Jaguar Owners Club

did the illumination suddenly decrease over time or was it instant?

Hi Simon, The inlet gaskets are made of rubber in which case it would be okay to reuse if they are not damaged. As Peter mentioned earlier there are You Tube videos worth watching to assess whether you feel confident to tackle the job. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVR1Or8xZQE Regards Trevor

Do the switches function okay? If so, then I would imagine it could be faulty bulbs causing lack of illumination. Sometimes the wiring breaks on the doors where they fracture by opening and closing constantly.

It could be rear wheel bearing(s) if the noise is constant...a front bearing if the noise generally disappears when cornering. Worth looking at door and window rubbers to see if they are letting air through them....maybe use a hosepipe to spray water at the doors and windows and see if any water enters...then this maybe also where the air is entering?

HI Martin....and welcome to the forums! We've had a few members saying about the ride quality of the XF...general opinion is the tyre sizes as in low profile that ruins the ride quality but improves the handling though. Look forward to reading your posts on the forum Regards Trevor

Hi Daz...and welcome to the club! There is an insurance group on this club website that does discounted premiums for club members...maybe worth giving them a call. As for the headlining, I wonder if any other members have experienced this and can offer a solution? Good to have you onboard and look forward to reading your posts Regards Trevor

Hi Seb....and welcome to the club! Welcome also to the wonderful world of Jaguars I must say your Jag is looking rather festive :) Look forward to reading your posts on here...maybe when you're sober though! Regards Trevor

Its probably worth checking the brake pedal switch as you say...they can be problematic on other makes which then affect the cruise control

Jaguar Ian Callum, shown here far removed from Scotland or Los Angeles. Ian Callum never grew up a rich boy, but his friends did. His father worked as a lawyer in Dumfries, a market town of 43,000 in the lower corner of Scotland, where the Solway Firth narrows to a point. When you travel, Callum reminisced, you forget how beautiful it is. Vauxhalls and Fords defined Callum's life; his father was "too nice," he said, to be wealthy. But when his clients came to visit, they would darken the driveway with Jaguar Mark IIs. One friend had a Ferrari Dino. Another had an Aston Martin DBS. The exotic car around town, the home team the Doonhamers rooted for, was the Jaguar. Callum has a Mark II Jaguar today, though he's planning to 'trick it up a bit' (What does a car designer drive? A 1932 Ford, a 1993 Mini Cooper, a 1956 Chevrolet 210 on 20-inch wheels and a veritable Summit Racing catalog buried underhood.) Incidentally, for someone who once pressed his nose up against the only Jaguar-Vauxhall garage in town, the Mk II is his first Jaguar. And the F-Type, whose striking coupe guise was unveilled at the Los Angeles Auto Show recently, is his latest. For the F-Type, Callum assembled a team that included. Unlike Jaguars past, the F-Type was conceived as convertible first -- but there was always a plan for a coupe. Callum has always been smitten by coupes. It's much harder to design a convertible than a coupe, even though his team -- and remember, anyone at Jaguar is a team player by default -- relished the challenge. With a convertible, it's very easy to make it look quite ordinary, he explained; you get a good convertible, and the coupe falls perfectly into place. It's never the other way around. "The one frustration was that the F-Type's taken too long. I wish we'd got to do it sooner. It's as significant for Jaguar as the E-Type was in the '60s." It would have been more difficult under Ford, but not impossible, he noted. Fortunately, Callum found a visionary in Ratan Tata. After purchasing Jaguar in 2008, Tata asked bluntly: "You're a sports car company. Where's the sports car?" "Well," Callum confessed, "I've been trying!" And yes, he informed, in full view of his PR handlers and product managers -- there will be an F-Type RS. 550 supercharged, screaming horsepower on the R, it seems, just isn't enough grace, space, and pace for some. The mind reels at such violence yet untapped. Jaguar A sketch from Jaguar's design team shows an even sleeker roofline, rendered null by the intricacies of production. Jaguar designers hold to themselves the unenviable burden of history. How can contemporary designs secure their legacy in the shadow of Malcolm Sayer and Sir William Lyons? "You're the second person to ask that! I'm 60 next year. That's a scary thought." Callum paused. "I don't think about it," he said, simply. "I feel an obligation toward it, towards making it work." A celebrity in the business? Perish the thought. "I've got a good PR team," Callum noted. "But a lot of it comes from being in a company as high-profile as Jaguar." Callum has been at Jaguar 15 years -- last September was his anniversary. But when he started at the company he most admired he had intended on staying for just 10 years. "Don't tell my boss," he smiled. "In my own mind, my plan was 10 years I would do the job. Ten years wasn't enough. Now, I'm just kicking into something bigger than me." He's got so much more to do, to create: a boat, perhaps, as a tribute to the Jaguar D-Type; a handbag and a few watches for the Sunday Times. The Sportbrake -- "one of the most handsome cars we make," and if only they could bring it to the States, he lamented. (Enthusiasts will be glad to know that Callum has a not-entirely-unusual fondness for shooting brakes, a love best embodied by the Lynx Eventer.) There's so much design in the world, and not enough at just one car company. Another pause, this one more thoughtful. "Jaguar, specifically, was always my first love in the car business, "he said. "And I would like to leave the business in a good state." We'd argue that goal has already been accomplished. By: Blake Z. Rong on 12/23/2013

