Primaz you keep forgetting that you are no longer driving a 1960s S Type Jaguar but a Frankenstein look a like. There is nothing on your car which is vaguely similar to the original Jaguar other than the body shape, glass and the internal wood. Why on earth would we want to upgrade to brakes that would rip the suspension out from under our car whilst the body sails on down the road. (Joke) But most of all why would anyone with a soul want to drive their 1960s S Type Jaguar for two hours down winding mountain roads at breakneck speed. You call this "driving my car hard and having increased safety". Maybe just maybe driving a 1960s S type within the speed limit is all about pleasure. The S Type was designed in an era when we had narrow "A" and "B" roads. Motorways had just been invented in the UK and it was all about turning heads not breaking necks. It is better to spend the money on having your original and fully functional adequate brakes refurbished than bolting on six piston monsters on an original car.

 

Maybe for you but not for me, I drive on modern roads and driving like an old lady with any cheap low buck econo-car even as lowly as a Sentra or Ford Focus out performing my beautiful Jag is just not my style. LOL You can get a quality upgrade that is a better 4 piston as Fosseyway sells two options below my 6 piston. If you own a Jaguar you should have some money and your life is worth the protection of better brakes...

 

No not a Miss Daisy driver but I drive an original Jaguar S Type from the 1960s and drive it as such not as a modern car. It is not about performance it is about style something Americans do not have when it comes to car design. My argument has always been originality as much as possible. I could not imagine this conversation ever happening on the Vintage Bugatti or Bentley forum. "Yes I have just upgraded my brakes on my Bugatti type 37 from the original drums to 6 pot calipers."

 

Surely though guys that's the beauty of these cars, they can be all things to all men and can be absolutely standard, slightly modified or wildly modified depending on what the owner wants them to be.

Lets not have a return to the bad old days on this forum which has driven so many members new and old away in the past.

 

Nice one, Homer! Totally with you.

 

I couldn't resist giving Primaz a hard time. I honestly don't judge those who lump their Jags or heavily modify them. That's the beauty of living in a free society. But he seems to insist that his way is the only way, so a little friendly push-back seems in order.

Cheers,

Don

 

I think his S type is a gem, so much money must have been spent on mods.

If I had that kind of money I would not go through the troubles to do mine like that,
I would just buy his S type ! It must leave any other Jaguar eating dust.

 

I agree Jose, A lot of money has been spend on converting this 1960s S Type Jaguar in to something that looks like an S Type Jaguar. I am sure for the money spent you could have bought a modern car with more power and better handling and had change left over. The difference between us Brits and you Americans is that we tend to be drawn to original cars and spend a lot of money keeping it original where as you guys want to rip out the soul of the car and replace it with a V8, bigger tyres, air suspension so there is no soul left. I mean I have even seen E Type Jaguars (which was described by Enzo Ferrari as "the most beautiful car in the world") with a V8 engines under the bonnet. Why????

 

Cass, why ? probably because of the tire-screeching tradition from Detroit Michigan and California since the 1940s, who took the old 1930s cars and customized them with modern V8 Chevy engines.
American cars were made to be fast in a straight line, European cars were made to stick to cornering like glue.
I am a fan of European cars, American cars never really excited me, regardless of their horsepower.

But primaz' car? that is a different creation.
It combines American horsepower with a small classic Saloon. Have to give him credit.
Which is not to say that I like when they lump a V8 engine into an XJ-6, I find it silly.

 

Part of the reason was serviceability. Jaguar mechanics in the USA in the 60's and 70's were few and far between, the closest one might be hundreds of miles away. Having a domestic engine in the car meant it could be serviced locally. By the time an E Type was 10 or 15 years old, it was just an old car, and had gone from those with thick wallets who bought the car new to those would could not afford to have a dead car shipped 300 miles to a dealer and pay through the nose for often indifferent service. The other issue was parts availability. I have heard pletny of stories from my local Jaguar club of people waiting months for parts to come in in the past. For something domestic you can have the part you need by the end of the day. Not everyone can afford to have a second car while the Jaguar is off the road for months.

That is still somewhat true today. I can take a car to a local garage and have an oil change done for $40. Or I can go to the Jaguar dealer and pay $800.

If you owned a Cadillac in England in the 1970's how many dealers or qualified mechanics were there in the country to work on one? How long would it take to get parts? If you could even know what to get pre-internet?

 

Your thoughts are kind of on track but not exactly. For me the Jaguar 3.8 and MK2 does need more like 400 HP to be up to today's standard of a performance sedan and I want to achieve that and then some while keeping the classic body and style. I also did this on a budget, while expensive it is nothing remotely close to,

The Callum Jaguar Mark 2, a re-imagined version of the classic Jaguar, is priced between £350,000 and £375,000, which translates to approximately $570,000 to $610,000 USD, according to Motor Authority. This limited-production vehicle is a bespoke creation by designer Ian Callum and was built by Classic Motor Cars (CMC).

As far as why the GM aluminum block/head LS V8? well it is one of the most reliable, easy to service, high performance engines in the world. It is lighter than the stock inline 6 Jaguar engine and a performance crate engine that still will last over 350,000 miles of driving will be from 400-600 HP. I need a super reliable engine as this is NOT a weekend car but my daily driver that I put anywhere from 40,000 to 25,000 miles a year. I had more money and more patience the other engine option would be the Nissan RB30 or the Toyota 2JZ both are also two of the worldwide most popular engines to swap for the same reason, ultra reliable big HP from 500 to over 1000 HP, and so easy to service with long lifespans.

https://retropower.co.uk/2019/05/31/...-project-utah/
This Jaguar by Retropower in the UK would be my choice if money was no concern but that car I am sure is in the same if not higher price tag than the Callum. I think I could have built one with an RB close to that but not with that much show quality attention to detail a lot less but also way more than a simple performance built LS V8.

I know Doug on this forum built his MK2 with a Jaguar V8 but that was way more complex as he had to graft the entire front end from a Jaguar and that involves way more customization and in the end that V8 is fairly weak compared to the LS V8. The LS aluminum block V8 is lighter, way more reliable, cheaper to service, and much more reliable HP.

That is why I built it this way and I also paid attention to getting enough quality wider tires with better suspension and brakes than stock to handle the power but also to make the car have the performance in twisty mountain roads as I never was a fan of straight line performance. My other cars are serious road race street cars but the Jaguar needed to provide a luxury ride with the wife, yet have enough power, handling, braking, etc. to be a joy to drive during the work week.