Friday 4th March 2011

SOTW: Jaguar XJ12 HE

They don't make 'em like this anymore...

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I love the current Jaguar line up, in fact I think they are one of the most exciting car manufacturers out there at the moment, but (and it's a big but) I doubt they will ever be able to recapture the romance that seeps from every panel of their older models. Ask yourself this, will the 2025 Phil Mitchell be tooling about in a 2011 XJ? Will the local 'man made good' swan about in a slightly tatty XFR? Will a modern day Arfur Daley park an S-Type outside The Winchester? I'm not so sure, but if it does happens I wonder if the sat nav will still work, if the modern styling will still look fresh or if the car will appear as sinister as the older cars do today? If I were a betting man, I'd say probably not.

Keeping with the Arthur Daley types (is the Minder theme tune in your head yet?) the older series of XJ will always be thought of as the car of choice for the slightly unsavoury, or the gloriously old money (OK, so Daley actually drove a Daimler, but you know what I mean). Far from being a negative this adds an immense amount of charm to the old Jags, and if you put the V12 into the mix you end up with the perfect wafter, still capable of cutting the right sort of dash outside of your chosen establishment.

By now though, all the old Jags are either broken or being sold at the top of the market, right? Not if this weeks SOTW is anything to go by, as this lump of British heritage is priced a tenner under our imaginary budget leaving you enough change to pick up a packet of Hamlet and some matches to live the dream on the way home.

Buying a 29 year old V12 is almost certifiable for sure, but with an unbelievably low 50,000 miles and a (supposed) full service history what could go wrong? It has an MOT, and is described as 'solid' needing only 'minimal attention' to the bodywork by the new owner, but we say leave it as it is and enjoy the roughness. Fire up the V12, lower a window and woofle your way to the Goodwood Revival in your finest, or smoke down to the local boozer as if you owned the place - it suits both roles perfectly, and we love it for that. Want to be a PH hero? Buy this and make us jealous.

Advert says: 1982 Jaguar XJ12 HE 5.3 V12. Old Classic Beauty needs some restoration on the body work,solid MOTed car with full service history, exceptionally low mileage genuine at 50000, electric sunroof, lock, windows, leather interior, fantastic Jaguar that needs minimal attention by someone that really appreciates her. For any further details and pictures of every panel and engine just give us a shout please. £990 ONO or exchange

 

[redstu]

Oh yes , that's just what I need , along with my own oil well!

[BlueTwo2]

Awesome! And it's the same age as me.... I'd probably buy myself this as a Birthday present if I had a grand spare, just for the laugh

[matthewg]

redstu said:

Oh yes , that's just what I need , along with my own oil well!

cool shed though!

[Pat H]

You too can be Harold Shand...

It is sad that these old Jags aren't yet worth restoring.

The engine alone is worth the asking price.

[Pat H]

Just checked the advert and the bloody thing is in Cornwall.

It would cost more in petrol to get it home than he is asking for the car.

[flakeypaul]

It was all going so well until you asked that doomed question - 'what can go wrong?'.

Bad move

[vjj]

A friend of mine bought a similar car to this - 'mechanically sound' with 'good solid body' - ended up costing him over 10k in repairs and maintenance over 3 years.

CAVEAT EMPTOR(Buyer beware)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fantastic ride quality, though, and super-cool!

[wackojacko]

Awesome money pit motoring

[sc4589]

Wallet withering but so, SO gorgeous.

You just would.

(Providing you'd be OK with being divorced over becoming bankrupt)

[mrtwisty]

I absolutely love it that the 'HE' part of the name stands for 'high efficiency'.
Oh and bravo Garlick for using the word 'woofle', marvellous old boy!

(ETA - after a quick wiki search I've just discovered that the 'HE' is approx. 50% more efficient than the previous 5.3! Holy cow, you'd need to have 'sheik' in your name somewhere to run one of them!)

Edited by mrtwisty on Friday 4th March 08:22

[Simbu]

The old man has one of these engines shoehorned into the front of a Dax Cobra. With sidepipes bigger than my arms, it sounds glorious!

If you don't care at all about fuel economy, this engine is lovely.

[varsas]

I tried to get in touch with the vendor about this car a few weeks ago, no response. It also has appeared in the classifieds before, a bit before Christmas. I don't think it's actually for sale. My search continues...there's a nice looking one very similar to this on E-bay.

Edited by varsas on Friday 4th March 08:15

[MrDarkBlack]

This is what SOTW is all about.

[f1colin]

Glorious SOTW - park it up and luxuriate in the leather with its just sooooo right patina.

[GingerWizard]

Thats just a stupid amount of car and engine and cow for a grand! I am sorly tempted....

[pat_y]

Must find a Broadspeed body kit and some halibrand wheels, remove all the silencer internals and we might have a winner. Epic stuff.

[mgmrw2003]

Agree that this is exactly what SOTW is all about......... either buy it as a bit of fun for the weekend, something a bit more fun that a 1.6 focus, or use it daily providing you live only a couple of miles from work.

[bob1179]

I want that Jag so much, ther is nothing nicer than a nice Series 3, especially with that big V12.

Who cares about fuel economy and running costs? It's awesome in its 'Jagness'.

[Gallen]

My father's had lots of XJS's and currently has a XJS Cabrio 5.3HE

- Dare I say that its actually pretty good on fuel.

You'll easily get 25 to 27, more on a run.

You dont need to blast them - they tick over and effortly waft along.

Good useable classic, that one - 10/10

[ETA Fantastic, absolutely fantastic alloys]

[theturbs]

Great shed