Waking up Christmas morning is always a very, very special occasion – but perhaps even more so this year as ITV4 is screening highlights of last summer’s award-winning Silverstone Classic. Confirmation that the dedicated one-hour programme is to be broadcast on free-to-air television at 9:05am on Wednesday 25 December also provides those seeking the perfect last-minute Christmas present with a truly unique opportunity – the chance to gift tickets for next year’s Silverstone Classic while watching all the action from this year’s record breaking extravaganza. “It will really bring Christmas presents to life,” admitted Nick Wigley, Event Director. “Can you imagine the added thrill of waking up on Christmas morning, receiving Silverstone Classic tickets and then fully appreciating what a special treat is in store by switching on the television. The prospect is almost too good to be true!” Adding to the festive occasion, a bespoke Silverstone Classic gift certificate can be downloaded from silverstoneclassic.com/giftcertificate. What’s more those buying tickets as Christmas presents can also take full advantage of ‘early-bird’ savings on offer to those booking well in advance. ITV4’s decision to repeat the Silverstone Classic on Christmas morning comes after the ratings success of the original four broadcasts screened immediately after this year’s spectacular event. More than a million viewers have already savoured those fast-moving programmes, which include much of the stunning on-track action as well as focusing on the amazing arrays of classic cars on display. While taking centre stage, the cars are by no means the only on-screen stars. Among a host of famous racing legends interviewed are three-time F1 world champion Sir Jackie Stewart, five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell MBE and veteran commentator Murray Walker OBE. With the on-line box office open throughout the holiday period, tickets can be even be purchased on Christmas Day for those either taking their present buying right down to the wire or, perhaps, inspired by what they’re waking up to on ITV4 television. Full details can be found on the official www.silverstoneclassic.com website.

