Hello All,
- Jack here. Cars! What a subject! So enjoyable to study up on! A "hobby" car is in my near future, and the process of choosing one is why I joined this forum. Jaguar has a great history and the cars are visually fantastic. A young Swede on You Tube named Adam, who is quite adept with the mechanicals of Ford era and older Jaguars, has grabbed my attention. "Living With A Classic" is his channel there. Encouraging people who want to get into doing what's mechanically needed on an older Jaguar, but who are not confident to begin that journey, seems to be his purpose for the channel.
- If there's a consensus on the answer to the following question I'm about to ask, I'd sure like to hear that answer! Which Jaguar is the easiest for a novice amateur mechanic in the USA to work on, to do more than the simple tasks? What year did Jaguar first move into the use of "more advanced electronics" so to speak? Staying away from such is my instinct with that. I'm drawn to the "comfort" and "luxury" aspects of the marque as opposed to "performance" aspects. In my 60s now, long ago the "Need For Speed" faded away. LOL
- I look forward to hearing what you all think.

Best regards,

Jack

 

Welcome to the forums Jack,

Presuming you don't want to go back to the early models prior to the XJ6 introduced in 1968, the most reliable and simplest to maintain of the modern Jaguars is the X300 which is the XJ6 from 1995-97. Electronics, yes, but not to the level of 2000 onwards when they became more and more complex. I use a laptop to fix both of my current Jaguars more than I use the toolbox.

You need to search (and research) very carefully. Service history is critical with any used Jaguar. A well maintained example is a pleasure to own and drive but a neglected example is usually a serious money pit.

Please read the guidance for new members ( https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/n...ned-up-241802/ ) which answers many of the most frequent questions about getting started on the forums.

Graham

 

Welcome aboard Jack.

 

Welcome to Jaguar Forums Jack,

Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum..

If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help

 

Thank you so much Graham, for your straight forward and informative response!!!
I'll put it to good use!

 

Thank you Jim, for the "Welcome".

 

Norri, Thank you for welcoming me to the forums.

 

Welcome. I too gave up racing years ago as my level of nociception exceeded my level of dopamine. Now I am more comfortable at the speed of a lawn chair, sitting next to my little Lotus at a car show as it just looks fast even standing still. I bought my X308 XJ8 specifically for the magic carpet ride. Sadly, that's one of the last true luxury sedans ever made. Almost every quote luxury sedan unquote made since about 2011 has really been a sport sedan with a leather interior. It's ironic that in my youth, I modified the suspension on all my sports cars because they were too soft and then about the age they started sending me those AARP flyers in the mail, I had to modify my Jaguar XF luxury sedan because it was too stiff, practically race-prepared right out of the factory.

But up through the 80s, every manufacturer made both two and four door versions of just about every model they had. I still love my X308 (despite that it's now pretty well worn out) and the X250 has been tolerable with the Spires suspension, but I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I carried a rear seat passenger in either of them. Up through the late 1990s, you could still get a personal luxury car such as the Lincoln mkVIII, Supercharged Riviera or even just a Monte Carlo. I wasn't quite old enough yet for those to appeal to me before they went out of production and tho I've seen a few for sale on BAT, they wouldn't make sense as daily drivers now at over 20 years old. I so wish that I could go back in time to the mid-70s and purchase a brand new Jaguar XJ6C. Surely it must be the most beautiful personal luxury car ever made. And that era would still be rather low tech. I'd probably avoid the XJ12C as that v12 engine looks like Curly Howard plumbed it. The straight six tho is a thing a beauty and simplicity. That's what you need for your hobby. An XJ6C.

 

welcome to the forum - enjoy!!!!

 

Hello, Jack,
Welcome to the forums from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Welcome to the Forums.

X300 Hands Down.

Still regret parting with both mine.

Good luck.

 

I appreciate everyone's words of welcome! Thank you all, very much!

Now I'll respond to Phil, (pdupler). Your response was entertaining and informative! I'm going to be referring back to it for
certain. As to the V12's business, no doubt it appears to be triple the complexity of the inline 6 four liter engine. And simul-
taneously, a proper running V12 that's tuned for smoothness and ultimate comfort of a car's occupants is a Dream Come True!!!!!
That said, I'll likely follow your guidance to purchase a car with an inline 6 four liter engine, at least as a starting place!!!!!