SIGforum
Late-90s Jaguar XJ8: "dead sexy."
April 25, 2025, 01:15 PM
vthokyLate-90s Jaguar XJ8: "dead sexy."
Stopping for gas at lunchtime today, I spied an older (relatively...) Jaguar sedan in the side lot. I've seen this car many times, sitting there looking simultaneously sharp and neglected. I've thought a number of times (way too many, probably), "Man, if I had a pile of time, a bucket of money, and a thick skin for repelling all the English car jokes...."
That long, low body; those quad round headlights; that curvaceous hood, covering a big ol' 4-liter V-8; all dressed in shiny black. Gorgeous from a short distance. I haven't walked close enough to it to verify, but it looks like an R version. From ten yards away, this car is SOOOO good looking!
Today I took a minute to walk into the shop and ask about it. It's a 1999. The owner towed it in and asked the fellas to "get it running." Easy enough, right? No way, Jeeves. Here's the back story: the owner drove it into a storage building and let it sit... for 25 years. The car wasn't prepped for long-term storage, at all. Ugh.
The fellas removed the gas tank and found it full of rust and funk. They got new fuel pumps for it and told the owner where to get a replacement tank. He hasn't done it. Meanwhile, there's the additional ugly truth: the storage building the owner chose wasn't at all climate controlled, so the interior is full of funk and mold. Ugh, again. So even if they were to get it running and replace all the rotten hoses, belts, seals, and so forth, it would still be a nightmare inside.
As a car nut, I can't help but think it's almost criminal to let such a sweet car be neglected so badly, for so long.
Shameful, I tell ya.
(Someone else's pic.)
God bless America. April 25, 2025, 01:31 PM
HRKHeck that's just normal stuff, replacing fuel pumps and other broken parts are even for non neglected Jag's LOL
Jag has made lots of good looking vehicles, unfortunately they stopped there and has a history of not making good quality drivable vehicles..
April 25, 2025, 01:31 PM
P250UA5They also did an XJR with a [IIRC] supercharged V8
The Enemy's gate is down. April 25, 2025, 01:34 PM
1s1kWasn’t that basically a Ford Taurus or am I thinking of another year.
April 25, 2025, 01:47 PM
P250UA5quote:
Originally posted by 1s1k:
Wasn’t that basically a Ford Taurus or am I thinking of another year.
Maybe the X-Type & S-Type, which I think were reskinned Fords.
The XJ is the flagship Jag sedan in that era.
The Enemy's gate is down. April 25, 2025, 02:30 PM
slosigquote:
Originally posted by HRK:
Jag has made lots of good looking vehicles, unfortunately they stopped there and has a history of not making good quality drivable vehicles..
The owner of the garage I worked at in high school used to laugh and say, “Fuel pump, water, clutch, fuel pump water pump clutch, rinse, repeat, the life of a British car owner.”
I always thought the E types were drop dead sexy and wanted one with a V12 until I learned that most of them had had the V12 ripped out and a small block Chevy dropped in so that one could actually drive it some of the time instead of having it spend its *entire* life in the shop.
Later when I lived and worked in London for a while I had a G reg Morris Mark 12. After dealing with the several expletive deleted Solex carburetors, I came to the conclusion that British cars were designed for people that had nothing better to do on the weekends than screw around with their cars trying to get them to run. Oh well, so much for the dream of an E type…
April 25, 2025, 02:42 PM
P250UA5^ My Midget has had the water pump replaced [to convert from clutched to fixed fan]
Have a new fuel pump on the bench ready to install [to convert from mechanical to electric].
Clutch is good, but I also have a spare transmission in the shop to go through [to replace if the 2nd gear grind gets any worse].
The Enemy's gate is down. April 25, 2025, 02:43 PM
vthokyquote:
Originally posted by slosig:
I always thought the E types were drop dead sexy and wanted one with a V12 until I learned that most of them had had the V12 ripped out and a small block Chevy dropped in so that one could actually drive it some of the time instead of having it spend its *entire* life in the shop.
A teacher at my high school drove an E-type. I'm not sure whether we dorks spent more time looking at the car, or at her.
quote:
Originally posted by P250UA5:
They also did an XJR with a [IIRC] supercharged V8
Yes, they did!!
God bless America. April 25, 2025, 02:50 PM
SigJacketNegative on both. And, yet not.
The S-Type and the Lincoln LS were close kin. The Jag was borrowing suspension bits, but the Lincoln was using Jag engines. Both of those were super nice with the rare Getrag manual that was very uncommon.
The X-Type took a few things from the Mondeo but it was at least 3/4 Jag. I had a 2006. That car was a great handling car with the AWD system, fun in N Ga mountains. But I let it go in 2020 because I wasn’t going to throw down $4500 on a ABS module for a $3500 street value car.
April 25, 2025, 03:07 PM
chellim1The XJ is a nice looking car. It's too bad it was left in storage, but it should be salvageable.