Robert Buchanan and Ralph Boonstra are restoring a 1962 E-type Jaguar in Ralph's garage. The story of how a vaguely worded ad led to a once-in-a-lifetime deal for a Jaguar fanatic A vaguely worded classified ad, saying only “Jaguar for Sale,” resulted in a once-in-a-lifetime deal for an Edmonton-area E-Type Jaguar enthusiast Rob Buchanan, a life-long lover of the iconic hard-top coupe, spotted the ad in September 2013. It turned out to be a 1962 Jaguar E-Type 3.8, located in Calgary. Buchanan immediately sped south, and by 7 p.m. had made what he calls his own “barn find deal” with the seller. Hours of work and countless dollars are required to bring the 1962 E-type Jaguar back to life. He bought the chassis, frame, engine plus a spare, and all the parts – which had been cataloged and stored in boxes – for less than $7,000, knowing it was worth a great deal more. The seller also knew the real value of what he was selling but said he wanted it off his hands. “I’ve loved the E-Type my whole life, and there isn’t anyone between ages of 45 and 70 who hasn’t at one time looked at this car and said ‘wow’,” explained Buchanan, a welder and pipe-fitting instructor at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), Edmonton. Originally from Glasgow, Scotland, Buchanan owned his first E-Type at age 19 after making good money in the U.K. oil industry. His love for that car was such that when he and his then-girlfriend, now-wife Nora had a tiff, she knew just how to hurt him and kicked his E-Type’s passenger door as he drove away. “She knew how to cause me pain and I asked ‘Did you really have to do that?’” The 1962 E-type Jaguar is now grey instead of its original red. Greg Southam, Edmonton Journal The E-Type Jaguar is no ordinary sports car. It’s an engineering marvel and a work of art, and has earned places in the Smithsonian Institution and the New York Museum of Modern Art. It made a stunning debut at the Geneva Motor Show in 1961 and on its release was described by Enzo Ferrari as “the most beautiful car ever made.” Back then, Britain was still in the shadows of the austere 1950s. The Swinging Sixties were a few years away. But behind the scenes, Jaguar’s mathematician and aerodynamics expert Malcolm Sayer was toiling to create a sports car with an almost perfect aerodynamic body. The result was the sensational E-Type Jaguar, which offered superb handling and speed, too. The new Jaguar shocked conservative drivers in Britain, but thrilled many more with its sensual styling. But there was a catch: Jaguar chief Sir William Lyons wanted the E-Type to lead Jaguar’s leap into the U.S. market, thus the much-desired sports car was hard to come by at home. Buchanan’s car was No. 625 off the production line, and one of only a handful sold in Britain. It was originally bought by someone in London, and in the early 1980s shipped to Calgary by its previous owner. It spent the past 30 years in a garage, awaiting repair. Fortunately, Alberta’s climate is dryer than Britain’s, so it didn’t rust and the main components stayed in relatively good condition. The restoration work is proceeding at a phenomenal pace, given that the average car restoration can take years. But Buchanan, 60, has exceptional knowledge about the vehicle, having owned four E-Types in the past. He had to sell those cars at various points over the years to pay for things like his children’s university tuition. He’s also being helped by a friend, Ralph Boonstra, a retired mechanical technician who’s restored 15 E-Types in the past. The project has been a life-saver for Boonstra, who had a massive heart attack two years ago and whose passion for the car has given him a sense of purpose. “This project really pepped up my life and gives inspiration every day,” said Boonstra. The very early E-type Jaguar is being completely restored. Greg Southam, Edmonton Journal The men began in September and the car will be on the road in early summer, 2014. The only significant change will be the will be the colour. Buchanan’s car was originally pillar box red, but he’s resprayed it gunmetal grey. Buchanan refused to be drawn into revealing the cost of the restoration, and chuckled as he said “that’s something I turn a blind eye to.” When asked what’s been the most challenging aspect of the project, he paused for a moment and then replied: “Nothing really. We just love this work.” Buchanan loves the E-Type’s history almost as much as the car, and knows many details and facts. E-Types have a “crash gear box,” meaning first gear is non-synchronized and drivers had to come to a complete stop to shift the car into first. But impatient drivers would jam the stick shift into first, hence the phrase “crash gear box.” The 3.8 had three carbs, making it faster than the 4.2 produced later. It had a basic interior and seats, but these features were overlooked by enthusiasts, who never fell out of love with the coupe’s style, performance and affordability. We’ll check back on this on this E-Type restoration project, and will feature plenty of images of the restored car when it hits the roads in 2014. Jaguar E-Type 3.8 by the numbers: Model years 1961 – 1964 Body styles Fixed head coupe, roadster Manufacturing details 15,490 of that model built in Coventry, U.K. Engine and Transmission 3,781-cc, six-cylinder four-speed Max speed 149 mph Launch Price £2,098, approximately $5,780 Canadian Value after restoration $80,000 – $90,000 By Sheelagh Caygill, Driving

