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Could I put my name on the 330 petrol Touring manual ticket please Avant ?
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Wasn't this the company featured on Top Gear a couple of years back, that completely re engineer old Jaguars- and replace all the old, cheap and unreliable parts with far better quality items. IIRC without any engine tweaks, just using decent parts saw increases in power and a far superior drive to the original.
James May was very impressed with them- think it was a mid 80s XJS he drove.
Wasn't there an XJS on the Bill recently too?
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Lister did a very nice conversion
glasermotors.com/images/liweb7.jpg
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It'll only cost you £500 - go for it. The most dangerous, and fastest way known to man to blow £500.
Either that, or buy a bog-standard brand-new Nissan Primera, and lose that much every month for 39 months (see my "talk me out of it" thread).
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Forget the V12 - and don't go back beyond 1995 with the 4-litre.
If you really can't resist it and don't mind paying top dollar, here are the people to visit:
tinyurl.com/6npwjh
Can you imagine a couple of really nice, knowledgeable blokes, with more than 80 XJSs in the barn?
Has to be seen...
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PS: after trekking all the way from SW France to Sussex we came away empty-handed because - spoiled I may be, I guess - XJS convertibles look absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, but they aren't actually very special to drive.
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he most dangerous, and fastest way known to man to blow £500
I know of more dangerous ways.....
Foolishly I gave one of the girls from the office a lift to a multi-dealer today to collect her new car. I saw two Audi R8s, a suitable home for my BMW money (+ some more) ? Awesome looking motor.
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>>I know of more dangerous ways.....
must be the company you keep.
As for the R8, that must have been a mean BMW you sold:
tinyurl.com/5qkak9
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"(+ some more)" ! ok - a lot more, a boy can dream can't he ?
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Tell you what Mapmaker, that R8 is the sort of car that makes you seriously consider selling members of your family. Bloke next door to me who is a test driver for Bentley ( I hate him BTW ) had an R8 home for the weekend recently to play with. Great noise.
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No, Humph, whilst I'd happily pay that sort of money for a nice girlfriend I wouldn't pay even a tenth that sort of money for any car.
Just think, in 10 years time it will be worth £750, just like all 10-year-old Audis.
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"Bloke next door to me who is a test driver for Bentley ( I hate him BTW ) had an R8 home for the weekend recently to play with. Great noise"
I worked (IT project) at Bentley in Crewe a few years back. You saw all sorts of cars (often on German plates) like BMWs, Mercs, Aston Martin etc. So once asked a Bentley employee why they were there... answer was they all lent each other cars to look at.
And the amusing bit was they took them to pieces literally! And Bentley prided itself for rebuilding them better. Imagine "borrowing" someones Aston Martin V8 and taking it to pieces :-)
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Yes , my neighbour comes home with all manner of exotica. ( it's a house rented to Bentley and they post employees from Wolfsburg etc. at Bentley for a year or two ) His predecessor, another German fella, had a very relaxed attitude to it all and regularly used to take me out for a spin in whatever wondercar he had managed to blag for the weekend. The new guy's OK but I think he must have more of a work ethic, he keeps the cars to himself.
Still makes me want to set fire to my own cars in automotive depression most weeks though !
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"Still makes me want to set fire to my own cars in automotive depression most weeks though !"
Don't do that, Humph - it would send quite the wrong Signum.....
Edited by Avant on 05/08/2008 at 20:43
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wrong Signum
smoke Signums ?
Edited by Pugugly on 05/08/2008 at 21:22
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Dear o' Lor', you two must be bored tonight ! ( watch out PU, Avant'll be along in a minute to point out it should be "smoke signa" )
Taking it to Scotland for three days as of tomorrow. Might go for a bit of a "burn" on the quiet bits I know.
;-)
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So you drive Signum now S, er HB, what engine?
And what happened to the Mondeo?
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Still got the Mondy as well. See "Signum Rambles" and "Vauxhall 2.2 petrol Engine" threads. Can't decide what to do yet. Too many cars at present.
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 05/08/2008 at 21:53
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"Too many cars at present."
Is that you saying that ? or Mrs HB ?
I usually find its the latter here, she's already turned her laser stare a the Defender.
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I think she has her own agenda on that one. She's already suggested that I take the diesel Mondeo for my Scottish trip "because it will use less fuel and you have always said how comfortable it is" and she sort of let it drop that as it is school holidays and the Ka is a bit cramped for grandparent / child outings that she might in that case be as well to use the Siggy this week. I can feel a stitch up coming......... Anyone looking for a Ka ?
:-(
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She's already suggested that I take the diesel Mondeo for my Scottish trip "because it will use less fuel >>
Pure common sense !
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I had it in my mind that you had already sold the Landy PU. Obviously not. Now if you were to do so and add the proceeds to the BMW fund............
." multi cylinder petrol engine, not too thirsty if you drive sensibly, an investment really, classic cars bound to appreciate in due course when the economy stabilises, wind in the hair maybe, the sound / smell of a classic Jag or perhaps something a little more exotic......."
;-)))))
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Still got the Mondy as well>>
:)
See "Signum Rambles" and "Vauxhall 2.2 petrol Engine" threads. >>
Do I have to? ;) Signum, bit of a barge. Vaux 2.2 chain cam petrol sweet and free revving like the 2.0 belt cam that preceeded it though known for cam chain probs due to blocked oil ways made worse by extened service intervals. That should have been well sorted by the time the first Signum was built tho.
