Funniest/Weirdest/Scariest..etc. Moment in you're Jag
Discussion
I had an SL65 pull up next to me, burnout, give me the finger and drive off, I was baffled
I also ran into a curb, scratching the hell out of my rims that were not even 6 months old yet, all due to the girlfriend. Was it worth it? Yes
I also had a very old man in an F430 give me the "challenge" nod at a light.....I might as well of been riding a bicycle
I also ran into a curb, scratching the hell out of my rims that were not even 6 months old yet, all due to the girlfriend. Was it worth it? Yes
I also had a very old man in an F430 give me the "challenge" nod at a light.....I might as well of been riding a bicycle
Two events in my XJ40 Sovereign and one in my X308 XJR.
Sitting at the lights in my '40, just as they were changing to green a BMW tried to squeeze down the outside when the road narrows to one lane between bollards on the opposite side of the junction. In a moment of ill-judged enthusiasm I stamped on the throttle and fishtailed accross the junction somehow managing not to sideswipe him or the bollards...
Second event was exiting a roundabout at a sedate pace when the back stepped out dramatically. The car was fishtailing wildly while I was trying to get it back under control (kept over-correcting). I later found that the road had had a diesel spill and three other cars had come a cropper at the same point.
XJR had four tyres down to the limit but not illegal. Driving at 70mph on a three lane A-road I hit a stream of standing water which meant the rear wheels spun up and the car pitched sideways. Luckily there was a gap in traffic and I got the car back under control - the CATS and stability control was really noticeble in this situation!
I'm nornally a very sensible driver, so these incidents are certainly not typical of my driving history!
Sitting at the lights in my '40, just as they were changing to green a BMW tried to squeeze down the outside when the road narrows to one lane between bollards on the opposite side of the junction. In a moment of ill-judged enthusiasm I stamped on the throttle and fishtailed accross the junction somehow managing not to sideswipe him or the bollards...
Second event was exiting a roundabout at a sedate pace when the back stepped out dramatically. The car was fishtailing wildly while I was trying to get it back under control (kept over-correcting). I later found that the road had had a diesel spill and three other cars had come a cropper at the same point.
XJR had four tyres down to the limit but not illegal. Driving at 70mph on a three lane A-road I hit a stream of standing water which meant the rear wheels spun up and the car pitched sideways. Luckily there was a gap in traffic and I got the car back under control - the CATS and stability control was really noticeble in this situation!
I'm nornally a very sensible driver, so these incidents are certainly not typical of my driving history!
I drive my XJ40 briskly, but not like a lunatic, i was going down the 2 lane bit from the M11 into Harlow down the outside lane (not speeding) i used the outside lane pretty much all the way down to the end as your supposed to slowly overtaking the cars doing 40mph ish in the nearside lane, when i went to pull in as it goes single lane a plum in a big Merc wouldnt let me back in, he deliberatley speeded up to close the gap i was going into, i slowed down to duck in behind him and he braked so i couldn't get in behind him either. Left me no option but to stick my toe down and shoot past the renault espace that was in front of him right as the lane ended, which got me a hoot and flash of lights from the renault driver. 
Scariest moment?
Seeing the bonnet of my XK150 pop up on the Motorway. I knew what was a about to happen.
The next think I knew was I'd been hit very hard on the top of my head and the view in front was blocked!
The bonnet had come open and 70MPH.
Fortunately I knew there was nothing to worry about in front. I could see the armco in the side window, so I could steer parallel to that while I braked. Before looking over my shoulder to pull into lane1 then the hard shoulder.
Scared?
too busy at the time.
Had the Mrs in the car too. She didn't freak, she just realised the bonnet had bent more to my side and if she lent over by the side window she could see forward and help direct me.
Good think it did it on a straight motorway. I hate to think about it opening on a country lane mid bend!
__________________________________________________________________________
Most frustrating thing
Hitting a diesel spill coming off a roundabout onto a section of dual carriage way in torrential rain.