If the cruise control is powered up and not activating then I can only imagine that there must be a fault code in the system. Your best bet now is to get a code reader from Ebay to extract the code and go from there. Code Reader: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221252642417?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Hi David...and welcome to the club ! Fantastic road trip....just looked you up on google and read your blog. Great bike to do it on aswell (I have the GS1200) and also love big road trips but not been as far as India (yet). The S-Type is a great car and especially good for long haul with the Diesel engine. Very reliable engine but would probably replace the standard coolant hose clips for Jubilee clips. Great fuel economy and comfort levels would make the trip feel like a walk in the park! Please keep us updated on your progress leading up to departure as we could feature your blogs on this site, showing your progress with the Jag. Regards Trevor

Mercedes has responded to Jaguar spoofing their Magic Body Control advert featuring chickens with an image on Facebook. Mercedes digs at Jaguar for EATING its Chicken Just a few days ago we had a great video from Jaguar poking fun at Mercedes advert for Magic Body Control that featured chickens demonstrating how MBC worked. Jaguar’s response was to mimic Mercedes opening to the video but following it up with Jaguar’s big cat eating Mercedes chickens. It was a great response and we hoped it would signal a nice bit of back and forth between the Germans and the British as they each tried to outdo the other. Well it has, but Mercedes hasn’t quite put in the effort Jaguar did. The response from Mercedes is a single photo posted on Facebook showing a Mercedes bearing down on a Jaguar (cat) ahead with the simple tag line “Because cat-like reflexes aren’t enough. Mercedes PRE-SAFE Brake”. It’s a response from Mercedes, but we had hoped they’d put in a bit more effort and come back with a similarly effective video. But they haven’t. Oh, well. December 20, 2013 By Cars UK

Wow! there can't be too many Lightweights left in existence now....would love to see some piccys of it

something to dampen the pain from losing the cricket

nice! he should have change from the F-Type purchase if its a genuine Lightweight E-Type

Something to wet your appetite....just before a huge Christmas dinner !

