My first XJR - (my Jaguar story)

[bigtomjaguar]

• I'll apologise now for the long post - it started out as just a bit of a brag about my new car and then turned into something altogether more sad and weird. However, I hope I get a little bit of sympathy in this sub-forum.*

For as long as I can remember I have loved Jaguars. I had a little toy XJS convertible that I used to push around on the carpet when I was little; for the life of me I couldn't understand why my sister thought it was ugly!

Being 23 years old, I honestly can't say that I remember when the X300 shape XJ was launched, nor do I particularly remember the launch of the X308 but I do remember seeing a brand new one driving through my home town when I was maybe six or seven years old and I knew then that I had to have one. To my eyes, never before had a car managed to look SO good! Aggressive yet subtle, regal yet so, so pretty.

As I grew older, I started to get to know about cars (creating a fire hazard with my 'reference library' of old EVO and Practical Classics magazines - I was a strange child...) and found other models that I would have given parts of my anatomy to own; the Series I, II and III XJs, the MkX and the XKR.

This is not my first Jaguar, that was a 1970 Jaguar XJ6 2.8 with a 4-speed manual (plus O/D). My father and I bought it when I was 15, with the intention of restoring it. The car was in brilliant condition (it had been coated in Waxoyl in 1980 and then parked in a dry garage in 1982 so all it needed was one 50p sized weld on the o/s/f wing to get it through an MOT) but it never ran right. The ride was amazing, the car just didn't notice the pot-holed and scarred roads of West Yorkshire and the I can still remember sinking into those big, squashy armchairs that were the front seats, the smell of leather mixing with delicious leaded petrol as that long bonnet scythed through the countryside. It all ended in tears with lots of smoke and one very poorly car. It had holed one of the pistons (as I believe the 2.8 XK engines were prone to do) and it sat in a shed for several years until we needed the space and it had to go. I do regret that.

This did not put me off Jaguar ownership but as a teenager I just couldn't afford the insurance and running costs on a part-time pub waiter's salary.

However, about a year and a half ago I started looking at insurance quotes and realised that I must be getting old as they were starting to look reasonable. It was a combination of the costs coming down and my budget going up and the two figures were perilously close to meeting. So I started looking for XJRs. I'd developed a soft spot for the X300 XJRs as I figured that the AJ16 and 4-speed auto combination would be pretty much indestructible. I arranged to go look at several over the last few months and was thoroughly disappointed with tired, rusty and otherwise unpleasant examples that were advertised as 'excellent' condition and the ones that evidently were in excellent condition were snapped up before I could view them.

Then I saw my X308 XJR and threw away the rule-book on buying any old Jag. It was the first one I saw. It wasn't the best example I could afford. And I fell in love before I'd even driven it...

I did look it over and I did have a brief test drive and then we dickered a little over the price and then I shook the man's hand, the new owner of a 1998 Jaguar XJR. It isn't immaculate, a little bit of lacquer is peeling on the bonnet and there is a little bit of bubbling on the front arches plus a couple of stone chips and a car park scrape BUT it has had metal chain tensioners fitted and came with a history folder full of invoices that is currently an inch thick.

And it was SO cheap for what it can do! At 50mph you can have a whispered conversation with the passenger, such is the extent that the cabin isolates you from the world, yet when you open the throttle (even at that speed) it takes off so rapidly that I cannot help but sit and giggle like a child. The ride isn't as cossetting as the old Series XJs but it is pretty amazing compared to a 2003 Mitsubishi L200. I really do love the way that it feels like a 'strong' car, like a four-door muscle car, somehow.

But most of all, I love the way that it makes me feel special. I've never had the same feeling in any other car, mine or those belonging to others that I've driven. It really is something else, probably because it is all mine.

The aim with the car now is to slowly reverse the effects of time with a sympathetic rolling restoration. I have convinced myself (and almost convinced my girlfriend and family) that XJRs are going to be collectors items one day so hopefully by doing everything right, I can say that a nigh-on 20 year old 4 litre supercharged V8 saloon car was a sensible purchase...

[bigtomjaguar]

Thank you everyone!

I suppose the sympathy was because I feared I'd be called imprudent for such a foolhardy purchase at my age.

Thank you for all the tips, I certainly did plan on getting the gearbox oil changed in the very near future but the other points are definitely food for thought. Perhaps it may be the perfect opportunity to make a fresh start with the car and renew all the belts, fluids, filters and hoses in one BIG service...

I did check for corrosion in the usual places and I would agree that the arches do have a very big lip that is perfect for catching and holding salt, muck and water. But I'll have to make the effort to keep on top of it, get it up on some stands and give everything underneath a good going over with copious amounts of Waxoyl!

It is so hard now in the honeymoon period not to drive it everywhere but I do want to keep it as a high days and holidays car to keep the magic there.

Thanks!

[bigtomjaguar]

To everyone,

Thanks for all your points and pieces of advice, I have taken you all up on a few of them.

I wasn't confident enough to do the gearbox myself so I had the car in at a local garage who have changed the transmission fluid and done a full service as well (I was on holiday so I thought that I may as well get it done).

It definitely wasn't bad to start with but the gear changes are noticeably smoother when the car is cold.

I have done my first big trip in it too; a run up to Glasgow over the weekend. It was a fantastic touring car, taking three people and luggage up to Scotland in quiet, refined comfort. I only had three minor problems on the trip, all relating to fuel.

At a petrol station on the way to Loch Lomond, the fuel filler cap refused to open until I had locked and unlocked the doors. After having filled up, the needle on the fuel gauge then only moved up the dial incredibly slowly. After stopping for lunch the dial sprung up to full on start-up and didn't misbehave for the rest of the trip. Could the battery be on the way out to cause these electrical problems? It never has any problems starting but I know the XJRs are sensitive to battery issues.

The final problem relating to fuel, was the massive consumption. Two full tanks in three days was almost painful but I knew what I was letting myself in for!

[bigtomjaguar]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply!

Also, thanks especially to deadslow and Ecurie Ecossie for spurring me on to pull my finger out and use the Bilt Hamber products I bought on Ian's (Orcadian) recommendation earlier (a brilliant shout, it was so much easier to apply than other products I'm familiar with, so much cleaner and has dried really well).

The rust on the arches really wasn't bad (i.e. just a little brown bubbling in the very bottom corners of the wings, but still solid) so I decided that a really good clean out with the air-gun and scraper followed by a very liberal application of the above will hopefully suffice.

I'm going to ask very nicely if I can borrow a friend's four post lift for a day to get at the whole underside but I've made a start now and that's the hardest part!

Hopefully my efforts will keep the rust at bay for a couple of years.