XJ Coupe

Author
Discussion

MarkwG

4,813 posts

188 months

Thursday 1st October 2015
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P5BNij said:
The two chaps who recently did some work on my S2 XJ6 each have a Coupe, they're not normally this dusty and do see the light of day sometimes... the blue one is a V12...





Edited by P5BNij on Wednesday 30th September 20:31


Edited by P5BNij on Wednesday 30th September 21:04
I had two just like that in the '70s! https://www.toymart.com/Corgi-286-Jaguar-XJ12C/527 (And the Police car!) Not managed a real one yet, though...

iSore

4,011 posts

143 months

Friday 2nd October 2015
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Cooperman said:
I had one new. The second worst car I ever owned. Reliability was very poor, as was build quality.
Guess this one will have had the problems resolved by now.
Given how bad these cars were 35-40 years ago, you'd need to tread very carefully. I'd rather buy an honest but tatty/saveable one and get it restored rather than trust anyone else's restoration work that may erupt in 1-2 years time. These cars could be rotten at 6 years old, and 49'000 miles is no guarantee that a seventies 4.2 XK engine is any good.
My 1977 XJ-S needed a body restoration in 1985 and another in 1990 and it had covered a real 56'000 miles. They really were absolute rubbish.

Lovely looking cars, but every bit the unreliable rust bucket an old Italian car can be.

mph

2,316 posts

281 months

Friday 2nd October 2015
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iSore said:
Given how bad these cars were 35-40 years ago, you'd need to tread very carefully. I'd rather buy an honest but tatty/saveable one and get it restored rather than trust anyone else's restoration work that may erupt in 1-2 years time. These cars could be rotten at 6 years old, and 49'000 miles is no guarantee that a seventies 4.2 XK engine is any good.
My 1977 XJ-S needed a body restoration in 1985 and another in 1990 and it had covered a real 56'000 miles. They really were absolute rubbish.

Lovely looking cars, but every bit the unreliable rust bucket an old Italian car can be.
A full "proper" restoration on one of these cars would be a very expensive exercise and far exceed the value of the car. Personally I wouldn't dream of going down that route.

If you find a good original car or a well restored one it's a far more economical way of owning a coupe. Have it inspected by someone who knows what they're doing and you should be safe enough.

Bodywork is the costly issue, anything mechanical can be sorted easily enough.

My own coupe was rebuilt, by the previous owner, in the late 1980's using a new body shell. Because it was well rustproofed it's still corrosion free today.





Edited by mph on Friday 2nd October 16:18

HaylingJag

2,122 posts

147 months

Friday 2nd October 2015
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literally just brought mine home after 2 years in one workshop or another. Car was Ziebarted from new and the panels are all in good order, the floors and cills on the other hand...................Ive had new inner and outers, new floors and it still needed welding to the chassis for the mot. Rule no 1, dont just look at the shiny bits. Get it in the air and have a good poke around with a sharp stick!!

Mines now home with all the major works done and a full MoT, cost more than anticipated but i have saved it from an episode of Scrapheap Challenge.

D

StuntmanMike

11,671 posts

150 months

Friday 2nd October 2015
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What a Thread, what beautiful cars.beerbow

iSore

4,011 posts

143 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
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mph said:
A full "proper" restoration on one of these cars would be a very expensive exercise and far exceed the value of the car. Personally I wouldn't dream of going down that route.

If you find a good original car or a well restored one it's a far more economical way of owning a coupe. Have it inspected by someone who knows what they're doing and you should be safe enough.

Bodywork is the costly issue, anything mechanical can be sorted easily enough.

My own coupe was rebuilt, by the previous owner, in the late 1980's using a new body shell. Because it was well rustproofed it's still corrosion free today.





Edited by mph on Friday 2nd October 16:18
I really meant buying one that looks past its best but has a decent interior, good oil pressure etc but has bubbles and rust in the usual places - wings, sills, arches etc. If you can get one for £2500 and put £7500 into it having it panelled up, painted and some mechanical stuff done. But then, with the best looking example in the world you still have the rear chassis legs where the axle beam bolts in, the very front part of the floor where the foam 'toe board' fits in and so on. I don't think there is a way of owning a really good example of these now without going well into five figures. But XJ's have been undervalued for too long and there's no reason why an XJC shouldn't be the same money as a 3.8 Mark 11.

I did find a very solid 1975 N plate 4.2 saloon in a barn in Essex a few years back. It was regency red (?) and really was amazingly good. I emailed details to both Paul Skilleter and Jim Patten but have no idea if the car was exhumed or not. This was about 5-6 years ago.

mph

2,316 posts

281 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
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iSore said:
I really meant buying one that looks past its best but has a decent interior, good oil pressure etc but has bubbles and rust in the usual places - wings, sills, arches etc. If you can get one for £2500 and put £7500 into it having it panelled up, painted and some mechanical stuff done. But then, with the best looking example in the world you still have the rear chassis legs where the axle beam bolts in, the very front part of the floor where the foam 'toe board' fits in and so on. I don't think there is a way of owning a really good example of these now without going well into five figures. But XJ's have been undervalued for too long and there's no reason why an XJC shouldn't be the same money as a 3.8 Mark 11.

