Best smoker barges 1-5 large [vol8]

Tuesday 31st March 2015

I drive a V12.

My car, why yes, its a V12.

Yep, a V12. I always win at Top Trumps.

12 cylinders. More than I can count on two hands.

I think I need something with a V12 to make my dreams a reality. I need some help.

BigBen

11,637 posts

230 months

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-XJ12-6-0-V12-auto...

Tuesday 31st March 2015

kamilb1998 said:

Been lurking around on this thread for little while and thought its about time I contributed. V12s have been somewhat of an obsession lately and this X300 V12 is only about 15mins away from me.

I've managed to get insurance on an XJ6 at 17 but a '12 will have to wait a year or two unfortunately. Shame as it looks like a clean one and its local to boot! If anyone is interested however, I'd happily take a look over it on their behalf if they're not local.

That looks good, then it has a tow bar.

CharlesdeGaulle

26,242 posts

180 months

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C483678

Tuesday 31st March 2015

r129sl said:

The XJ40s always strike me as rather bloated. ^^^ This, however, is very lovely.

ETA. But, this is very hard to beat:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

mph said:

In terms of pure automotive design, that is hard to beat.

From here: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited by CharlesdeGaulle on Tuesday 31st March 22:14

Krikkit

26,514 posts

181 months

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C483678

Tuesday 31st March 2015

CharlesdeGaulle said:

r129sl said:

The XJ40s always strike me as rather bloated. ^^^ This, however, is very lovely.

I'm not sure I could ever call an XJ40 bloated, lovely things.

Lagerlout

1,810 posts

236 months

Tuesday 31st March 2015

To answer a couple of questions about the car. The box to the left on the centre console was a telephone mount with a built in speaker. It must have had an old analog phone on it since removed, I've now removed that box it was taking up interior space and looked tatty. The seller was ok, helpful, the pictures are well done and if you're fussy I'd suggest viewing his cars first as the pics don't show the car 100% accurately. Also, the cats on it were ruined, but a second hand set cost me very little, outside of that it needed a proper service and some bits fixing and there are still some bits that don't work like the seats/parking sensors etc, but minor stuff I can sort over time. I just drove the car from the south coast to Leeds and back and it was totally faultless, returned 28 mpg. I'll drive it a bit to get it nice a loosened up as it's spent most of it's life around London hence the dings. After the trip to Leeds and back the engine feels like new again, obviously really needed the run to decoke it a bit. The good thing about the W140 is that it's getting rare now as most are scrapped, but because a lot are scrapped, there are loads of spare parts available. Happy days!

Coker said:

Lagerlout said:

Here's mine, it was posted on here a while back. I missed it the first time but got it the second time around. It's not as good as the pictures show, it has a few parking dings and the drivers bolster is pretty bad, but mechanically I sunk £1,500 into it and it drives like a new car. Love it. Will sort the cosmetics out later this year. The Sat Nav works, so does the CD changer, and it's quiet as an S should be. Bargain!

I really fancied this both times it was up for sale but couldn't quite justify it at the time. I've rather liked a couple of other vehicles he's had up too, and have him "saved" as a seller on ebay (despite the fact that, pictures aside, I don't particularly like his adverts).

Love it. Give me a shout when you sell it.

Krikkit

26,514 posts

181 months

Tuesday 31st March 2015

Missed your original post, is it a 500? Very good economy on your little run whatever engine powers it. smile

4,324 posts

173 months

Tuesday 31st March 2015

r129sl said:

I like these. What are the XJ40/X300 V12s like (I actually prefer the XJ40 looks-wise)? Do they have the character of the series III?

The Series III is a more characterful car than the XJ40, but the XJ40 is still a very charming and characterful car and feels very much a proper old school Jag - more so than the X300, which to me at least lacks something I can't quite place. I think it may be down to the X300's much more modern and mechanised build process which robs it of the XJ40's 'hand built' feel - though of course it also means they are much more accurately constructed - the fit and finish is significantly better on an X300 than it is on the XJ40.

