The Curfew XJ-S - V12 manual
Discussion
I've known for a couple of days (and suspected since it happened), but Saturday's breakdown was caused by a fuel pump failure. This isn't the fuel pump that came with the Curfew car, but rather one that came with the fuel tank from another XJ-S, as the fittings weren't quite right. A quick trip to Pirteks had an adaptor that allowed the original-to-Curfew (and better) fuel pump to be reattached and it fired up with no problems.
There are still a whole host of problems to sort but at least the breakdown wasn't caused by a major issue, and hopefully this is the last time I'll have to tow it
I'm also considering taking it on a track day at some point next year, but we'll see.
Yesterday I was fortunate enough to have Chris Pollitt from Car and Classic visit to write a little feature on the car. His visit also means I have these awesome photos to share with you. As you can see he's a much better photographer than I am! If you're social media he posts great content about sub £2k cars, called N2Grand
There are still a whole host of problems to sort but at least the breakdown wasn't caused by a major issue, and hopefully this is the last time I'll have to tow it
I'm also considering taking it on a track day at some point next year, but we'll see.Yesterday I was fortunate enough to have Chris Pollitt from Car and Classic visit to write a little feature on the car. His visit also means I have these awesome photos to share with you. As you can see he's a much better photographer than I am! If you're social media he posts great content about sub £2k cars, called N2Grand
Loving this, not really a fan of the colour scheme but the period style deep dish rims and wide arches are very tasty. I'm a big fan of old Jag's particularly those of the modified variety, I had a modified XJ40 3.6L previously with the 5 speed Gretag 'box, the stick shift really changes the character of the car. I'm not familar with the Curfew series but very interesting history none the less.
MX6 said:
Loving this, not really a fan of the colour scheme but the period style deep dish rims and wide arches are very tasty. I'm a big fan of old Jag's particularly those of the modified variety, I had a modified XJ40 3.6L previously with the 5 speed Gretag 'box, the stick shift really changes the character of the car. I'm not familar with the Curfew series but very interesting history none the less.
The colour scheme doesn't do much for me, though it does look awesome when muddy. I love old Jags and definitely modified old Jags. Your XJ40 certainly sounds interesting, I'd love to own a manual XJR at some point lukeharding said:
MX6 said:
Loving this, not really a fan of the colour scheme but the period style deep dish rims and wide arches are very tasty. I'm a big fan of old Jag's particularly those of the modified variety, I had a modified XJ40 3.6L previously with the 5 speed Gretag 'box, the stick shift really changes the character of the car. I'm not familar with the Curfew series but very interesting history none the less.
The colour scheme doesn't do much for me, though it does look awesome when muddy. I love old Jags and definitely modified old Jags. Your XJ40 certainly sounds interesting, I'd love to own a manual XJR at some point A friend of mine has a nice and extremely rare XJ40 XJR 4.0L manual, here's a pic of it with my old '40...
A couple more from back when I was living the XJ40 manual life.
I hope you get as much enjoyment from yours as I did mine.
Edited by MX6 on Friday 20th December 16:33
As a three Jaguar owner, 2002 X100 convertible with 175K miles, and 2002 XJ Sport, and a 5.0L 2010 X150 XKR, I have had a difficult time warming up to the XJS over the years. However, over the last couple, they have grown on me, and it wouldn't surprise me to find one in my garage some day, especially at the giveaway prices for them here in the states. A close friend bought a beautiful 12cyl. convertible a few weeks ago, and it's just lovely and a pleasure to cruise in. I'm glad you're enjoying yours and by all means have some fun at the track with it. I used to take my 2010XKR to the track all the time (that 600 hp made for some thrilling straightaways). And sometime next year, I have promised myself to take my newly restored and modified '72 De Tomaso Pantera back to the track one more time just to test its newfound power and amenities. If you can't enjoy these old classics doing what they were meant to do, what good is it. Enjoy, and keep us abreast of your adventures. 
tberg said:
As a three Jaguar owner, 2002 X100 convertible with 175K miles, and 2002 XJ Sport, and a 5.0L 2010 X150 XKR, I have had a difficult time warming up to the XJS over the years. However, over the last couple, they have grown on me, and it wouldn't surprise me to find one in my garage some day, especially at the giveaway prices for them here in the states. A close friend bought a beautiful 12cyl. convertible a few weeks ago, and it's just lovely and a pleasure to cruise in. I'm glad you're enjoying yours and by all means have some fun at the track with it. I used to take my 2010XKR to the track all the time (that 600 hp made for some thrilling straightaways). And sometime next year, I have promised myself to take my newly restored and modified '72 De Tomaso Pantera back to the track one more time just to test its newfound power and amenities. If you can't enjoy these old classics doing what they were meant to do, what good is it. Enjoy, and keep us abreast of your adventures.
Ah lovely, funnily enough I never really warmed to the earlier XKRs, but now find myself quite wanting one. One day! An XJ-S convertible can be a lovely thing to enjoy on a nice day, but only with the V12 in my eyes.
The car finally has an MOT! It turned out to need more work than I expected, with a fair amount of welding (including close to the expensive new suspension that the film company had installed), some wiring, some additional lights, new brake lines and other bits and pieces. I've also now had a chance to drive the car on the road for the first time, and it is definitely an experience. We've trimmed the original arches back as much as is reasonably possible for the moment in a bid to eliminate the tyre scrubbing. It could use some better seals around the doors but most of the wind noise is covered by the sheer volume of the engine and exhaust. The steering probably isn't best described as dynamic, which isn't helped by the fact the alignment is quite bad, and we'll be rectifying that.
All being well I should be attending Breakfast Club at Goodwood on Sunday.
All being well I should be attending Breakfast Club at Goodwood on Sunday.
Managed to give the car a little test drive on Saturday just to make sure all was well (and film a little video to give people an idea of the noise of the car, which can be found on youtube), and then on Sunday took it to the Tamp Coffee meet in Chiswick. Considering that its the first time the car has done anything like a proper journey in at least 15 years....it all went very smoothly! There were a couple of gearbox/clutch issues, but other than that the car was fine, which is nice! Still got a reasonably long list of jobs to complete, but at least it can be driven (and therefore improve itself a bit too). The reactions in London were mixed, with plenty of people who loved the car, and also a few older people giving it disapproving looks.
Got a coupe of photos, most of which were taken by @picturecornerwheels on Instagram, he's well worth a follow if you like dogs and cars.
Got a coupe of photos, most of which were taken by @picturecornerwheels on Instagram, he's well worth a follow if you like dogs and cars.
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