1993 Daimler "Double Six" (Jaguar XJ40)
Discussion
Here is my 1993 Daimler "Double Six". This is the top of the range version of the Jaguar XJ40 which was made between 1985 and 1994. The "double six" refers to the number of cylinders, of which more shortly.
The Daimler versions of the XJ were lavishly equipped. This particular example came with what I believe to be every available extra. The spec included self-levelling rear air suspension, full leather interior, sheepskin rugs, rear bench seat, rear picnic trays, electric sunroof, climate control, cruise control, electrically adjustable and heated front seats, car phone, and an audio system with radio, cassette player and CD autochanger.
With the exception of the car phone (no longer working) and the self-levelling suspension (now replaced with conventional springs), the car is almost entirely original.
If you are used to modern cars, the first thing that will strike you about the XJ40 is the low, lithe profile. It's about the height of a current BMW 6-series. Park it next to a modern saloon and you realise just how much bigger, and blobbier, cars have got over the last 20 years. The XJ's lines are straight and tight by comparison. But the low roofline is also a harbinger of a difficult entry. Those with limited joint mobility should try before they buy. And it's cramped in the back. The roofline is so low that the headlining has special cutouts for rear seat passengers to nestle their heads into. Anybody over 6 feet 3 inches tall is going to have problems back there.
Once settled in, you start to understand the role of the XJ40 as a bridge between the worlds of the classic Jaguar (Series 3 and before) and modern Jaguar (X300 onwards). On the one hand, the angular design is a clear attempt to move on from the curvy lines of the Series 3 and define a more modern look; the engine and drivetrain technology belongs to the modern era; and the level of equipment is well beyond that available on the Series 3. On the other hand the the overall profile, the driving position, and many of the details such as the door handles and dial layout, are pure Series 3.
The interior is a wonderful place to be, with beautifully inlaid and polished wood, leather everywhere, a lovely set of 80s button-heavy switchgear, and the feeling of opulence-without-really-trying that defines the great Jaguars. There is a slight mismatch of colour between the wood used for the main dial surround and that used for the rest of the interior, but that is a minor concern. The dial layout is very clear, with seperate gauges for fuel level, coolant temperature, oil pressure and battery voltage. Early XJ40s came with an all-digital dash, but reliability problems meant that it was abandoned for conventional dials as part of a mid-life facelift. In doing so Jaguar started a habit of retreating into tradition whenever the going got tough, a habit they finally kicked in 2009 with the launch of the new XJ.
Opening the bonnet reveals the 6.0 litre V12 engine, with fuel injection (no carbs) and around 320 BHP. The engine bay is a delight to behold, with virtually everything on display. Near the front, two air filters - one on each side - feed a bank of six cylinders each. The inlet manifold is solid metal (modern cars use plastic). The air-conditioning compressor is mounted at the very front. The right hand side of the bay houses brake fluid and steering fluid reservoirs, as well as a dipstick and fill tube for the GM 4-speed gearbox. The left hand side houses the oil dipstick and filler plus a huge coolant reservoir. Moving closer to the windscreen we have the throttle cable, relays and electrical wiring. The overall impression is of an engine that is under-stressed, over-engineered and built to last - which is exactly what it is. The Jaguar V12 engine is largely trouble free as long as it is maintained properly.
And these days it is the real highlight of the car. Modern car engines typically have narrow powerbands (compensated for with more gears), have forced induction, and are built to the minimum acceptable quality. The Jaguar V12, with its near-flat torque curve and under-stressed nature, is so far removed from this that driving it is a novel experience for someone who is used to modern cars. It is often described as "turbine smooth"; partly because of that characteristic "whoosh" sound as you start it up, but mainly because of that flat torque curve. This engine pulls like a train regardless of revs. It pulls from stationary, and it simply keeps on pulling all the way up to 5,000 rpm, with the occasional gear change in between.
