My brief car history, and my Range Rover 4.6
Discussion
Evening. I'm new to Pistonheads, so hello! I've been reading pistonheads in my lunch breaks for ages, there's a really
nice range of machinery and projects going on to keep my beady little eyes happy, far more interesting than the range off
oddball and british tat I've had over the years....however I'm sat waiting on a delivery at work so I'm going to reel them
off anyway lol.
When I passed my test I looked for a "first car" for ages. My old man had bought a 1.0 Corsa so he could insure me on it,
but there's no substitute for your own car when you're desperate to start fiddling. I browsed the trader determined not to
get a clio/nova/corsa/saxo and told my old man I was off to look at a Rover 214, landing back a few hours later with an
empty wallet and this:
I had that for about 8 months, and spent nothing on it apart from petrol, it was a pretty bobby basic XJ6 3.2, even had
steel wheels, but it had leather, and loads of toys, electric seats, sunroof. Plus I was 18, and it was awesome.
8 months down the line my grandfather died. I didn't know him well, well enough to know he'd had some truly hideous cars
(mostly bad capri's) over the years, but about 2 months before he died, he bought a Daimler. I had to have it, and so I
bought it without thinking.
It's still I think the best car I've had. It was sublime to drive, and dripping with options. However, I wasn't earning
Daimler money, and at 19, I was also paying £265 a month for the privilege of insuring it, not to mention actually running
the ultra economical 4.0 V8. I had it 6 months, and then had to part with it. I got a really good deal, and so I paid off
what I owed on it and bought something cheap and different. Another itch I had to scratch though..
Enter my first Range Rover Classic. I've always loved the look of the Classic, and it's still one of my favourite looking
cars. This was a 3.9 Vogue Automatic. I bought it with a "new" MOT, and upon further inspection, a considerable lack of
inner sills. By now I was fairly spanner happy, and taught myself to weld, sorting the sills for it's next MOT. It was
however, truly horrendous on fuel, and I missed my Jag, so I jumped at a low mileage late 80's Daimler I spied for sale in
Birmingham. Unfortunately, this was one of those "spied in the morning, got a train down and bought it that evening in the
dark" buys. It turned out to be full of holes, and a bit of a mess.
I was bored thougg, and wanted to learn some new skills I suppose, so I pulled it to bits in my old man's garage:
I had 2 sills made as they were no longer available, Keith Parrington from XJ Restorations made them and shipped them to me.
I also patched the floor, changed the rectangular lights to quad lights, and added some Daimler Six wheels from a newer
car. It passed its MOT first time, and looked like this when I was done:
But...... when I'd finished it I was bored, and I missed my Range Rover. So I swapped the Daimler for this:
This was a 3.9 Vogue, but a rarer manual. I removed all of the exhaust silencers, added a 12" cherry bomb and hooned about
for a few months. The problem with having a manual and a very throaty exhaust, was that I got even worse economy.
Inevitably moving out and other stupid growing up things got in the way of it, so I sold it and decided to get a bit
sensible, and stop bouncing between Jags and Range Rovers.
The obvious choice then was a 1991 Toyota Supra Turbo. So I bought one of a mate. It didn't have an MOT, and it
overheated. Perfect then.
It cleaned up really nice, and was great fun, but it really wasn't me, so I sold it. But not before the wheel fell off.
My next car was a lager induced "I've always fancied one of those in a odd way, I'll lob a cheeky bid in" late night buy.
As you always nearly do, I won it, and ended up driving from Northumberland to Cardiff for a £255 Volvo 740 Estate. As you
do. I had a bit of a laugh with it, I painted the wheels and bonnet black, fitted a push button start, stuck some daft
stickers on it and bombed about for a bit.
Then I sold it for £300, can't really complain.
Next I really did go sensible, and I bought a stupidly clean 1995 Peugeot 106 1.0 to commute and hoon about in.
However, that left me with an empty space in the carport, and plenty of pennies as I was getting silly mpg's from the
pug....
Doh.
I bought this 1997 Jaguar XJ Executive, and lobbed some Daimler Super V8 alloys on it. I had that for about 8 months, and
then sold it for £250 more than I paid for it.