Jaguar unveiled the new 2015 F-Type Coupe prior to its public debut at the 2013 Los Angeles auto show. The event was held in a large movie studio in West Los Angeles, providing plenty of space for the coupe's dramatic Hollywood-style entrance. With about two football fields worth of tarmac at its disposal, an F-Type R coupe drove toward the crowd at wide open throttle, proving that its supercharged 550-hp V-8 sounds just as good as its top-down sibling. As for the styling, the coupe looks just as athletic, if not more so than the convertible. The coupe's wide, creased haunches are perhaps its best feature, while the roofline slopes nicely to the edge of the rear trunk deck. Overall, the new coupe is looks just as stunning as the C-X16 concept Jaguar showed off a few years ago. -- Erick Ayapana That’s right. Following the F-Type coupe’s worldwide debut at the 2013 Los Angeles auto show, it will arrive in dealerships with a base price of $65,895, which is $4000 cheaper than the top-down equivalent powered by the 340-hp 3.0-liter supercharged V-6. The F-Type S Coupe with the higher-output 380-hp blown-six will carry a starting price of at $77,895. The big news, however, is the F-Type R Coupe. At $99,895, the R Coupe gets a 5.0-liter supercharged V-8 rated at 550-hp and 502 lb-ft of torque. All engines are mated to an eight-speed automatic, though the R Coupe gets its own special calibration.Jaguar says the R Coupe will run from 0-60 mph in 4.0 seconds, which is very conservative when you consider the lesser powered F-Type V8 S convertible (488-hp) accelerated to 60 mph in a mere 3.9 seconds. We’ll also assume the R Coupe is lighter than the convertible, which tipped the scale at 3965 pounds. The supercharged six-cylinders are also far from slouches, with estimated 0-60 mph times of 5.1 and 4.8 seconds, respectively. Jaguar is introducing a few new performance goodies with the R Coupe. First is a next-generation Electronic Active Differential that features an improved and more responsive controller. The coupe will also come with a torque vectoring system that relies on the ABS to applying light braking force to the inside wheel during cornering. Speaking of brakes, all F-Type coupe models are available with Carbon Ceramic Matrix brakes, which Jaguar says zaps away a total of 46 pounds of unsprung-weight (20-inch forged rims are also included in the brake package). The 2015 F-Type R Coupe will also get unique tuning for its Adaptive Dynamics system and springs rates, which are higher than the V8 S convertible.Like the F-Type V8 S Convertible, the R Coupe will be fitted with an Active Sports Exhaust system, which can go from loud to very loud thanks to electronically controlled bypass valves tweaked with the push of a button. The R Coupe will feature quad exhaust tips, while the V-6 models are distinguishable by their center-mounted dual exhaust tips.If you were a fan of the C-X16 concept coupe that inspired the 2015 F-Type coupe, then you should be very pleased with the final product. It’s almost impossible to decide if the convertible or coupe is the better looker, though the coupe provides the benefit of added structural rigidity. Like the convertible, the coupe features aluminum construction. An aluminum alloy beam runs from the A-pillar to the D-pillar for added rigidity and allows the absence of a B-pillar. The sloping roofline blends simply to the edge of the rear hatch, which is made from lightweight composite material and also houses the power-retractable spoiler. Another benefit of the coupe is its trunk capacity of 11 cubic feet, which is four more than the convertible. Those wishing for more sunlight can opt for the optional panoramic glass roof. 2015 Jaguar F-Type Coupe BASE PRICE $65,895-$99,895 LAYOUT Front-engine, RWD, 2-pass, 2-door coupe ENGINE 3.0L/340-hp/332-lb-ft supercharged DOHC 24-valve V-6; 3.0L/380-hp/339-lb-ft supercharged DOHC 24-valve V-6; 5.0L/550-hp/502-lb-ft supercharged DOHC 32-valve V-8 TRANSMISSION 8-speed auto 0-60 MPH 3.8-5.0 sec (est) WHEELBASE 103.2 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 176 x 75.7 x 51.5 in CURB WEIGHT 3600-3900 lb (est) By Erick Ayapana | November 19, 2013

Legendary E-Type Lightweight

Nice to see people who care about others at this time of year http://www.shropshirelive.com/2013/12/17/challenge-launched-to-fill-jaguar-car-with-toys-for-hope-house/