Piloting it around town, it is as comfy and cossetting as you would expect. The steering is a little heavy compared to modern cars, but it's perfectly usable. Once you get used to the length, and the profile of the boot, parking is no problem. The square front profile gives excellent visibility of the bonnet line, making it easy to place the car. Of course you get that glorious engine note, with its deep and soft timbre and lack of harshness, like the sound of a bass clarinet or organ pedal note. You also get a feel for the fierce acceleration from idle. Exotica aside, you can outrun pretty much all modern saloon cars when the lights change to green.
The effortless acceleration and good all-round visibility means that this is a car you want to drive hard. That solid engine bay, low stance and muted engine note inspire confidence, and make you you want to push it to its limit. Joining a motorway from a slip road, you floor it and instead of a protesting howl from the engine, you find yourself simply thrown to the end of the slip road in near silence. On narrow B-roads you find yourself relishing the gradients and sharp corners. As you power round you can feel the car understeering and then breaking away at the back. There is no traction control or other electronic trickery apart from ABS; it's down to you. Any modern car - even a family saloon - could take the same corner at almost the same speed, but only by anesthising you and doing some of the work itself. With the XJ40, it feels rawer. You feel your position on the road; you feel the angle of the wheels; you feel that you can really influence the behaviour of the car.
The engine gives off a considerable amount of heat. Try this experiment: put the oven on full blast, wait 10 minutes, turn it off, open the door, and stick your head in. That's what opening the bonnet after a long run feels like. But it has its advantages. The heater is so powerful that even on the coldest day the highest setting will defrost the screen, the interior and your vital organs within a few minutes.
Fuel economy is lousy. Expect 25mpg at a steady 70mph on the motorway. In typical mixed driving expect 15mpg. There is nothing you can do about that.
There are hardly any of these cars left. A fellow PHer (I think it was dbdb) said that soon they will be even rarer than the E-type. Poor build quality on early examples, and lack of interest in 1980s design, means that most have been scrapped, and prices are insanely low. But they are starting to attract thinking enthusiasts. You can get a roadworthy one for 300 pounds, and even a timewarp Double Six (like this one) would be unlikely to fetch more than 5000 pounds. (The original list price for this car, in 1993, was around 52,000 pounds.)
The styling is horribly dated. But we live in an era where modern car designs are bland, derivative, lacking in coherence, and trying desperately to be all things to all people. In such a world, it is nice to have a car that belongs firmly to a particular time and place, and which is indisputably part of British history. Whatever you think of the design, it was a brave attempt by Jaguar to jump into modern times and make the very best car they possibly could. This car was built in Britain at a time when Jaguar (and specifically Daimler) was the default choice of chairmen and board members of the great British manufacturing companies. It was a time when Britain was still considered a world leader in science and technology, before China and India handed our collective arses to us on a plate. And the board members now buy foreign made cars.
Ignore what people say about these cars being unreliable. The market has been ruthless, and the really bad ones were scrapped long ago. If it still exists today, it has probably been sorted. When buying, ignore the mileage; look at the service history, look the owner in the eye, and then decide. By modern standards this is a primitive car, with no central nervous system and no specialist software needed for diagnostics. This particular one needed a round of "catch up" maintenance when first bought; since then the only real faults have been a crank sensor and a coolant level sensor. Parts are cheap. Workshop manuals are available; alternatively, pretty much any garage will be able to work on it. Common faults are well understood and documented. Look after it and it will keep going for years. And with luck, the future will be kinder to the car than the past has
The Daimler versions of the XJ were lavishly equipped. This particular example came with what I believe to be every available extra. The spec included self-levelling rear air suspension, full leather interior, sheepskin rugs, rear bench seat, rear picnic trays, electric sunroof, climate control, cruise control, electrically adjustable and heated front seats, car phone, and an audio system with radio, cassette player and CD autochanger.
With the exception of the car phone (no longer working) and the self-levelling suspension (now replaced with conventional springs), the car is almost entirely original.