I was accelerating gently and the backend went. I caught the slide, but couldn't catch the pendulum, span the car and side swiped the armco at walking speed. Might have been walking speed but it's still an instant write off as far as the insurance company are concerned.
The car is back on the road again now.
Thankfully.
Seeing the bonnet of my XK150 pop up on the Motorway. I knew what was a about to happen.
The next think I knew was I'd been hit very hard on the top of my head and the view in front was blocked!
The bonnet had come open and 70MPH.
Fortunately I knew there was nothing to worry about in front. I could see the armco in the side window, so I could steer parallel to that while I braked. Before looking over my shoulder to pull into lane1 then the hard shoulder.
Scared?
too busy at the time.
Had the Mrs in the car too. She didn't freak, she just realised the bonnet had bent more to my side and if she lent over by the side window she could see forward and help direct me.
Good think it did it on a straight motorway. I hate to think about it opening on a country lane mid bend!
__________________________________________________________________________
Most frustrating thing
Hitting a diesel spill coming off a roundabout onto a section of dual carriage way in torrential rain.
I was accelerating gently and the backend went. I caught the slide, but couldn't catch the pendulum, span the car and side swiped the armco at walking speed. Might have been walking speed but it's still an instant write off as far as the insurance company are concerned.
The car is back on the road again now.
Thankfully.
Oh boy... where to start?
1. Travelling 'briskly' in an '83 XJ6. The bonnet popped up, the burst catch missed and the bonnet came up due to the airflow through the grille. Up it went to the level of the top of the windscreen where the airflow smoothed out. Every time I braked, it went a bit further up. I couldn't see anything but had to accelerate to bring it back down to reach out the window and grab one corner.
2. Travelling 'briskly again, same car. I forgot about a humpback bridge. Take off was superb, the flight was good and the landing was all four wheels on the deck more or less at once and all pointing the same way. Gravity took over, and the XJ6 came over all low rider. Scraped everything that hung down underneath from front to back. Crossmember, Rack, sump exhaust.... the lot. Ripped out a radius arm mount point; it wasn't rotten it ripped the spot weld and a good amount of the chassis leg with it. That made getting home fun.
3. Travelling on a long a twisty road thankfully NOT that fast. Rounded a corner onto mud, with a tanker spraying water on it and two blokes brushing it up. I tried the brakes the wheels locked up and the Jag goes straight on. Both blokes abandon the brushes and swan dive over the nearest dry stone wall. I came off the brakes, and steering came back, which meant I could just get the Jag round the tanker.
4. Dad had a series 1 XJ6 whe I was very young. For whatever reason (him being a muppet?) He ran both tanks dry within sight of our house. I remember seeing the big Jag getting pushed to it's spot outside. I had an accident that night which resulted in a nasty head injury; I still carry the scar. Dad ran out to the car in a panic, Mum brought me outside to the car. Dad drove the car the 7 miles to the A&E at the nearest hospital.
5. My 83 XJ6 again. I had surgery in 2005 and was in a bad way, I nearly checked out. When I got back home all I wanted to do was go for a potter in the Jag, which wasn't aa great idea, as I could barely walk. I went out to the Jag and in some pain got in it. The damn thing wouldn't start. No solenoid clicking, no pumps priming nothing. Just the ignition lights staring at me accusingly. I didn't even have the strength to open the bonnet. I cursed at the car then went back inside. A week or so later I decided to do things properly, so I rang the hospital and asked them when I would be fit to drive. I was told if I could hold the brake pedal down with the engine off and felt no pain I'd be okay. I went out to the car and tried it and had no problems doing that. I stuck the keys in the ignition and turned them just to see if the battery had died or not. The starter turned a couple of times then big Jag coughed a couple of times and fired up.
6. A lad near me had a rather tatty 70's BMW. We had noticed each other once or twice, then one day we came upon each other on a stretch of motorway. As the BMW drew level I was looking at it thinking "I wonder if he knows that in the 70's that BMW was the mortal enemy of the big Jag in touring car?" As I looked up I noticed he was looking at mine the same way. I heard the BMW drop a gear, so I let the Jag have a bootful, and went for it.
