After 28 years asleep ...............

[Jhdee]

........... my sleeping beauty has awoken and is now back on the road - am I pleased ??? - you can bet your sweet bippy I am 

 

[Andy X400 3.0]

Awesome i love it 

[O.T.H]

Yes I agree  "BEAUTIFUL" your a lucky man

[Old Peter]

Well done, John, and the colour is fitting the car.

This was the last car that Malcolm Sayer had started designing before his untimely death.  He had been asked by Sir William Lyons to design a Grand Tourer to take the place of the E Type.  So nice to see another one back on the road.

Peter.

[Jhdee]

Thanks Peter - I really like the colour too. Was never really sure about the black vinyl roof but over the years it has grown on me. I've owned sleeping beauty since she was 2 1/2 years old having originally purchased her for my father  - the smile on his face when he drove her home for the first time was worth every penny. Since 1989 she has been stored in a rented lock-up garage. The amazing fact about sleeping beauty is she required no weld repairs to return her to roadworthiness !!! The conditions in that lock-up must have been perfect for storing Jaguars - I guess dry and draughty is the answer. She has done 43k miles and runs really well. One of her unusual features is an electric metal sunroof. Apparently, the first owner insisted on having the sunroof and the research I've carried out indicates it is one of 600 cars that Jaguar took off the production line for Webasto to fit the sunroof before returning to Jaguar for build completion.

The main target now is to find another draughty lock-up to keep her in good shape for the next 37 years 

[Claws]

Ditto other comments, She is lovely, would be a shame to lock her away again  what engine does she have?

Regards

Steve

[Old Peter]

Hi Steve,

The XJS in its initial launch had a 5 litre engine  --  Unfortunately there was a petrol crisis at the time of its launch and Jaguar, which was then part of British Leyland started putting other more frugal engines in over its period of manufacture.

Regards,

Peter 

[Claws]

Cheers Peter for the info, she is a good looking car for sure

Regards

Steve

[Jhdee]

3 hours ago, Claws said:

Ditto other comments, She is lovely, would be a shame to lock her away again  what engine does she have?

Regards

Steve

Don't worry she's definitely going to be driven - its the storage for those wet winter months that'll be important for the future so I've bought a Cartoon. I've heard only good things about them so I'm hoping it will keep her in good condition. As Peter quite rightly states she has a 5.3 litre V12. Fuel consumption was never really the strong point hence the introduction of the HE engines with the Fireball heads. Not many pre-HEs about these days probably due to their awful fuel consumption and galloping tin-worm 

[Jaguar Owners Club]

You certainly have a beautiful and rare XJS there John....I had a 1980 pre-HE XJS myself and was told that during that year, Jaguar were on strike for 8 months, hence some cars were left outside, no paint, hanging around, etc and this led to extensive corrosion problems. Had to chase mine around with a MIG welder for weeks, even when it was still only 5 years old. 

Still have fond memories of it though, such a sweet car to drive and would love one in my garage nowadays

[Claws]

Glad to hear she will be out and about again, I nearly bought one the other year to restore! 

Sorry John, what's a Cartoon? (other than the obvious!)

Regards

Steve

[Jhdee]

1 hour ago, Claws said:

Glad to hear she will be out and about again, I nearly bought one the other year to restore! 

Sorry John, what's a Cartoon? (other than the obvious!)

Regards

Steve

Hi Steve - bleeding auto correct - it should have read Carcoon  - sorry for the confusion but at least it was funny one - some of these auto correct changes can get quite rude 

[Carole Simpson-Hadley]

Hi John

We concur with all the other comments, and good to know that this particular XJS is going to be cossetted.

We'll also concur with regard to the Carcoon....an excellent purchase and you will be well rewarded.    Our 6600 mile '07 XK lives in one.  We have, like you, a dry and secure (large sized) garage at the end of our rear garden, but when we first purchased the XK (in April '16) we found that although the XK remained dry (apart from an occasional condensation drip from the roof), it did get dusty.   A (not cheap) car cover was purchased but this produced more condensation than enough and was rapidly returned.    Enter the Carcoon (in our case, a drive-in version i.e. a strong free-standing metal frame with the cocoon attached over it)  and the XK now comes out of the Carcoon in exactly the same condition as it went in.  You will, of course, find that even if the car is put in slightly damp, the fans and vents will dry the car off.    Of course, the Carcoon is not particularly cheap, but then how many hours of professional paintwork etc would you get for the cost of the Carcoon?!  Not many!

Have a great time with the XJS, and good to see it with an original Glamorgan issued number plate (last two digits 'TG').

As always, happy growling

 

[Jhdee]

With the weather being a little kinder today, I've managed to get a few more photos of the old girl - took her out for a drive today - the first time in 28 years - boy did that bring back some memories and she's still as impressive as the day I bought her 35 years ago. We managed to keep the tax disc from the last time she was on the road - nice little souvenir 

 

 

[Jhdee]

All tucked up in her Carcoon - its an outdoor version but I've housed it in a temporary garage which is not much good at keeping out the rain but at least it keeps out the wind and bird sh1te 

 

[Lazlo Woodbine]

I do like a vinyl roof, I've never seen an XJS with one before though. To my eye it really accentuates the shape of the flying buttresses and yet at the same time makes them stand out less. It's an impressive looking car and I think the simplicity of the early ones suits the shape much better than the later facelift.

The condition of your particular one is amazing. You should build it a garage, a cavity walled, insulated, climate controlled garage. 

 

[Jhdee]

Thanks for your kind comments Ralph. As much as I would love to have a purpose built garage to keep the XJS in, I'm afraid most of my spare cash has gone into re-commissioning the car. The rest, I'm sure, will go in petrol money - the pre-HE always had awful fuel consumption