If you are used to modern cars, the first thing that will strike you about the XJ40 is the low, lithe profile. It's about the height of a current BMW 6-series. Park it next to a modern saloon and you realise just how much bigger, and blobbier, cars have got over the last 20 years. The XJ's lines are straight and tight by comparison. But the low roofline is also a harbinger of a difficult entry. Those with limited joint mobility should try before they buy. And it's cramped in the back. The roofline is so low that the headlining has special cutouts for rear seat passengers to nestle their heads into. Anybody over 6 feet 3 inches tall is going to have problems back there.
Once settled in, you start to understand the role of the XJ40 as a bridge between the worlds of the classic Jaguar (Series 3 and before) and modern Jaguar (X300 onwards). On the one hand, the angular design is a clear attempt to move on from the curvy lines of the Series 3 and define a more modern look; the engine and drivetrain technology belongs to the modern era; and the level of equipment is well beyond that available on the Series 3. On the other hand the the overall profile, the driving position, and many of the details such as the door handles and dial layout, are pure Series 3.
The interior is a wonderful place to be, with beautifully inlaid and polished wood, leather everywhere, a lovely set of 80s button-heavy switchgear, and the feeling of opulence-without-really-trying that defines the great Jaguars. There is a slight mismatch of colour between the wood used for the main dial surround and that used for the rest of the interior, but that is a minor concern. The dial layout is very clear, with seperate gauges for fuel level, coolant temperature, oil pressure and battery voltage. Early XJ40s came with an all-digital dash, but reliability problems meant that it was abandoned for conventional dials as part of a mid-life facelift. In doing so Jaguar started a habit of retreating into tradition whenever the going got tough, a habit they finally kicked in 2009 with the launch of the new XJ.
Opening the bonnet reveals the 6.0 litre V12 engine, with fuel injection (no carbs) and around 320 BHP. The engine bay is a delight to behold, with virtually everything on display. Near the front, two air filters - one on each side - feed a bank of six cylinders each. The inlet manifold is solid metal (modern cars use plastic). The air-conditioning compressor is mounted at the very front. The right hand side of the bay houses brake fluid and steering fluid reservoirs, as well as a dipstick and fill tube for the GM 4-speed gearbox. The left hand side houses the oil dipstick and filler plus a huge coolant reservoir. Moving closer to the windscreen we have the throttle cable, relays and electrical wiring. The overall impression is of an engine that is under-stressed, over-engineered and built to last - which is exactly what it is. The Jaguar V12 engine is largely trouble free as long as it is maintained properly.
And these days it is the real highlight of the car. Modern car engines typically have narrow powerbands (compensated for with more gears), have forced induction, and are built to the minimum acceptable quality. The Jaguar V12, with its near-flat torque curve and under-stressed nature, is so far removed from this that driving it is a novel experience for someone who is used to modern cars. It is often described as "turbine smooth"; partly because of that characteristic "whoosh" sound as you start it up, but mainly because of that flat torque curve. This engine pulls like a train regardless of revs. It pulls from stationary, and it simply keeps on pulling all the way up to 5,000 rpm, with the occasional gear change in between.
Piloting it around town, it is as comfy and cossetting as you would expect. The steering is a little heavy compared to modern cars, but it's perfectly usable. Once you get used to the length, and the profile of the boot, parking is no problem. The square front profile gives excellent visibility of the bonnet line, making it easy to place the car. Of course you get that glorious engine note, with its deep and soft timbre and lack of harshness, like the sound of a bass clarinet or organ pedal note. You also get a feel for the fierce acceleration from idle. Exotica aside, you can outrun pretty much all modern saloon cars when the lights change to green.
The effortless acceleration and good all-round visibility means that this is a car you want to drive hard. That solid engine bay, low stance and muted engine note inspire confidence, and make you you want to push it to its limit. Joining a motorway from a slip road, you floor it and instead of a protesting howl from the engine, you find yourself simply thrown to the end of the slip road in near silence. On narrow B-roads you find yourself relishing the gradients and sharp corners. As you power round you can feel the car understeering and then breaking away at the back. There is no traction control or other electronic trickery apart from ABS; it's down to you. Any modern car - even a family saloon - could take the same corner at almost the same speed, but only by anesthising you and doing some of the work itself. With the XJ40, it feels rawer. You feel your position on the road; you feel the angle of the wheels; you feel that you can really influence the behaviour of the car.