Creaking old BMW and ancient Jag were both to be found in the next lay-by, drivers both in hysterics, after doing the last half mile side by side smoking like a pair of Red Arrows...
7. I picked my sister up from Skegness, and drove her back to Chesterfield. She is a movie buff and had a large brown parcel with her. I was told it was fragile, so was very careful with it and placed it on the back seats.
As we got towards Chesterfield it was dark, and the cars Lucas electrical system picked the perfect time and had the equivalent of a stroke. I tried playing with fuses and earths and lucar connectors but nothing was coming back. Worrying about being stopped, I drove to my sister and left the car there. On asking as to the contents of the parcel? Replicas of some swords from "Lord of the Rings".
Regards,
Ric
1. Travelling 'briskly' in an '83 XJ6. The bonnet popped up, the burst catch missed and the bonnet came up due to the airflow through the grille. Up it went to the level of the top of the windscreen where the airflow smoothed out. Every time I braked, it went a bit further up. I couldn't see anything but had to accelerate to bring it back down to reach out the window and grab one corner.
2. Travelling 'briskly again, same car. I forgot about a humpback bridge. Take off was superb, the flight was good and the landing was all four wheels on the deck more or less at once and all pointing the same way. Gravity took over, and the XJ6 came over all low rider. Scraped everything that hung down underneath from front to back. Crossmember, Rack, sump exhaust.... the lot. Ripped out a radius arm mount point; it wasn't rotten it ripped the spot weld and a good amount of the chassis leg with it. That made getting home fun.
3. Travelling on a long a twisty road thankfully NOT that fast. Rounded a corner onto mud, with a tanker spraying water on it and two blokes brushing it up. I tried the brakes the wheels locked up and the Jag goes straight on. Both blokes abandon the brushes and swan dive over the nearest dry stone wall. I came off the brakes, and steering came back, which meant I could just get the Jag round the tanker.
4. Dad had a series 1 XJ6 whe I was very young. For whatever reason (him being a muppet?) He ran both tanks dry within sight of our house. I remember seeing the big Jag getting pushed to it's spot outside. I had an accident that night which resulted in a nasty head injury; I still carry the scar. Dad ran out to the car in a panic, Mum brought me outside to the car. Dad drove the car the 7 miles to the A&E at the nearest hospital.
5. My 83 XJ6 again. I had surgery in 2005 and was in a bad way, I nearly checked out. When I got back home all I wanted to do was go for a potter in the Jag, which wasn't aa great idea, as I could barely walk. I went out to the Jag and in some pain got in it. The damn thing wouldn't start. No solenoid clicking, no pumps priming nothing. Just the ignition lights staring at me accusingly. I didn't even have the strength to open the bonnet. I cursed at the car then went back inside. A week or so later I decided to do things properly, so I rang the hospital and asked them when I would be fit to drive. I was told if I could hold the brake pedal down with the engine off and felt no pain I'd be okay. I went out to the car and tried it and had no problems doing that. I stuck the keys in the ignition and turned them just to see if the battery had died or not. The starter turned a couple of times then big Jag coughed a couple of times and fired up.
6. A lad near me had a rather tatty 70's BMW. We had noticed each other once or twice, then one day we came upon each other on a stretch of motorway. As the BMW drew level I was looking at it thinking "I wonder if he knows that in the 70's that BMW was the mortal enemy of the big Jag in touring car?" As I looked up I noticed he was looking at mine the same way. I heard the BMW drop a gear, so I let the Jag have a bootful, and went for it.
Creaking old BMW and ancient Jag were both to be found in the next lay-by, drivers both in hysterics, after doing the last half mile side by side smoking like a pair of Red Arrows...
7. I picked my sister up from Skegness, and drove her back to Chesterfield. She is a movie buff and had a large brown parcel with her. I was told it was fragile, so was very careful with it and placed it on the back seats.
