Hi Everyone, I have been a member for a short period of time and have been looking for an XJ6 Series 1 for a while. I am pleased to say that I have finally found a vehicle! I have a Carsales alert setup and about a week ago saw a 1973 XJ6 Series 1 come up for sale. It looked excellent in the photos and had undergone a fairly extensive restoration in 1990. Since the restoration it had covered about 20,000 miles. I rang the owner and after a few calls and some movement on price I was really keen. My main obstacle was that I am located in Victoria and the car was in Queensland. During my last call the owner indicated that the car had generated a bit of interest (including 3 other enthusiasts from Victoria!) and someone from the Jag club knew the car and was coming to look (buy?) that weekend! I then did something I wouldn't normally do and threw caution to the wind and made a direct deposit into the owners bank account to secure the car. We all know how dangerous it can be to consider any purchase of this type without a thorough inspection! When my wife arrived home that night there were fresh roses in a vase - she took one look at them and instantly knew trouble was afoot. Anyhow I survived telling her what I had done and then organised a return flight to QLD to inspect the car.


The car looked fantastic and was finished in a navy blue, not the darkest shade I have seen, and still looking very good. The interior which is a light tan was still stunning and not only had the seats been recovered (from imported Connolly hides) during the restoration, the owner had akso done the rest of the interior including all the wood, headlining, carpets and door cards etc. The engine & auto transmission had also been rebuilt, including a new (troublesome?) AED.


The test drive went well and the vehicle was quite spritely. There was some additional fan noise I hadn't encountered before and the owner explained the fan was direct coupled and didn't have the viscous coupling which I think was standard (someone more knowledgeable will know) I certainly do not wish to have any overheating issues however I am going to investigate other options to remove most of the noise as it is a bit intrusive and takes away some of that Jaguar ambiance. The engine was also a bit rough when cold (as expected)however it did settle down during the test drive. I also noticed that the tacho appeared to be registering about 2000-2100 rpm at 60mph so I assume it is not reading correctly.


I am now waiting impatiently for the car to be freighted down from QLD. I am looking forward to contributing with a few posts and catching up with some of the forum members if there are drives etc. I have tried to post some of the Carsales photos however I am not sure if they have been attached.


Cheers, Brendan.

 

Wow! What a stunning beastie. Well done Brendan ... Clarke [o1xjr] up in Brisbane has let a real beauty escape. He has a real fiery S1 XJ6 like yours and will be a good bloke to contact and share with. Life is too short to worry about what might have gone wrong with your "blind" purchase. Sometimes, despite all the sage advice we bestow on others (especially our kids), it does the soul good to seize the moment. Be irresponsible. As Ben Kingsley suggests in the new Jaguar ads ... sometimes it's good to be bad.

May I add a couple of suggestions ...

• from the forum home page scan down to, then jump into the model specific forum that matches your new beastie ... plenty of resources to download, and heaps of reading material too;

• at top left end of the forum home page, open User CP, then click on Edit Signature to add your growler's Year, Model, Engine Variant etc; thus ensuring any technical advice you receive is accurate;

• similarly, you can use Edit Avatar to append a pic or logo to your User Name in all posts;

• finally, jump into the Australian VIC&TAS region forum and say "Hi" to all the guys around you ... they are currently planning an informal meet and drive, which you can read up on and join them.

While in that section, consider opening a new thread to write up your adventures as a new Jaguar owner. Your introductory story is full of interest; you have a great style of writing (but watch out for long paras); and I'm betting I'm not the only one here who found your opener a great read. That bloke Clarke I mentioned earlier [o1xjr] is another ... must be those XJ6s weave a powerful spell! LOL.

All for you Brendan, so jump in and enjoy,
Ken

 

Sorry for the double post ...

Brendan, yes, I know you have found the VIC&TAS Regional section ... it's me that's lost ... damn batteries have gone flat in my torch ... can't find the right door outa here.

Ken

 

Hi Brendan, congratulations on the new purchase. Sometimes you have just got to go with the gut feeling. Sounds like a nice car.

Here is a link to the drive the Vic guys are planning. It is in the Vic/Tas forum

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...no-1-a-124109/

Haha Ken,this one must have slipped by the S1 radar. It can't have been on carsales more than a couple of days, I look at least twice a week....although I am going to look at this one with a mate( I lent him mine to drive to the Gold Coast last week and now he wants one),when he tee's up a time with the seller. Next suburb to me.

1972 Jaguar XJ6 Sedan | Cars, Vans & Utes | Gumtree Australia Brisbane North West - Chapel Hill | 1053977542

I don't think it is worth anywhere near the asking price,engine bay needs TLC,interior is very shabby at best and it hasn't been started for 5 years.
$1000 car tops in my opinion,and I know where an S2 engine is with ECU and harness for $600.

Happy motoring when your car arrives Brendan.

 

Hmmmmm ... as you say Clarke, that's big money.

Look what I am posting in the NSW section for that sort of money ... of course, it's not an XJ6 but .....

ATB guys,
Ken

 

Brendan,

That looks better than mine did back in 1974!

Sadly, our UK climate kills these beauties and all the good ones are in Australia.

Graham

 

Looks a nice thing, hope you enjoy driving it and working on it.

 

Hi, thanks for all of the kind words and advice.The car carrier is organised so it is just a matter of waiting for it to arrive. I am looking forward to sorting out some of the smaller jobs I can handle so I expect there will be a few posts asking advice.

Brendan

 

So, did it happen?