Jaguar 'Greatest Hits' XJ: Geneva 2018
How to celebrate half a century of XJs? With the maiden voyage of a one-off project...
Yes, that's Michael Henry 'Nicko' McBrain of Iron Maiden, a lifelong Jag man and a big XJ advocate. In the press bumf he describes it as his "favourite of all Jaguars"; having owned two previous to this one, he's pretty well qualified to proffer judgement.
The interior is a fascinating mix of the traditional and the modern, with up-do-date nav and 1100w sound system incorporated into a design mostly familiar from that era of XJ. The Pimento red leather and the level of fit and finish might not be so familiar, but you get the point. The wood is 'Dark Grey stained Sycamore', because that's the material McBrain uses on his snare drums, and the rotary controls on the dash are meant to look like the controls for a Marshall amp.
"I'm so excited by its completion... it really is a Greatest Hits edition to me and it defines what the Jaguar XJ is all about" said McBrain, describing it as a "credit to the craftsmanship of the Jaguar Classic team." JLR Classic's director Tim Hannig added that the process had been "extraordinarily rewarding" and is said to be looking forward to hearing the reaction...
So, what do you make of it? A unique and interesting one-off take on a classic Jag? Or one more resto-mod project that should have been left on the drawing board? For what it's worth, Jaguar Classic, we'd love an XJ-C with the naughtiest V12 you can make - we'll talk about the commission when our numbers come up...
I'll take one in black.
Has more than a whiff of Retropower Jag about it... https://retropower.net/2018/02/05/jaguar-xjc430-ls...
The text states 3500 man hours for labour only. Any idea what Jaguar Classic charges per hour? I think we're looking at mega money for this. It's not even a particularly desirable base model to start with.
Personally, the only bits I don't like are the headlamps/Halos and the cross-spoke wheels.
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