As we got towards Chesterfield it was dark, and the cars Lucas electrical system picked the perfect time and had the equivalent of a stroke. I tried playing with fuses and earths and lucar connectors but nothing was coming back. Worrying about being stopped, I drove to my sister and left the car there. On asking as to the contents of the parcel? Replicas of some swords from "Lord of the Rings".
Regards,
Ric
TTwiggy said:
richw_82 said:
a series of disasters...
can you let me know when you're planning to be on the roads? 
I'm not scared of posting the idiotic things I've done. The smart part is realising they are dumb, having a giggle at it and learning not to do it again.
A scary one http://pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/imgs/3.gif
Just had uprated supercharger pulley and remap in 57 plate xkr so still getting used to the extra horses all 475 of them !
Travelling along M40 near to oxford on slightly damp road at near legal limit ish when Beemer M6 came haring up behind me, didnt particularly want to race but booted it anyway to pass a car and let him past. This is where the fun started....In doing so dropped down a couple of gears automatically, revs increased dramatically, wheels spun like a top and ended up fishtailing like a goodun. Defo now need to get the LSD diff. M6 went past with a total look of horror on his face........Me, I just slowed down and thought wow!
Just had uprated supercharger pulley and remap in 57 plate xkr so still getting used to the extra horses all 475 of them !
Travelling along M40 near to oxford on slightly damp road at near legal limit ish when Beemer M6 came haring up behind me, didnt particularly want to race but booted it anyway to pass a car and let him past. This is where the fun started....In doing so dropped down a couple of gears automatically, revs increased dramatically, wheels spun like a top and ended up fishtailing like a goodun. Defo now need to get the LSD diff. M6 went past with a total look of horror on his face........Me, I just slowed down and thought wow!
I was in my 89 V12 XJS on the M11 just going under the M25 flyover. It was a bit wet and I can only assume some diesel on the road, did a complete 360 @ 120mph going across every lane. Very lucky no other vehicle was on the road scared the beejeebers out of me did the rest of the journey in the slow lane @ 50mph!
XKRacer said:
I was in my 89 V12 XJS on the M11 just going under the M25 flyover. It was a bit wet and I can only assume some diesel on the road, did a complete 360 @ 120mph going across every lane. Very lucky no other vehicle was on the road scared the beejeebers out of me did the rest of the journey in the slow lane @ 50mph!
sweet jesus! It happened in a mk2 340 some 290 million years ago, giving it beans up the arterial the bonnet lock and safty catch failed and the bonnet came up and hit the screen, sheered the captive bolts off the hinge mountings and it finished up in the road behind, where a artic drove over it. I was showing the car to a potential buyer, who had never owned one before. He looked at me, ashen faced and said` Oh,does that normally happen ?.
The owner then informed me that it had nearly happened to him , it was a job he had forgotten to tell me about.The other guy didn`t buy it.
Further back, in an old Mk1 2,4, giving it big beans turning in to a side road ( as much as you could give) the car went completly side ways, it wagged its tail up the road, partly due to my crap driving back in the day and crap tyres.
Ho Hum, nobody died.
The owner then informed me that it had nearly happened to him , it was a job he had forgotten to tell me about.The other guy didn`t buy it.
Further back, in an old Mk1 2,4, giving it big beans turning in to a side road ( as much as you could give) the car went completly side ways, it wagged its tail up the road, partly due to my crap driving back in the day and crap tyres.
Ho Hum, nobody died.
XKRacer said:
I was in my 89 V12 XJS on the M11 just going under the M25 flyover. It was a bit wet and I can only assume some diesel on the road, did a complete 360 @ 120mph going across every lane. Very lucky no other vehicle was on the road scared the beejeebers out of me did the rest of the journey in the slow lane @ 50mph!