Not the time to change a 45mpg+ diesel for a 30mpg petrol me thinks.
Very pleased that I didnt go for the 3.0 X-Type Jag (hey thread back on topic!) earlier this year.
My Mondeo is going strong, 128k now, averaging 46 - 47 mpg, I get to drive other cars on occasions and it really is still a very sweet diesel engine.
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In a way PU, but would you really want to drive a thing like that every day, and be seen in it by people you know? Supercar money too.
Surely the Jaguar XF so admired by HJ would be more than adequate without getting you stared at or looking a bit too low and slinky for strict good taste, if you see what I mean.
Actually Our Leader always makes the cars he likes sound as if one might want one. One of those Grande Punto Abarths painted some dull matt greyish colour for example would really appeal as a dignified runabout. Bargain prices too. No one would wonder where you had got the money.... :o}
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I remember Q Willson doing one of his guides to buying a used XJS ... his advice was along the lines of "even if it has a full Jag dealer service history, really, really don't buy a V12 unless you've got a couple of grand disposable cash to spend at a moment's notice on repairs"
I remember once looking under the bonnet of an HE, if there was an award for the most clutter and random pipery, the V12 would win hands down :(
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Another reason to go for a BMW as a fun car - if you look under the bonnet of a BMW, the straight-six looks like a work of art, and is.
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I'm going to wade in and speculate that the BMW money will stay in Germany but head over to Stuttgart. Boxster S is going to be my guess.....
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I think you should get KWE (or similar) to source or re-build something like an old S Type, get it done properly, wouldn't cost the earth to source in the first place...and you keep it forever. Modern bits and bobs where needed, e.g. brakes, PAS, air con, but otherwise fairly period. Would be a cracking motor.
might drop to start with, but eventually with lowish mileage and looked after would retain an awful lot of value
chose the S Type, because everyone does MkII's and they can be expensive to source in the first place.
There's a good 'classic' scene and there wouldn't be many around. Compare the initial cost to the depreciation of a 5 series, big Audi, Boxster etc over say 5 years...it would be minimal and you'd still have an appreciating asset
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If you've still got the Land-Rover; why on earth would you need an XJS?
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By pure coincidence, I think the Top Gear with the KWE XJS will be repeated this morning at 11 on Dave (and probably later this evening).
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'The most dangerous, and fastest way known to man to blow £500'
Yeah right, just try waking up between two black hookers with 6 empty wraps of coke on the floor.
I've been drooling over the KWE website for a couple of years now. I can't think of a better motor-related way to spend 35k than a V12 XJS that has been breathed upon by KWE. You're not buying a re-hashed version of the flawed original, you're buying the car it always should have been.
I slowed to let one in on a roundabout in Cheadle today, driven by a delicious blonde woman, just so I could keep it in view for a few seconds longer. A late-model facelifted version with pillarless doors. I used to have one of these and I can't begin to describe what it does for your sex life. That's what real motoring is all about. Heaven help us when we're all driving hybrids and 3-pots. I hope I'll be dead by then.
Edited by Webmaster on 09/08/2008 at 13:25
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Yeah right just try waking up between two black hookers with 6 empty wraps of coke on the floor.
Always have a way with words BBD ;-)
Nice to have you back!
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>I slowed to let one in on a roundabout in Cheadle today, driven by a delicious blonde woman,
You sure it wasn't John Prescott in drag?
I think he has a hankering like PU. He has an XJS as well.
>Heaven help us when we're all driving hybrids and 3-pots. I hope I'll be dead by then.
"waking up between two black hookers with 6 empty wraps of coke on the floor."
That's a good way to start ;-)
Kevin...
Edited by Webmaster on 09/08/2008 at 13:25
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just try waking up between two black hookers with 6 empty wraps of coke on the floor.
They were both still there, along with your trousers, leather jacket, wallet, passport and cards BBD? Luxury!
But if that's what they do for your sex life I think XJ12s, even ones that go properly and don't break down, probably come even dearer than one might expect.... Best avoided I think at my age. I agree they're nice though.
Edited by Lud on 08/08/2008 at 23:37
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Yeah right just try waking up between two black hookers
Good Lord, first time i've heard of a chap with a hankering for southern hemisphere rugby players
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Poor dave, one of them was called nigel......
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I'm butting in halfway through this thread, as it degenerates into smutty talk further down.
I've had a version of the Series 3 XJ12 for 15 years, and from all the dire warnings of doom expressed here: Either all of the cars left in UK are in a bad way, or you are all too chicken to get your hands dirty. I'm in New Zealand, by the way.
As mentioned above, the KWE cars are beautifully restored and re-engineered to take out some of the 1980s faults, that honestly, most cars, and especially British ones, all had.
I have done all the maintenance on my car, and it has never been to a dealer or workshop except for safety inspections. If you choose carefully, and apply checks that you should carry out when buying any used car from that era, there is no reason why you should not have many years of motoring pleasure from your Jaguar.
Short of a full engine rebuild, which will only be necessary on a V12 if it has been abused or overheated, everything else is within the capabilities of a home-taught mechanic. There are many websites that offer advice and support for these cars, and spare parts are generally still available. Even the fuel injection ECU has is about as complex as a digital alarm clock, and usually easily repaired, or cheaply replaced.
So let's stop discouraging people from buying these cars and enjoying them. Nothing special to drive, someone said? The effortless urge of a good V12 still works its magic for me, after 15 years, and I almost always find myself glancing back at it after parking, and appreciating its classic shape.
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