That pretty much brings me up to my present chariot of choice. I'll make a second post for that, bear with me.
nice range of machinery and projects going on to keep my beady little eyes happy, far more interesting than the range off
oddball and british tat I've had over the years....however I'm sat waiting on a delivery at work so I'm going to reel them
off anyway lol.
When I passed my test I looked for a "first car" for ages. My old man had bought a 1.0 Corsa so he could insure me on it,
but there's no substitute for your own car when you're desperate to start fiddling. I browsed the trader determined not to
get a clio/nova/corsa/saxo and told my old man I was off to look at a Rover 214, landing back a few hours later with an
empty wallet and this:
I had that for about 8 months, and spent nothing on it apart from petrol, it was a pretty bobby basic XJ6 3.2, even had
steel wheels, but it had leather, and loads of toys, electric seats, sunroof. Plus I was 18, and it was awesome.
8 months down the line my grandfather died. I didn't know him well, well enough to know he'd had some truly hideous cars
(mostly bad capri's) over the years, but about 2 months before he died, he bought a Daimler. I had to have it, and so I
bought it without thinking.
It's still I think the best car I've had. It was sublime to drive, and dripping with options. However, I wasn't earning
Daimler money, and at 19, I was also paying £265 a month for the privilege of insuring it, not to mention actually running
the ultra economical 4.0 V8. I had it 6 months, and then had to part with it. I got a really good deal, and so I paid off
what I owed on it and bought something cheap and different. Another itch I had to scratch though..
Enter my first Range Rover Classic. I've always loved the look of the Classic, and it's still one of my favourite looking
cars. This was a 3.9 Vogue Automatic. I bought it with a "new" MOT, and upon further inspection, a considerable lack of
inner sills. By now I was fairly spanner happy, and taught myself to weld, sorting the sills for it's next MOT. It was
however, truly horrendous on fuel, and I missed my Jag, so I jumped at a low mileage late 80's Daimler I spied for sale in
Birmingham. Unfortunately, this was one of those "spied in the morning, got a train down and bought it that evening in the
dark" buys. It turned out to be full of holes, and a bit of a mess.
I was bored thougg, and wanted to learn some new skills I suppose, so I pulled it to bits in my old man's garage:
I had 2 sills made as they were no longer available, Keith Parrington from XJ Restorations made them and shipped them to me.
I also patched the floor, changed the rectangular lights to quad lights, and added some Daimler Six wheels from a newer
car. It passed its MOT first time, and looked like this when I was done:
But...... when I'd finished it I was bored, and I missed my Range Rover. So I swapped the Daimler for this:
This was a 3.9 Vogue, but a rarer manual. I removed all of the exhaust silencers, added a 12" cherry bomb and hooned about
for a few months. The problem with having a manual and a very throaty exhaust, was that I got even worse economy.
Inevitably moving out and other stupid growing up things got in the way of it, so I sold it and decided to get a bit
sensible, and stop bouncing between Jags and Range Rovers.
The obvious choice then was a 1991 Toyota Supra Turbo. So I bought one of a mate. It didn't have an MOT, and it
overheated. Perfect then.
It cleaned up really nice, and was great fun, but it really wasn't me, so I sold it. But not before the wheel fell off.
My next car was a lager induced "I've always fancied one of those in a odd way, I'll lob a cheeky bid in" late night buy.
As you always nearly do, I won it, and ended up driving from Northumberland to Cardiff for a £255 Volvo 740 Estate. As you
do. I had a bit of a laugh with it, I painted the wheels and bonnet black, fitted a push button start, stuck some daft
stickers on it and bombed about for a bit.
Then I sold it for £300, can't really complain.
Next I really did go sensible, and I bought a stupidly clean 1995 Peugeot 106 1.0 to commute and hoon about in.
However, that left me with an empty space in the carport, and plenty of pennies as I was getting silly mpg's from the
pug....
Doh.
I bought this 1997 Jaguar XJ Executive, and lobbed some Daimler Super V8 alloys on it. I had that for about 8 months, and
then sold it for £250 more than I paid for it.
That pretty much brings me up to my present chariot of choice. I'll make a second post for that, bear with me.
