From NC: new member...
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Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 92
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From: Cary, NC
From NC: new member...
I introduced myself on the X100 forum, but I should have come here first. I bought my XKR yesterday, in the sense that I sent off the money. The car is three states away and will be shipped. More on that in the appropriate forum (X100) after it arrives.
I grew up with Jaguars. My father had a 1953 XK-120 that he sold to his brother, and after it caught on fire (electrical) he sold it back, and I have a picture somewhere of me, around 4 years old, standing in the engine compartment digging out grease with a tiny screw driver. We stripped (by hand, with scrapers) all of the multiple colors of paint off of that thing, and it was restored and the last I remember of that thing, my father was ticked-off because it had started to rust not long after the repaint. He sold it to finance the purchase of a 1967 E-Type. That was in either 1969 or 1970. It had been wrecked and repaired, and I think he got a deal. Or he thought he did. I learned how to work on cars with that one, replacing and adjusting points, changing plugs, rebuilding brake calipers, etc. and learned to drive a manual on the E-Type. Both of those cars were roadsters, which meant that I was 16 before we had a car that had a hard top and didn't leak in the rain. I thought that's just the way it was: it rains, you get wet. Assuming that the car would start. LOL Lucas.
The parents sold the E-Type for financial reasons, and it wasn't until I was 30 or so before I bought my dream car, the XJ-S coupe. V12, natch. That car had been wrecked and repaired. The lesson I learned from that was never buy a car at night. I could see that some of the repair was not well done, but I had no idea how truly bad it was until later. That car was a nightmare, never a day went by that something didn't break, leak or not work properly. And it was only a few years old with mileage in the 20s. I had a heck of a time selling it, as no reputable dealer would touch it. But darn, it looked good, I looked good in it, and when it ran, it ran!
Then for no particular reason that I can remember, I bought a slightly used, CPO and unwrecked XJ8 (X308), It was, sorry to say, just boring. A very capable, very nice car, but I thought the Ford influence had taken away much of the charm, although to be fair, it replaced the charm with reliability and build quality. The wife loved it, but at the time we had not yet married and so I sold it and moved on to something else.
I am very car fickle. I am mostly (as you can tell from the forum name) a BMW fan, having owned many many of them, currently a 540i and the wife has a 328i. I've also had numerous BMW motorcycles, but those days are behind me. A few Porsches, some Corvettes, there was a Mercedes in there somewhere, even a Ford sits in the garage right now, my track toy. I stopped doing HPDE track events nearly 20 years ago after a student hit the wall and I had minor injuries. But then I did a few events at the BMW performance center in SC and CA (driving the snot out of their M cars) and kind of got the fever again, bought an M2, hated it, bought the Mustang, love it. Yes, it's cheap, it's poorly built, but I actually prefer driving it (on track) more than any of the fancy M cars.
So, now I'm awaiting the arrival of my newly purchased 2003 XKR cabriolet.
I grew up with Jaguars. My father had a 1953 XK-120 that he sold to his brother, and after it caught on fire (electrical) he sold it back, and I have a picture somewhere of me, around 4 years old, standing in the engine compartment digging out grease with a tiny screw driver. We stripped (by hand, with scrapers) all of the multiple colors of paint off of that thing, and it was restored and the last I remember of that thing, my father was ticked-off because it had started to rust not long after the repaint. He sold it to finance the purchase of a 1967 E-Type. That was in either 1969 or 1970. It had been wrecked and repaired, and I think he got a deal. Or he thought he did. I learned how to work on cars with that one, replacing and adjusting points, changing plugs, rebuilding brake calipers, etc. and learned to drive a manual on the E-Type. Both of those cars were roadsters, which meant that I was 16 before we had a car that had a hard top and didn't leak in the rain. I thought that's just the way it was: it rains, you get wet. Assuming that the car would start. LOL Lucas.
The parents sold the E-Type for financial reasons, and it wasn't until I was 30 or so before I bought my dream car, the XJ-S coupe. V12, natch. That car had been wrecked and repaired. The lesson I learned from that was never buy a car at night. I could see that some of the repair was not well done, but I had no idea how truly bad it was until later. That car was a nightmare, never a day went by that something didn't break, leak or not work properly. And it was only a few years old with mileage in the 20s. I had a heck of a time selling it, as no reputable dealer would touch it. But darn, it looked good, I looked good in it, and when it ran, it ran!
Then for no particular reason that I can remember, I bought a slightly used, CPO and unwrecked XJ8 (X308), It was, sorry to say, just boring. A very capable, very nice car, but I thought the Ford influence had taken away much of the charm, although to be fair, it replaced the charm with reliability and build quality. The wife loved it, but at the time we had not yet married and so I sold it and moved on to something else.
I am very car fickle. I am mostly (as you can tell from the forum name) a BMW fan, having owned many many of them, currently a 540i and the wife has a 328i. I've also had numerous BMW motorcycles, but those days are behind me. A few Porsches, some Corvettes, there was a Mercedes in there somewhere, even a Ford sits in the garage right now, my track toy. I stopped doing HPDE track events nearly 20 years ago after a student hit the wall and I had minor injuries. But then I did a few events at the BMW performance center in SC and CA (driving the snot out of their M cars) and kind of got the fever again, bought an M2, hated it, bought the Mustang, love it. Yes, it's cheap, it's poorly built, but I actually prefer driving it (on track) more than any of the fancy M cars.
So, now I'm awaiting the arrival of my newly purchased 2003 XKR cabriolet.
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 121,005
Likes: 6,649
From: PHX some of the time
Welcome to Jaguar Forums BimmerGuy,
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
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
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 120,439
Likes: 17,005
From: Durham, UK
Welcome to the forums BimmerGuy,
Good to have you with us.
I can see you've already found your way to the XK8/XKR forum so there's no need for a link to it from me. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top is a good place to start for information on regular issues. You can also use the US Lower Atlantic Region forum by following this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/u...r-atlantic-66/ to find other members in your region.
Enjoy the forums.
Graham
Good to have you with us.
I can see you've already found your way to the XK8/XKR forum so there's no need for a link to it from me. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top is a good place to start for information on regular issues. You can also use the US Lower Atlantic Region forum by following this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/u...r-atlantic-66/ to find other members in your region.
Enjoy the forums.
Graham
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 45,780
Likes: 4,693
From: Dural, Northwest Sydney. Australia.
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