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A friend sent me this 1962 Fender advertisement for the then brand new Jaguar. I had never seen the ad before.



The ad got me wondering whether there was a connection between the Jaguar and the car, which had never occurred to me. I did a quick Internet search and it does seem that Leo Fender named his flagship guitar after the Jaguar E-Type (“XKE” in the U.S.), which debuted in 1961. I didn’t know that. After 50 years, I finally learn there is a connection between the two things I dreamt of as a young teenager. Amazing. I must get a high-resolution copy to hang in my studio.

Andy

IIn the 1960's it was fashionable to name instruments, amplifiers and groups after popular cars of the era - often FORDs!

More to add to the list are:

Fender Mustang
Selmer Thunderbird
Selmer Zodiac
Vox Escort (the little British one in both senses )

Sunbeam (Watkins) Rapier

Back in '64 I used to regularly play a Watkins (Sunbeam) Rapier 22 through a Futurama (Renault) Caravelle 16 Watt amp.

I wonder if the Watkins Dominator was called after the motorbike.

hernando wrote:Back in '64 I used to regularly play a Watkins (Sunbeam) Rapier 22 through a Futurama (Renault) Caravelle 16 Watt amp.

or Caravelle jet..?

Guild / Oldsmobile - Starfire
Vox / Rolls Royce - Phantom
Gibson / Ford - Thunderbird
Guild / Ford - Pilot
Fender / Oldsmobile - Toronado
Gretsch / Ford - Falcon
Fender / Chrysler - Coronado
Fender / Ford - Bronco
Hohner / Chevrolet - Apache
Egmond / Chrysler - Airstream

plus probably many more!

My Airstream said 'Rosetti' on it - that being the importer.

Wasn't there an aircraft around at the time called an Airstream? Now there's a whole new list; guitars named after aircraft!

(I used to have a Selmer Concord amp - without the 'e'.)