Unfortunately, the X300's improvements in fit go hand in hand with a reduction in the quality of the materials in the X300's cabin - the leather in all but the Daimler X300 (which retains the Connolly Autolux)isn't nice at all and is uncomfortably reminiscent of vinyl.

The Series III has a beautiful, if rather snug, interior whose style and feel is from another time. They are a very nice place to be. The late Series III's interior, with a revised centre console, is particularly lovely.

Where the XJ40 gains is in the way it drives. The Series III is a lovely, sensuous and very smooth riding car, but it is very old fashioned and the XJ40 is dynamically from a different era. It goes, stops and corners leagues better. The XJ40 V12 (XJ81) is a genuinely fast car, something the Series III hasn't been for a couple of decades. A demanding road can be taken much faster and with much greater confidence in an XJ40 or X300 than any Series Jaguar. The X300 is similar to the late XJ40, but generally a bit firmer riding.

The X300 V12 scores one big advantage over the XJ40 V12 in that it does not use the Marelli ignition system, but a new system with coils on the plugs. The Marelli system works perfectly well when it is maintained properly, but these are old cars and many have been neglected.

Neglecting the earlier six litre V12 with Marelli ignition is a problem and can lead to a catastrophic fire if the owner is unlucky. The Marelli ignition uses a twin arm rotor - one half fires bank 'A' of the engine, the other half fires bank 'B', thus the engine is in effect, two straight sixes, sharing a common crank.

Wear in the rotor can lead to one bank of the engine no longer running. This can allow unburned fuel to enter the catalyst on one side of the engine. If the catalysts are hot, you have a fire which can cause considerable under bonnet damage - certainly enough to end the car's life. The X300 V12's system does not suffer this problem.

Aside from the (admittedly not insignificant!) Marelli problem, I don't see why running a V12 XJ40 should be any different to running a V12 X300. The late XJ40 is a much more robust and reliable thing than the early XJ40 which can be rather needy. Structurally they are almost the same car as the X300, with similar strengths and weaknesses.

Taste is a personal thing; I prefer the look and feel of the XJ40 to the X300. Many disagree. I also prefer the XJ40 to the Series III, since I can't quite bring myself to love Pininfarina's much vaunted re-profiling of the roofline, which spoils the car for me, whereas I love the roof of the XJ40, particularly its rear pillars.

The roofline of the Series I and II is exquisite. The whole car is to my eyes. The Series III's roof is a dog's dinner with ugly rear pillars - though the rest of the car makes up for it. A car's roofline is important to me - indeed part of my love of the W126 is down to the shape of its roof; the windscreen is particularly lovely. It is also why I so much prefer the W124 estate to the saloon or coupe.

4,324 posts

173 months

Tuesday 31st March 2015

r129sl said:

I think I like this one best, but hasn't it been for sale since before the internet?
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C356795

It has been on sale for an incredible length of time - years. A poster on xj40.com went to see it - apparently it was a bit disappointing, but I don't recall him saying why. I don't know how high his expectations were, of course!!

4,324 posts

173 months

Tuesday 31st March 2015

W00DY said:

Suppose you want to avoid a 300?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1993-Mercedes-300-SL-OUT...

Liking that XJ12.

I can't help thinking these Mercedes SLs must rise in price. They seem very cheap to me - at least the good ones which aren't moneypits, anyway!

Lagerlout

1,810 posts

236 months

Wednesday 1st April 2015

Yes, S500L.

Krikkit said:

Missed your original post, is it a 500? Very good economy on your little run whatever engine powers it. smile

4,324 posts

173 months

Wednesday 1st April 2015

W00DY said:

Lagerlout said:

Looks great. lick

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

Wantastic.

Which engine does the W140 have? - It looks very similar to the S320 my brother once had - same colour combination and (IIRC) the same age. It was a lovely car to cruise round in; driving it makes you feel so important! Even though it was only a 3.2, I was always surprised and impressed by its very decent performance. The big V8s must be great motorway cars.

These Audis have never really been on my radar. They look noticeably modern still - much more modern than anything else of their age, at least to my eyes.

4,324 posts

173 months