Your taste is just superb. I am sure many (a few) young people say "Oh I'd love to Lord it around in a Jag" but you actually did, a few times! It is really refreshing to see people in cars that break the stereotypes.
Those Jag interiors look incredible. I much prefer them to the techy/cold types nowadays.
Those Jag interiors look incredible. I much prefer them to the techy/cold types nowadays.
So, my Range Rover. I'm a bit of a Range Rover fan anyway, and I always had a bit of a P38 scratch. I'm very clued up about all the problems, roughly:
Weak Blocks / Slipping Liners
HEVAC systems
Electrics generally
BECM Problems
Economy
Air Suspension
etc
So I bought one. Best not to be bored anyway, if it breaks it breaks. I looked for a good while, and bought what (touch wood) has been a brilliant example.
Toys wise, it's a 4.6 HSE, nicely specified, and came with these options:
Full Lightstone Leather interior, with black piping.
Heated Front Seats
Electric seats inc headrests
Sports mode gearbox *chortle*
Cruise Control
Harman Kardon 12 Speaker Surround Sound with 2 subwoofers and 5 amps and a 6 Disc Changer
Electric Mirrors
Electric Windows
Tilt and Reach Steering wheel
Multi-function steering wheel
Electric Sunroof
Air Conditioning
Dual Zone Climate Control with the LCD control screen.
Side Steps
18" Mondial Alloys with Pirelli Scorpions
2001 Light Upgrade kit to clear lenses
Towbar
Heated Front Screen
Heated Rear Screen
Memory Seats
Remote Central locking and alarm
Privacy Tints
The only thing that let it down were the alloys, which were pretty badly corroded:
So I had them all powdercoated:
A few pictures of the car itself:
This car has also had a replacement engine fitted at a Land Rover dealer 30K ago with a reciept to prove (ouch), so no nasty liner problems, and it also has a BRC Sequential Injection LPG system fitted, which goes a little way to improving the truly horrifying fuel economy.
Since then, I've added some 8mm High Performance HT Leads, LED sidelight and numberplate bulbs (not DRL's!) and I've just started upgrading the brakes, with some EBC Turbo front discs, and EBC Green Stuff Heavy Duty 4x4 pads. I'll stick some pictures up of those tomorrow maybe.
Weak Blocks / Slipping Liners
HEVAC systems
Electrics generally
BECM Problems
Economy
Air Suspension
etc
So I bought one. Best not to be bored anyway, if it breaks it breaks. I looked for a good while, and bought what (touch wood) has been a brilliant example.
Toys wise, it's a 4.6 HSE, nicely specified, and came with these options:
Full Lightstone Leather interior, with black piping.
Heated Front Seats
Electric seats inc headrests
Sports mode gearbox *chortle*
Cruise Control
Harman Kardon 12 Speaker Surround Sound with 2 subwoofers and 5 amps and a 6 Disc Changer
Electric Mirrors
Electric Windows
Tilt and Reach Steering wheel
Multi-function steering wheel
Electric Sunroof
Air Conditioning
Dual Zone Climate Control with the LCD control screen.
Side Steps
18" Mondial Alloys with Pirelli Scorpions
2001 Light Upgrade kit to clear lenses
Towbar
Heated Front Screen
Heated Rear Screen
Memory Seats
Remote Central locking and alarm
Privacy Tints
The only thing that let it down were the alloys, which were pretty badly corroded:
So I had them all powdercoated:
A few pictures of the car itself:
This car has also had a replacement engine fitted at a Land Rover dealer 30K ago with a reciept to prove (ouch), so no nasty liner problems, and it also has a BRC Sequential Injection LPG system fitted, which goes a little way to improving the truly horrifying fuel economy.
Since then, I've added some 8mm High Performance HT Leads, LED sidelight and numberplate bulbs (not DRL's!) and I've just started upgrading the brakes, with some EBC Turbo front discs, and EBC Green Stuff Heavy Duty 4x4 pads. I'll stick some pictures up of those tomorrow maybe.
strangehighways said:
Your taste is just superb. I am sure many (a few) young people say "Oh I'd love to Lord it around in a Jag" but you actually did, a few times! It is really refreshing to see people in cars that break the stereotypes.
