Names and ID entries are a matter of luck, or: From the CJ to the XJ
I even think I once spotted my Jaguar in a vehicle registration statistic. After all, it is—or rather, was—one of a kind! Purchased in Toronto in 1985 by a Swiss citizen as a Canadian-spec model, the car cleared customs in Basel in 2001 and was issued the corresponding customs form at that time. In Switzerland, this is simply known as “1320.” If someone asks about a “thirteen-twenty” when looking at a car that's for sale but has clearly already been used abroad, they mean nothing other than: “Has the car already cleared customs in Switzerland?”
Well, I received a copy of the document in question along with the car's paperwork. What has always puzzled me, however, is the designation on it: Jaguar CJ2—a Jeep, so to speak. Research has not confirmed that there was ever an internal designation for the XJ in Canada. Conclusion: It was always called the XJ12.
The icing on the cake, however, was that the conscientious official at the Department of Motor Vehicles naturally entered this “title” into the vehicle registration certificate as well. So ever since it was registered in Switzerland, a single Jaguar here has been called CJ2 (Civilian Jeep)—just like the first civilian Jeep after World War II. And that somehow—with all due respect to the Jeep!—bothered me.
As fate would have it—a big word—after the supposed loss of my vehicle documents, I wanted to have a duplicate made. That wouldn't be much trouble; all the data is on file at the office, and they issue a new vehicle registration certificate marked “Duplicate.” If the original turns up again, you return the copy to be destroyed.
On this occasion, I flipped through the car's owner's manual and service booklet, and lo and behold: someone who could have become a doctor had written “85 x J 1 2” in the service booklet—or is that 85 x CJ2? The customs officer apparently used this as “inspiration” for what to call that “Silver-Sand”-painted thing out there in the duty-free warehouse.
I asked the officer to correct the duplicate and expected a big fuss. He briefly stepped away to consult a colleague; I used the time to rummage through my documents— —and found the original along with the emissions test — and was delighted when the man returned to his seat behind the counter. He proceeded to tear up the application form and—my newly recovered vehicle registration certificate! He dryly remarked on what the customs officer must have been thinking and, shortly thereafter, handed me a corrected, standard vehicle registration certificate—not a duplicate—for a Jaguar XJ 12!
The cost, according to the exact words from behind the counter: “Civil servant errors shouldn't cost anything!”
Kudos to the Zurich Motor Vehicle Department—which, by the way, is just a few steps away from where the photo below was taken at the last Albisgütli Classic Cars and Bikes event.
What has been your experience? Are there incorrect entries elsewhere as well—and were they corrected quickly and easily?