The engine gives off a considerable amount of heat. Try this experiment: put the oven on full blast, wait 10 minutes, turn it off, open the door, and stick your head in. That's what opening the bonnet after a long run feels like. But it has its advantages. The heater is so powerful that even on the coldest day the highest setting will defrost the screen, the interior and your vital organs within a few minutes.
Fuel economy is lousy. Expect 25mpg at a steady 70mph on the motorway. In typical mixed driving expect 15mpg. There is nothing you can do about that.
There are hardly any of these cars left. A fellow PHer (I think it was dbdb) said that soon they will be even rarer than the E-type. Poor build quality on early examples, and lack of interest in 1980s design, means that most have been scrapped, and prices are insanely low. But they are starting to attract thinking enthusiasts. You can get a roadworthy one for 300 pounds, and even a timewarp Double Six (like this one) would be unlikely to fetch more than 5000 pounds. (The original list price for this car, in 1993, was around 52,000 pounds.)
The styling is horribly dated. But we live in an era where modern car designs are bland, derivative, lacking in coherence, and trying desperately to be all things to all people. In such a world, it is nice to have a car that belongs firmly to a particular time and place, and which is indisputably part of British history. Whatever you think of the design, it was a brave attempt by Jaguar to jump into modern times and make the very best car they possibly could. This car was built in Britain at a time when Jaguar (and specifically Daimler) was the default choice of chairmen and board members of the great British manufacturing companies. It was a time when Britain was still considered a world leader in science and technology, before China and India handed our collective arses to us on a plate. And the board members now buy foreign made cars.
Ignore what people say about these cars being unreliable. The market has been ruthless, and the really bad ones were scrapped long ago. If it still exists today, it has probably been sorted. When buying, ignore the mileage; look at the service history, look the owner in the eye, and then decide. By modern standards this is a primitive car, with no central nervous system and no specialist software needed for diagnostics. This particular one needed a round of "catch up" maintenance when first bought; since then the only real faults have been a crank sensor and a coolant level sensor. Parts are cheap. Workshop manuals are available; alternatively, pretty much any garage will be able to work on it. Common faults are well understood and documented. Look after it and it will keep going for years. And with luck, the future will be kinder to the car than the past has
Saw one of these yesterday and didn't know what it was - good to see a write up explaining a bit about it. As opulent as it is, it certainly didn't look that relaxing to drive, at least not in a built up area , as the owner had traffic reversing left and right centre on the main road of my town as he attempted to round a corner on a junction without kerbing a wheel - the turning circle is gargantuan, but with a car so large "ye cannae break the laws o' physics", as they say. I'm not sure a 5000rpm redline or "muted engine note" would particularly make me want to cane the car around either, I once heard Jags described as "not cars to drive fast, but to waft in, at great pace", which I think is probably where the strength of the car lies.
I love the inteior though, would not mind cruising the length of the country in something so nicely furnished.
I love the inteior though, would not mind cruising the length of the country in something so nicely furnished.
Thats a beautiful car, the only thing I'm not keen on with that model year is the dashboard. When I was a young lad of 13 years old and working part time at a local garage I got to drive an early 1970's Daimler Double Six from the car park into the garage.
I still haven't been in a car that has impressed me more yet, all those dials and a cream leather interior with the of old smell cigars.
I still haven't been in a car that has impressed me more yet, all those dials and a cream leather interior with the of old smell cigars.
Max M4X WW said:
Lovely car and write up. How many miles has it done?
The boot seems small, what is the little red handle?
Thanks The boot seems small, what is the little red handle?
The car has done 107K. The last 7K have been in my ownership.
The boot is an odd shape, due to the placement of the spare wheel and battery (those are the two carpet covered objects you see). But it is pretty small overall. Two bin liners' worth of stuff would pretty much fill it up.
I think that the red handle is the fuel cutoff switch, but I will wait for someone to correct me...
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