Was that down hill with a tail wind and a low pollen count ? Last winter in my X300 XJR - 1/2 spin on black ice on the Dartford access road off the M25 ACW. The road is fairly tight left then tight right, except she carried on left. At one point I was perpendicular to the armco. Lucky the road is 2 lanes wide and no other traffic. I over-corrected and got into a tank-slapper.
The next day I had a 300 mile round trip. Got 30 mpg - IN AN XJR !!
The next day I had a 300 mile round trip. Got 30 mpg - IN AN XJR !!
RW774 said:
XKRacer said:
I was in my 89 V12 XJS on the M11 just going under the M25 flyover. It was a bit wet and I can only assume some diesel on the road, did a complete 360 @ 120mph going across every lane. Very lucky no other vehicle was on the road scared the beejeebers out of me did the rest of the journey in the slow lane @ 50mph!
Was that down hill with a tail wind and a low pollen count ? Was that you or the stability control system old son? With the Schuey reactions we Jag drivers all have I know it can be difficult to tell.
I've had a few, mostly tales from my youth though.
Once coming out of Glasgow on the old A8 with my father in an early XJ6 4.2 the pumps which transferred fuel between the twin tanks to maintain the balance failed, and started to pump the petrol straight out onto the road. We are screaming along with petrol spewing out the back just waiting for some bright spark to throw a cigarette end out of their window. I thought we were going to die.
Again, in the same car, circa 1970, same road, a white S-Type lost it coming the other way and spun across the central reservation at high speed right in front of us. I thought we were going to die. He came to rest on the verge on our side wiothout hitting anything. My da and he then had a long and interesting conversation about the handling characteristics of different Jags. I was shaking like a leaf.
My old man also once took us on a skiing trip on an Alpine road in a 3.8 litre Mk.II without snow chains, which was fine until we got above the freezing line and everything turned white. On one side was a wall of rock and on the other a drop of several hundred feet, sometimes several thousand. We were sliding all over the place. I could not look out of the window, and I really thought we were all dead.
Lastly myself as a youngish lad making a last minute turn off a motorway at high speed in an XJ6, around 76/77, misjudged it, was going much too fast, and the steering went really light and the car gently drifting. Again, I thought I was dead but I was more concerned about the rollicking I would receive if I survived. I very gingerly kept the nose pointing the right way and speed came off and the car came back under control. I was lucky.
Thinking about it I have thought my time had come more times while sitting in a Jag than anywhere else, so its perhaps surprising that I find it such a relaxing place to be.
I've had a few, mostly tales from my youth though.
Once coming out of Glasgow on the old A8 with my father in an early XJ6 4.2 the pumps which transferred fuel between the twin tanks to maintain the balance failed, and started to pump the petrol straight out onto the road. We are screaming along with petrol spewing out the back just waiting for some bright spark to throw a cigarette end out of their window. I thought we were going to die.
Again, in the same car, circa 1970, same road, a white S-Type lost it coming the other way and spun across the central reservation at high speed right in front of us. I thought we were going to die. He came to rest on the verge on our side wiothout hitting anything. My da and he then had a long and interesting conversation about the handling characteristics of different Jags. I was shaking like a leaf.
My old man also once took us on a skiing trip on an Alpine road in a 3.8 litre Mk.II without snow chains, which was fine until we got above the freezing line and everything turned white. On one side was a wall of rock and on the other a drop of several hundred feet, sometimes several thousand. We were sliding all over the place. I could not look out of the window, and I really thought we were all dead.
Lastly myself as a youngish lad making a last minute turn off a motorway at high speed in an XJ6, around 76/77, misjudged it, was going much too fast, and the steering went really light and the car gently drifting. Again, I thought I was dead but I was more concerned about the rollicking I would receive if I survived. I very gingerly kept the nose pointing the right way and speed came off and the car came back under control. I was lucky.
Thinking about it I have thought my time had come more times while sitting in a Jag than anywhere else, so its perhaps surprising that I find it such a relaxing place to be.
Edited by cardigankid on Monday 7th December 09:39
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