I did find a very solid 1975 N plate 4.2 saloon in a barn in Essex a few years back. It was regency red (?) and really was amazingly good. I emailed details to both Paul Skilleter and Jim Patten but have no idea if the car was exhumed or not. This was about 5-6 years ago.
Some good points.

The problem is finding someone who'd do bodywork at that sort of rate. Given that these cars are prone to corrosion I would suggest that it would cost closer to £12-15k to panel up and carry out a glass-out repaint to a good standard, obviously depending on the amount of corrosion.

The good news is that they're finally starting to appreciate.

rohrl

8,712 posts

144 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
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I know they're supposed to have balloon tyres and a vinyl roof but I just love the look of this.


P5BNij

15,770 posts

105 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
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I do like that... is that a Series 3 grille on it?

iSore - regency red sounds right regarding your post wink

P5BNij

15,770 posts

105 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
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mph said:
The good news is that they're finally starting to appreciate.
They certainly are mph although a few that are currently for sale have sat around for a while waiting for buyers. Perhaps their time is just around the corner. At last year's NEC Classic one of the dealers (Hurst Park Autos?) had two Coupes which both found buyers at the show, I think they went for £17k and £22k respectively. One was a primrose yellow-ish colour while the other was a very nice shade of mossy green. At the time I was more interested in the white / red 420 they had for sale, but looking back I wish I'd been able to have a crack at the two XJCs!


iSore

4,011 posts

143 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
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For me they have to be the dark red with black vinyl roof and chromed steel wheels. When I was a nipper, the local newsagent had one on an R plate as a new car. A bit later on, someone I knew had one on an N plate in green sand with a brown roof. He had it in 1980 and had to replace the outer sills as they'd already rusted through. I recall that it was a it was a very early one and possibly a late prototype that was sold by a cash strapped BL. SFC66N rings a bell.

P5BNij

15,770 posts

105 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
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iSore said:
For me they have to be the dark red with black vinyl roof and chromed steel wheels. When I was a nipper, the local newsagent had one on an R plate as a new car. A bit later on, someone I knew had one on an N plate in green sand with a brown roof. He had it in 1980 and had to replace the outer sills as they'd already rusted through. I recall that it was a it was a very early one and possibly a late prototype that was sold by a cash strapped BL. SFC66N rings a bell.
Regency Red suits the shape, both saloon and coupe, I've toyed with the idea of having a vinly roof fitted to my S2 saloon but it'd just look like a Vanden Plas wannabe! When I was growing up a lot of the pub landlords round our way had XJ6s but one of them had a clapped out red XJC which to my young eyes looked the dog's wotsits, it was so classy, despite the rusted through bootlid and peeling vinyl roof. One of my Dad's drinking pals had a brown one for a while in the late '70s which although rough, looked the business parked outside our house when he came round.

mph

2,316 posts

281 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
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iSore said:
For me they have to be the dark red with black vinyl roof and chromed steel wheels. When I was a nipper, the local newsagent had one on an R plate as a new car. A bit later on, someone I knew had one on an N plate in green sand with a brown roof. He had it in 1980 and had to replace the outer sills as they'd already rusted through. I recall that it was a it was a very early one and possibly a late prototype that was sold by a cash strapped BL. SFC66N rings a bell.
That dark red is a lovely colour. I also like squadron blue with a light interior and white with black or red interior.

Not so keen on the green/green combinations although they do reflect the period. I used to borrow a friends coupe many years ago, that was black with beige. A lovey car and he sold it for peanuts while I was working overseas.

We could do with some more pictures.


P5BNij

15,770 posts

105 months

Saturday 3rd October 2015
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If you insist - all 'found' images off t'net...;)










sim16v

2,176 posts

200 months

Sunday 4th October 2015
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rohrl said:
I know they're supposed to have balloon tyres and a vinyl roof but I just love the look of this.

I love that.

Any more photos of it?

loafer123

15,404 posts

214 months

Sunday 4th October 2015
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YouTube "video" here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCLkxoP6tCs

Also some nice ones in Australia...

http://www.xjc.com.au/coupes-for-sale.htm

Worth buying the top one, just so you can say it was once owned by James Dean!


rohrl

8,712 posts

144 months

Sunday 4th October 2015
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sim16v said:
I love that.

Any more photos of it?








Found here - http://www.autotitre.com/forum/jaguar-540p1.htm

loose cannon

6,029 posts

240 months

Sunday 4th October 2015
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How about this one on the lines of a modernised version
http://m.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C650385
17 inch Kent alloys look interesting !

sim16v

2,176 posts

200 months

Sunday 4th October 2015
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rohrl said:
Thanks for that, I love it!


Reminds me of the Lister XJ40 2 door coupe, but I can't find any photos of it!

sim16v

2,176 posts

200 months

Monday 5th October 2015
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Found the "standard" Jag prototype