Discussion
OLDBENZ: I've just looked at the photos from the original advert and that's a superb car you have, stunning.
The Series 1 has always looked 'right' to me, particularly the grille/light treatment and the dash; having said that, the later Series 3 cars, especially the Sovereign / VP models, also have a lot going for them, though any S1, S2 or S3 XJ is a great car. Kent alloys add the finishing touch, IMHO.
The Series 1 has always looked 'right' to me, particularly the grille/light treatment and the dash; having said that, the later Series 3 cars, especially the Sovereign / VP models, also have a lot going for them, though any S1, S2 or S3 XJ is a great car. Kent alloys add the finishing touch, IMHO.
The S2s have definitely been overlooked a bit because of what happened through the BL years, but good examples are out there. My SWB 4.2 was actually very well built, the doors shut nicely with a very satisfying 'clunk' and the ride was sublime. The fit of some of the trim was a bit lacklustre but overall it was a great car. It was a very early one and spent its first few months on display in various showrooms before being registered with its first owner in Scotland, the third owner kept it for twenty three years then it passed through a couple more before going into storage for a while not long before I bought it, at just over 60k miles. As far as I could tell it had never been welded and didn't strike me as a 'Friday afternoon' car one bit, despite all the strife going on at Browns Lane back then. I read somewhere there were over 200 stoppages alone in 1973!
If I had somewhere to put it I'd go out and buy another tomorrow...
If I had somewhere to put it I'd go out and buy another tomorrow...
P5BNij said:
I've just started re-reading Nigel Thorley's 'XJ The Complete Companion' and 'Original Jaguar XJ' books, these cars are definitely getting under my skin again. I really do regret selling my S2 now.
Snap - I've just got my copies out too.I've owned several XJ's over the years and this thread has motivated me to look for another one. For looks and interior I prefer the S1 but I wouldn't rule out a nice S3 either. I know of a low mileage Daimler S3 that's coming up for sale soon - waiting for details.
Here's a couple I owned previously - a manual S3 and a Daimler coupe. The Daimler is currently up for sale at considerably more than I sold it for.
From memory I think you'll find that colour is called Sable. I could well be wrong though.
https://www.postwarclassic.com/293867-jaguar-xj6-4...
https://www.postwarclassic.com/293867-jaguar-xj6-4...
P5BNij said:
The S2s have definitely been overlooked a bit because of what happened through the BL years, but good examples are out there.
True now that people have had time to 'de-snag' them, however as someone who used to sell BL-stuff I can confirm the reputation was justified.I switched across to the Munich roundel in 1976 and never looked back. I think it was a good 5/6 years before people stopped coming to us, trading in their Jaguar for a 6/7 series, then returning for the running in service and complaining that the car hadn't gone wrong yet!
"This doesn't leave oil on the drive like my Jags always have, does it need some oil?"
Turns out the astute service managers of our area had been telling their buyers that the cars were supposed to leak oil as a way of chassis protection, or 'because we overfill our cars, Sir'
I recall one chap had such a torrid tale of his XJ12 I didn't believe him, lo and behold when he returned to collect his 733i he brought with him an A5 piece of paper he'd noted at the running in service. On it was a list as long as the page with rattles, loose bits of trim, oil leaks etc etc. It's a wonder that BL lasted as long as it did and that Jag survived to be honest, brand loyalty helped a lot. Stevepolly said:
Here's mine around 1990.
Bought for £850 and sold about a year later for £1350 simply because I didnt like the colour.
Anyone know what the colour is?
I can imagine how in 1990 that colour was disliked whereas now, it would be perceived differently …Bought for £850 and sold about a year later for £1350 simply because I didnt like the colour.
Anyone know what the colour is?
Edited by Stevepolly on Wednesday 1st November 00:48
CKY said:
P5BNij said:
The S2s have definitely been overlooked a bit because of what happened through the BL years, but good examples are out there.
True now that people have had time to 'de-snag' them, however as someone who used to sell BL-stuff I can confirm the reputation was justified.I switched across to the Munich roundel in 1976 and never looked back. I think it was a good 5/6 years before people stopped coming to us, trading in their Jaguar for a 6/7 series, then returning for the running in service and complaining that the car hadn't gone wrong yet!
"This doesn't leave oil on the drive like my Jags always have, does it need some oil?"
Turns out the astute service managers of our area had been telling their buyers that the cars were supposed to leak oil as a way of chassis protection, or 'because we overfill our cars, Sir'
I recall one chap had such a torrid tale of his XJ12 I didn't believe him, lo and behold when he returned to collect his 733i he brought with him an A5 piece of paper he'd noted at the running in service. On it was a list as long as the page with rattles, loose bits of trim, oil leaks etc etc. It's a wonder that BL lasted as long as it did and that Jag survived to be honest, brand loyalty helped a lot. The MD of the AA where I worked in Basingstoke in 78 had a succession of V12s, most of their issues talking to his chauffeur were paint & rust.
A shame as when they worked they were a stunning car. I used to do engine maintenance on quite a few.
Stevepolly said:
Here's mine around 1990.
Bought for £850 and sold about a year later for £1350 simply because I didnt like the colour.
Anyone know what the colour is?
I think it may be Moroccan Bronze like my old car, but my eyes could be deceiving me. Bought for £850 and sold about a year later for £1350 simply because I didnt like the colour.
Anyone know what the colour is?
