improvements are specified the price can exceed £150,000. Production time is usually 6 months or more. KWE produces cars for less than half this and in around 12 weeks. Compared with new cars, KWE cars equate to modern BMW 7 series, Mercedes S Class, Audi A8 and similar. For its base model KWE chose one of the very best 4 door saloons ever made: The Jaguar XJ Series 3.
Why Jaguar?
The Jaguar
saloons of the 1980 - 1992 period embody a modern design that with
careful
re-engineering drive like today's cars. With over 400,000
XJ bodies built there is no shortage of base models, many of which
are in excellent basic condition. Furthermore there remain very
large stocks of spare parts, with many still in production.
The XJ
Series
3 was the culmination of a design developed since 1968. In V12 form,
the XJ was in production until 1992. The Italian design house,
Pininfarina,
reworked the body for the Series 3 and it is regarded as one of
the most beautiful and sensuous designs ever created.
The XJS
is a unique design by
Malcolm Sayer, not derived from an existing shape
and never copied. This makes it one of the most important sports car
designs. We have no doubt that this will become as sought-after as the
E type is now, and is certainly a more accomplished car. Superb
aerodynamics give the car a very high top speed and enormous appeal.
Superb handling and road holding make the KWE K-S unbeatable.
These
cars
are
strongly built and provide very high levels of passive safety in
collisions. They have one of the lowest fatal accident records.
Jaguar have always designed and built cars of exceptional engineering
excellence and yet sold them at highly competitive prices. KWE builds
on this tradition.
Why now?
Modern
cars
have become more and more alike—inside and out, and with only few
exceptions have evolved into characterless if competent transport.
Modern legislation has forced designers along a narrow path and
given the discerning car enthusiast a dull range of saloons to choose
from. Selling points tend to be minor improvements in gadgetry,
and devices that may improve road holding for inexperienced drivers
but which detract from the sense of control that expert drivers
crave.
Successive
U.K.
governments have
penalised those whose employers provide an expensed vehicle or
equivalent
additional remuneration. This Benefit In Kind (BIK) taxation is
now based on a compound of exhaust emissions and new price, making
the personal taxation cost of running luxury cars very high - typically
£10,000 per annum. One can only assume this situation will
worsen. However, for cars registered before April 2001 BIK is based purely on the original price or
'fair value', so KWE cars will attract approximately half the BIK
tax of a comparable new car.
The finest classic cars are either very expensive or are an unknown quantity in terms of reliability and corrosion. KWE has created an alternative by bringing the price for re-engineered classics down to that of new family saloons. In addition KWE has developed the ride and handling of the 1980's Jaguar XJ to put it firmly in the forefront of executive saloon performance without sacrificing reliability or serviceability.
What would you rather drive?