SOTW: Jaguar XJS V12
Well, nearly - this is the Shed that got away, but we just had to write about it even so
The Jag that got away was the price of this tired one...
But, as has been said many times before, Shed isn't necessarily about making rational choices - it would be a thoroughly boring weekly feature if it was. Which is why the idea of 5.3 litres and 12 cylinders of majestic Jaguar coupe for £995 is such an appealing prospect.
Sure, it's definitely-not-an-E-Type looks aren't the prettiest of lines, but there's an undeniable grace and presence to the XJS shape that makes it stand out from the crowd - it's aged distinctively if not necessarily well, shall we say.
Unfortunately, the car ad we had targeted as Today's SOTW - spotted by PHer RP1 - is no longer live, so we presume that some lucky/brave punter has already snatched it up. And it's a measure of how rare it is to find a clean, cheap V12 XJS HE (this one had tax and ticket, old MoTs, some history and looked clean, despite the seller admitting to a few rust blisters) that a thorough rummage around the UK's classifieds turned up nothing to remotely compare with it.
The best we could come up with was this 1986 V12 which, apart from the colour and the absence of cross-spoke wheels is pretty much identical to that mythical near-miss car that originally caught our eye on Gumtree. Except that the seller of this Jersey-registered car (actually the one we've used in most of the pictures) wants a full thousand pounds more.
In fact, the only V12 XJS we found that was comparable on price was this distinctly ratty F-plate example with neither tax nor MoT, up for £790, curiously - and we suspect erroneously - described in the advert headline as 'supercharged'.
So what's the moral of the story? (I didn't know SOTW had to have a moral - Ed.) Well, we suppose it's that you can find shed-price V12 Jaguar XJSes out there, but boy are they rare. And boy do they get snapped up quickly. Although given the model's potential to become a money pit, perhaps it's a good thing they don't come along all that often...
Advert for the original find is reproduced below
11 MONTHS MOT, 6 MONTHS TAX, NICE GENUINE CAR, SOME SERVICE HISTORY, ALL PREVIOUS MOTS, HANDBOOKS, ENGINE AND GEAR BOX BOTH GOOD, BODYWORK GOOD FEW BLISTERS,
LEATHER INTERIOR, CROSS SPOKE ALLOY WHEELS,ELECTRIC WINDOWS, CENTRAL LOCKING, POWERED STEERING,
DRIVES SPOT ON
I spent nearly 3 years looking for a very good one and they can go for silly money, I was fortunate to get mine for a few times the shed limit but not too many and I have managed to get a very good one.
Around the £1k-£2k there are some comedy examples about but that one seemed nice for that money.
Double kicking from the other half, but it would be worth it.
Interior was lovely and the car got a few admiring looks, biggest problem was its immense thirst. If they were pre-73 I'd be tempted to keep one for a few 100 miles each year, but just can't justify the cost of tax for a car I'd only do 500 miles in!
Bloody brilliant it was, 295hp, silky smooth, lovely sounding and faster than anything any of my mates had with ease.
Did a lot of miles in it and it was mostly reliable, easy to work on for the large part and didn't cost much to run (apart from fuel!)
fantastic slice of British GT/muscle cars at their best IMO.
They sound pretty good to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuIphvFo8Ug
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNcQ54p23Iw
A) you let it warm up everytime you start it (otherwise the plugs will get clogged)
B) make sure you have a clean coolant system
C) change the fluids every 10k.
These are great cars honestly, Im doing Lemans Classic in mine and cant wait. Go on do it, spoil yourselves, buy a V12, you know you want too.....
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