Edited by Stevepolly on Wednesday 1st November 00:48
V12 Migaloo said:
No apology necessary, that is lovely, I bet it’s fun to drive. Even though it’s modified it still shows what a genius Sir William Lyons was, with some assistance from Pininfarina in the case of the SIII.I’ve got a three hour layover at work with nowhere to go and dozens of XJ YouTube clips to peruse…
tr7v8 said:
CKY said:
P5BNij said:
The S2s have definitely been overlooked a bit because of what happened through the BL years, but good examples are out there.
True now that people have had time to 'de-snag' them, however as someone who used to sell BL-stuff I can confirm the reputation was justified.I switched across to the Munich roundel in 1976 and never looked back. I think it was a good 5/6 years before people stopped coming to us, trading in their Jaguar for a 6/7 series, then returning for the running in service and complaining that the car hadn't gone wrong yet!
"This doesn't leave oil on the drive like my Jags always have, does it need some oil?"
Turns out the astute service managers of our area had been telling their buyers that the cars were supposed to leak oil as a way of chassis protection, or 'because we overfill our cars, Sir'
I recall one chap had such a torrid tale of his XJ12 I didn't believe him, lo and behold when he returned to collect his 733i he brought with him an A5 piece of paper he'd noted at the running in service. On it was a list as long as the page with rattles, loose bits of trim, oil leaks etc etc. It's a wonder that BL lasted as long as it did and that Jag survived to be honest, brand loyalty helped a lot. The MD of the AA where I worked in Basingstoke in 78 had a succession of V12s, most of their issues talking to his chauffeur were paint & rust.
A shame as when they worked they were a stunning car. I used to do engine maintenance on quite a few.
It was comically unreliable to the point it actually became like a running joke, in the first year he spent more time in courtesy cars from the dealership that he did in the Jaguar.
The highlights (or lowlights) were:
1. Failed engine before it reached the running in service, think it was about 800 miles (knocking big end bearings).
2. Once the new engine was in and it was back on the road the auto box shat it's fluid out and it stuck in first gear. Possibly damaged when they were fitting the engine.
3. Once that was resolved, the new engine blew it's cylinder head gasket.
4. Got it back and got stranded at the roadside with another loss of coolant, can't remember the cause of that if it was a hose, radiator or something else.
5. Then it just wouldn't start one day and had to get towed, can't remember what caused that.
On top of that, yes it leaked oil, that accelerator used to randomly stick, the handbrake never worked and the window winders used to snap off in your hand, lost count of the number of them it went through.
After a year and a bit he was fed up with it and also worried about what it was going to cost on repairs (only 1 year warranty back then).
Went to the local BMW dealer intending to trade it in for a 5 series and got offered peanuts for it, basically told by the salesman that Jaguar's reputation was so bad that he wouldn't be able to give it away.
So as it turned out the only place he could get a decent trade in price for it was at the British Leyland dealership he bought it from, so it ended up getting traded in against a Rover SD1 3500, which alas was another saga.
Harry Rule said:
P5BNij said:
OLDBENZ said:
I still have straight pipes on my 1970 on a J 4.2 manual o/d which I bought earlier this year. This also has the chrome bezel dials and is an original, unrestored, car. Photo showing pipes below.
I had always understood the change to swan-neck tail pipes was to do with fumes entering the cabin but my knowledgable vendor told me it was to stop the exhaust cracking at the manifold which happened when the straight tailpipes (which project beyond the bumper) caught a wall or other obstacle when reversing. With the swan-neck tail pipes the pipes simply bend at the swan-neck on impact.
I had always held a candle for the S1 XJs. When I was young my parents car pooled on the school run with two other families. Both the fathers of the other kids bought new late series 1 XJ6s on an M at exactly the same time in late 1973 - one was a heather 4.2 auto with a cerise interior and the other was a 2.8 manual o/d in willow green. I spent much prepubescent sweat
worrying which one I would choose in the unlikely event I was told by the car fairy that I could pick one (but just one). Should I have the 4.2 even though an auto or should I go for the manual even though it was a 2.8? Happily, exactly 50 years later I have the best of both worlds. All entirely subjective, of course.
That is the bee's knees - would love to see some more photos of it I had always understood the change to swan-neck tail pipes was to do with fumes entering the cabin but my knowledgable vendor told me it was to stop the exhaust cracking at the manifold which happened when the straight tailpipes (which project beyond the bumper) caught a wall or other obstacle when reversing. With the swan-neck tail pipes the pipes simply bend at the swan-neck on impact.
I had always held a candle for the S1 XJs. When I was young my parents car pooled on the school run with two other families. Both the fathers of the other kids bought new late series 1 XJ6s on an M at exactly the same time in late 1973 - one was a heather 4.2 auto with a cerise interior and the other was a 2.8 manual o/d in willow green. I spent much prepubescent sweat
worrying which one I would choose in the unlikely event I was told by the car fairy that I could pick one (but just one). Should I have the 4.2 even though an auto or should I go for the manual even though it was a 2.8? Happily, exactly 50 years later I have the best of both worlds. All entirely subjective, of course.
I've just started re-reading Nigel Thorley's 'XJ The Complete Companion' and 'Original Jaguar XJ' books, these cars are definitely getting under my skin again. I really do regret selling my S2 now.
I've got to say as well, I've always been a huge fan of the series 1, but looking at all these photos of the series 2 I'm starting to get a proper appreciation for them as well.
I think for a long time the series 2 was just seen as a relic from the dark days of BL and got forgotten.
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