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-rduckwor April 25, 2025, 04:36 PM
newtoSig765Back sometime in the 1960's, I think, Car & Driver Magazine took an E-Type and installed a Pontiac Slant-6 OHC in it. The transplant worked, not a great power loss over the original Jag 6 cylinder, and it became one of two Jags I know of that could go on a drive without the necessity of a tow truck following.
Another sad story of neglecting a Jag, a friend of mine and his father went to the New York Auto Show to see the E-Type introduction. They had a coupe and a roadster there, and my friend's father bought one of them, don't know which. They drove it home and had a lot of fun with it.
The father never sold the car. As he got older he moved it to an island offshore from Door County, Wisconsin, where it sat while he declined into senility and passed away. By then, the car was a rusted-out hulk.
I lost touch with my friend and he died some years ago, but I suspect the car somehow survived and, hopefully, got restored. My friend was very active in PCA and later in life ran a respected Porsche repair or restoration shop, and was fully aware of the significance of the first E-Type in the USA. I just hope he did the right thing with it.
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April 25, 2025, 06:30 PM
YooperSigsIn HS, my buddy and I fucked up and bought an English car. A Sunbeam. Only car I have ever owned that actually hated me and tried to kill me. One of the highlights of a Sunbeam drive was when the wiring behind the dash would catch on fire. And if this blaze ignited at night, you would lose the headlights.
No more English cars for me!
End of Earth: 2 Miles
Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
April 25, 2025, 06:47 PM
lymanquote:
Originally posted by vthoky:
Stopping for gas at lunchtime today, I spied an older (relatively...) Jaguar sedan in the side lot. I've seen this car many times, sitting there looking simultaneously sharp and neglected. I've thought a number of times (way too many, probably), "Man, if I had a pile of time, a bucket of money, and a thick skin for repelling all the English car jokes...."
That long, low body; those quad round headlights; that curvaceous hood, covering a big ol' 4-liter V-8; all dressed in shiny black. Gorgeous from a short distance. I haven't walked close enough to it to verify, but it looks like an R version. From ten yards away, this car is SOOOO good looking!
Today I took a minute to walk into the shop and ask about it. It's a 1999. The owner towed it in and asked the fellas to "get it running." Easy enough, right? No way, Jeeves. Here's the back story: the owner drove it into a storage building and let it sit... for 25 years. The car wasn't prepped for long-term storage, at all. Ugh.
The fellas removed the gas tank and found it full of rust and funk. They got new fuel pumps for it and told the owner where to get a replacement tank. He hasn't done it. Meanwhile, there's the additional ugly truth: the storage building the owner chose wasn't at all climate controlled, so the interior is full of funk and mold. Ugh, again. So even if they were to get it running and replace all the rotten hoses, belts, seals, and so forth, it would still be a nightmare inside.
As a car nut, I can't help but think it's almost criminal to let such a sweet car be neglected so badly, for so long.
Shameful, I tell ya.
(Someone else's pic.)
buy it,
find a donor Lexus, get the V8 or even the 6cyl and trans, and install, (reliability)
gut the interior leathers and fabric, will be expensive to go back leather, but if you are gonna spend the cash go new vs try to find a donor car parts,
then have fun
https://chandlersfirearms.com/chesterfield-armament/
April 25, 2025, 06:51 PM
vthokyquote:
Originally posted by lyman:
find a donor Lexus, get the V8
I
love that idea!
Even before learning about its issues, I had an LS swap in mind... silly me, I was thinking General Motors LS, rather than Lexus LS.
God bless America. April 25, 2025, 08:52 PM
P250UA5LS430 swap wouldn't be a terrible idea.
Would be curious if the swap kits exist for that
The Enemy's gate is down. April 25, 2025, 08:55 PM
ElToroThat body style is hot
There’s a cottage industry of LS swapping those. More YouTube videos than you want to watch about it.
That car with 450 horse reliable v8 power would be a great fun car.
April 26, 2025, 05:25 AM
Black92LXThey are beautiful!
My uncle dailies a 2007 Vanden Plas and it is an absolute stunner!
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April 26, 2025, 06:47 AM
egregoreI think that car is more dead than sexy.
Sometimes, due to depreciation, cars like this can be found cheap. The new owners find the repair costs to far exceed the savings, even the value of the car itself. Never buy a Jag out of warranty.
April 26, 2025, 09:22 AM
vthokyquote:
Originally posted by P250UA5:
LS430 swap wouldn't be a terrible idea.
Would be curious if the swap kits exist for that
I surfed on that for a few minutes earlier this morning. Everything I came up with led to GM LS swaps, nothing yet on 1UZ or 2UZ swaps.
Given the car's long-term storage, I'm way curious now how few miles are on it. I'll have to make a trip across the county again next week.
What I lack in budget, I more than make up for in curiosity!
God bless America. April 26, 2025, 09:24 AM
P-220IMO, Jag made some of the most beautiful automobiles ever.
Niech Zyje P-220
Steve