Introduction
My Jaguar XJR V8
Got it in 2008 to replace the 1966 S-Type I`d just sold & after a long line of XJ6`s.
I`d always wanted an XJR in black with Ivory leather since they came out (I was working at Jaguar then), one of my friends was looking for a salvage car to do up for his misses, he called me from the salvage yard up north & told me he`d seen something I`d like, told me about it, sent me a few pics from his mobile & I decided to get it unseen.
When it arrived I couldnt believe my luck, the damage was limited to the bonnet, grille, intercooler, bumper, bumper mounts (fibreglass & snapped) & the washer bottle. The headlights & mounts (a weak point in frontals) were unbroken, as were the lights in the bumper, thats how light the damage was.
The interior was mint, as was the rest of the bodywork, the (P-Zero) tyres looked almost new, it even had its service history in the glove box (unusual for a salvage car) & a Parrot hands free kit fitted!
The parts from Jaguar were obviously steep which is why it had been written off as a cat D, bonnet £700, bumper £800, grille £300, intercooler £300 etc. I managed to get the lot over the next 6 weeks for about £600.
Took me about another 2 weeks working here & there to get it finished, there were no hidden suprises & it went straight through its MOT with no advisories when I`d finished.
About 18 months on its still running perfectly, still hits 60 in 5 seconds & is perfectly comfortable well into 3 figure speeds! & even though I hardly use it these days, it still always starts straight away without even a jump start!
Pics as I got her:
& now:
& the downside!
The last 2 pictures are the reason why I dont use her much! most of my journeys are in London on my own, not the best place for MPG... so I use the Uno 95% of the time. I only use the XJR for the odd motorway trip with my kids now(I wouldnt take the kids on the motorway in the Uno for safety reason), the average mpg has gone up to about 19mpg because of that, but I`ve only done 4-500 miles in her since the last MOT 7 months ago....
Got it in 2008 to replace the 1966 S-Type I`d just sold & after a long line of XJ6`s.
I`d always wanted an XJR in black with Ivory leather since they came out (I was working at Jaguar then), one of my friends was looking for a salvage car to do up for his misses, he called me from the salvage yard up north & told me he`d seen something I`d like, told me about it, sent me a few pics from his mobile & I decided to get it unseen.
When it arrived I couldnt believe my luck, the damage was limited to the bonnet, grille, intercooler, bumper, bumper mounts (fibreglass & snapped) & the washer bottle. The headlights & mounts (a weak point in frontals) were unbroken, as were the lights in the bumper, thats how light the damage was.
The interior was mint, as was the rest of the bodywork, the (P-Zero) tyres looked almost new, it even had its service history in the glove box (unusual for a salvage car) & a Parrot hands free kit fitted!
The parts from Jaguar were obviously steep which is why it had been written off as a cat D, bonnet £700, bumper £800, grille £300, intercooler £300 etc. I managed to get the lot over the next 6 weeks for about £600.
Took me about another 2 weeks working here & there to get it finished, there were no hidden suprises & it went straight through its MOT with no advisories when I`d finished.
About 18 months on its still running perfectly, still hits 60 in 5 seconds & is perfectly comfortable well into 3 figure speeds! & even though I hardly use it these days, it still always starts straight away without even a jump start!
Pics as I got her:
& now:
& the downside!
The last 2 pictures are the reason why I dont use her much! most of my journeys are in London on my own, not the best place for MPG... so I use the Uno 95% of the time. I only use the XJR for the odd motorway trip with my kids now(I wouldnt take the kids on the motorway in the Uno for safety reason), the average mpg has gone up to about 19mpg because of that, but I`ve only done 4-500 miles in her since the last MOT 7 months ago....