A Jaguar C-Type XKC 023 automobile, owned by Christian J. Jenny, is seen in Greer, Arizona. Jenny, the former chief information officer of Zurich Insurance Group AG, spent five years proving his rare 1952 Jaguar C-Type convertible was authentic, after another model showed up on the market claiming to have the same identification number. In the 1930s, British sports-car maker MG made exactly 33 of the K3 open-top race car. If you want to buy one now, there are more than 100 to choose from. No, the defunct carmaker didn’t restart production. The tripling of the K3 fleet is part of the booming trade in fake antique autos as soaring prices for classic cars spur sophisticated counterfeits, according to Bernhard Kaluza, vice president of international antique auto club FIVA. “In the 1990s, I would find one faked car every five years,” said Norbert Schroeder, who verifies classic cars at TÜV Rheinland, a Cologne, Germany-based technical testing company. “Now I find up to five fakes a year.” Vintage cars have gained in appeal, especially since the financial crunch. Auction values have risen more than sevenfold over the past decade, according to data from market tracker Historica Selecta. British auction house Bonhams, which says global sales total more than $1 billion a year, sold a 1954 Mercedes-Benz F1 car for 19.6 million pounds ($32.1 million) in July, setting a world record at auction. The lure of antique autos is evident in the case of a 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4. Bonhams sold the exact same car in unchanged condition for 230,000 pounds in 2011, more than four times the price paid in 2003, said James Knight, head of the auction house’s motoring department. Porsche 904Demand remains high. At a Dec. 1 auction, Bonhams, which performs numerous checks before accepting a vehicle for auction, sold dozens of vintage autos, including a 1964 Porsche 904 GTS racing coupe for 1.15 million pounds, 1959 Aston Martin DB4GT Sports Saloon for 1.57 million pounds and a 1956 Jaguar D-Type “Shortnose” for 2.58 million pounds. “People with a lot of money prefer to have a classic car in the garage than money in the bank,” said Adolfo Orsi, president of Historica Selecta, a consulting company that specializes in vintage autos. “When there is a lot of money, there are fakes. In today’s world, it is possible to replicate everything.” Sophisticated forgers have been known to buy up old screws and washers, leave reproduced frames in fields to weather and have parts copied to make fakes harder to detect. FIVA’s Kaluza says counterfeiters even bought an old movie theater in France to get the worn antique leather from the seats. Organized Crime“The people faking cars are not a few lone wolves,” said TÜV’s Schroeder, who has traveled as far as California to authenticate cars, including evaluating welding joints and chemically testing the metal to determine its age. “It’s organized crime because it’s expensive to build such cars and you need a good infrastructure to do it.” Christian Jenny has confronted the risks. The former chief information officer of Zurich Insurance Group AG (ZURN) spent five years proving his rare 1952 Jaguar C-Type racer was authentic, after another model showed up on the market claiming to have the same identification number. The owner of 13 vintage Jaguars (TTMT) consulted numerous experts, including Norman Dewis, chief test engineer for the British luxury brand for more than 30 years. With the car valued at about $2.5 million, there was a lot at stake. “It might be a problem if you tried to sell the car years later,” said Jenny, who is now retired and lives in Thalwil, Switzerland. Verifying the car was “a precautionary measure.” Authenticating cars isn’t easy. Simon Kidston, a classic-car consultant in Geneva, was offered an Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ racer from the 1960s from a seller who claimed to have discovered the car in a scrapyard in northern Italy. Fiery Crash After consulting numerous sources, Kidston eventually discovered a photo of a car with the same identification number that was involved in a fiery crash at the Sebring race in 1964. The driver only barely escaped. “It was clear there could be nothing left of the original car,” said Kidston, who rejected the offer. Other frauds are more subtle, like taking an authentic vintage Porsche 911 and turning it into a high-performance RS version, which would effectively quadruple the car’s value. Others take authentic parts and build a vehicle around them, making the line between refurbished and forged models murky. “There are plenty of adapted cars,” said Bonhams’ Knight. “Fake has another meaning: it’s trying to deceive.” There are also legitimate copies of classic cars, which don’t try to fool buyers. Not Evil“The replica game isn’t evil,” said Martin Emmison, a lawyer at Goodman Derrick LLP in London, who advised Jenny and drives a Jaguar C-Type look-a-like. “It gives people like me who can’t afford a real C-Type a chance to drive the machine almost exactly how they were.” The extent of classic-car fraud is difficult to track since few victims come forward, and it’s still considered relatively rare. Still, to prevent the threat of counterfeits from discrediting the whole market, FIVA has created a passport for antique cars to improve transparency and help get-rich-quick newcomers and overeager fans from getting duped, said Kaluza. “The whole problem of faked classic cars is being treated warily,” because people in the market “don’t want to ruin the good mood,” said TÜV’s Schroeder. “I want to speak out on this before the whole thing blows up.” by Leon Mangasarian and Patrick Winters Dec 17, 2013 4:16 PM GMT

another fine Jaguar advert

Lovely Jaguar XK....and lady driver !