Those Jag interiors look incredible. I much prefer them to the techy/cold types nowadays.
You're too kind Those Jag interiors look incredible. I much prefer them to the techy/cold types nowadays.
I know exactly what you mean about the interiors. To be honest, that's what attracts me to the cars I tend to buy really. You spend most of your time inside the car, it should be a nice place to be. For me, that's in a big fat leather armchair, with lashings of walnut and nice dials. I like to be comfortable. I like speed, but not at the cost of comfort. I really really fancy a Daimler Super V8, the same shape as my Daimler V8. They're getting cheaper as well....
highly envious of your car history. even at 24, I don't think I could afford to run a jag or landy like what you've done. and I'd really love to, its pushing beyond your/our age range. while youths and young adults are looking stupid in saxos, french cars or new, poverty spec golfs. your there, lapping it in luxury in a car that cost less then everyone else to buy
Thanks for all your replies :-)
In nearly all the photo's of the Range Rover, it's sat right down in "Access" mode as mentioned above. The air suspension is great I find, the springs look easy to replace, I was fortunate in that all of mine were replaced before I bought the car, along with the compressor.
Few video's: one of my cherry bombed Range Rover Classic and one of my current P38 4.6
I'll lob a few other photo's up today.
In nearly all the photo's of the Range Rover, it's sat right down in "Access" mode as mentioned above. The air suspension is great I find, the springs look easy to replace, I was fortunate in that all of mine were replaced before I bought the car, along with the compressor.
Few video's: one of my cherry bombed Range Rover Classic and one of my current P38 4.6
I'll lob a few other photo's up today.
ambuletz said:
...lapping it in luxury in a car that cost less then everyone else to buy
You've sort of hit the nail on the head for my reasons there. The most I've ever spent on a car was £8,000. That was for the Daimler V8 I had. It was still about £1,000 less than a new Corsa at the time, it was 8 years old and with the options it had, would have been an eye-watering £96,000 new. To my mind that's a hell of a bargain. It was quick, but obviously it was a cruiser and not a B-Road thrasher. That said, it had stupid amounts of toys which I would never have got on a corsa or new car I could afford. Off the top of my head the Daimler had electric memory seats, mirrors and steering column, heated seats, lambswool rugs, electric sunroof, cruise control, dual climate, heated screens, a fantastic sound system, steering wheel controls, PAS, sports mode auto box, auto dimming mirrors, you could open the boot and turn the lights on from the key, it was like a spaceship to me lol.I still fancy another one, it's the last really elegant XJ to me. I love how low the profile of the car was, they just look stunning. The later XJ looked very large and "american" to me, and the new one just isn't really an XJ. The company has to move forward and be profitable, and the target market for gentlemans club spec interiors has clearly disappeared, but it just doesn't look like an XJ at all to me.
I've had a soft spot for Jag's just because they're British, it's plenty of car for what I want, and to me they're obscene value for money. The dark green XJ I had in the above photo's, that I added the Daimler Super V8 alloys to, I bought with a years MOT and 6 months tax from a garage for less than £1,000. Ridiculous.
Very nice, I have a feeling that the P38 is my old car. Did it have most of the work, suspension and engine, minus the LPG kit done in the South West?
I Sold it to a friend in the midlands who had an LPG kit fitted at a pretty huge cost, he spent a lot of time detailing it too.
Must say, if it is, you've done it proud. It makes me want another P38 (with the arch extensions)
I Sold it to a friend in the midlands who had an LPG kit fitted at a pretty huge cost, he spent a lot of time detailing it too.
Must say, if it is, you've done it proud. It makes me want another P38 (with the arch extensions)
Edited by Spoof on Thursday 10th February 09:20
How about that?! Yeah I bought it from a guy called Leigh in leicester, absolutely lovely fella, I still keep in touch with him now. The original registration for the car is R293 YLE, he had it on a private plate L60 GHC when I bought it. The LPG kit was fitted for £2,250.
Is this your old car then? Do you have any other photographs of it mate?
Is this your old car then? Do you have any other photographs of it mate?
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