New Member Hitting “Reverse” in the Rocky Mountains
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Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 11
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From: Colorado
New Member Hitting “Reverse” in the Rocky Mountains
I jumped the gun by making my first post a couple of days ago in the forum for my Jaguar model, so now I’ll back up and go in through the correct door of the “New Member Area” before proceeding any further.
I currently live outside of Denver Colorado but I was born in Los Angeles and raised in that vast wasteland of Southern California loftily called “The Inland Empire.” Adolescent personal issues aside, it was a pretty awesome time and place to be a kid; we had great music, great TV shows and movies, great styles, and the future seemed pretty bright. Yet, one thing that was most definitely NOT great about the 80’s was the cars. Like most other enthusiasts of the era I was all about the cars of the 1950’s and ‘60’s because those were the only ones that were actually cool.
But there was one very notable exception: the Jaguar XJ6. That car was special! Nothing else on the road looked like that in the mid ‘80’s; it was clearly a throwback to another era, an era of sensuous curves when cars were exciting and built slowly by men using their hands-a complete contrast to the plasticky angular appliances of the time that were cranked out by the millions on robotic assembly lines. I had been admiring the XJ’s since the series II cars were on the road when I was a very young child, but when the Series III hit the market it was a “mic drop” moment: that was the car I was going to have! By the age of 10, it was settled; I swore to myself-and everyone else-that someday I was going to own one.
Since then I’ve owned a lot of interesting cars: several “Tri 5” Chevrolets, a 1957 Cadillac, a 1963 “suicide door” Lincoln, a few Mercedes-Benz W123 diesels, among others – but I’ve always kept my childhood promise in the back of my head, waiting for that perfect one. In May of last year I finally found it: a low mileage one owner original Vanden Plas in a magnificent color combination at a price I was more than willing to pay. It took me 30 years, but I kept my promise.
I like sports cars and muscle cars as much as anyone, but over time I’ve developed a real affinity for big luxury cruisers, and the XJ6 satisfies all my interests: it has the historical panache of its racing heritage from the golden era, performance that lets it keep pace with modern day traffic, and the sense of presence that only a big heavy cruiser can offer. It’s still a throwback to another era…and just as impressive now as it was back when I was a car-crazy kid yearning for something special.
I’ve uploaded a few pictures to the gallery but the one attached here is the only one that shows me with the car; it was taken by a friend at her first fuel stop the night after I bought her, where I was pointing out the awesomeness of the dual LeMans-style filler caps. He had never seen anything like that and confessed that until I opened them he didn’t even know what they were for!
1987 XJ6 Vanden Plas: “the last XK”
PAINT: CEK “Bordeaux Red”
TRIM: AEM (“Magnolia”)
Build date 10/86
Sold new in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California 12/19/86. Brought to Colorado in the late 1990’s
Currently 47,600 miles
Christened “NOTORIOUS”, inspired in part by the reputation these cars have, and in part by the excellent song by Duran Duran which was briefly the #1 hit on the USA Billboard Hot 100 in October 1986 when she rolled out of the Factory at Browns Lane.
I currently live outside of Denver Colorado but I was born in Los Angeles and raised in that vast wasteland of Southern California loftily called “The Inland Empire.” Adolescent personal issues aside, it was a pretty awesome time and place to be a kid; we had great music, great TV shows and movies, great styles, and the future seemed pretty bright. Yet, one thing that was most definitely NOT great about the 80’s was the cars. Like most other enthusiasts of the era I was all about the cars of the 1950’s and ‘60’s because those were the only ones that were actually cool.
But there was one very notable exception: the Jaguar XJ6. That car was special! Nothing else on the road looked like that in the mid ‘80’s; it was clearly a throwback to another era, an era of sensuous curves when cars were exciting and built slowly by men using their hands-a complete contrast to the plasticky angular appliances of the time that were cranked out by the millions on robotic assembly lines. I had been admiring the XJ’s since the series II cars were on the road when I was a very young child, but when the Series III hit the market it was a “mic drop” moment: that was the car I was going to have! By the age of 10, it was settled; I swore to myself-and everyone else-that someday I was going to own one.
Since then I’ve owned a lot of interesting cars: several “Tri 5” Chevrolets, a 1957 Cadillac, a 1963 “suicide door” Lincoln, a few Mercedes-Benz W123 diesels, among others – but I’ve always kept my childhood promise in the back of my head, waiting for that perfect one. In May of last year I finally found it: a low mileage one owner original Vanden Plas in a magnificent color combination at a price I was more than willing to pay. It took me 30 years, but I kept my promise.
I like sports cars and muscle cars as much as anyone, but over time I’ve developed a real affinity for big luxury cruisers, and the XJ6 satisfies all my interests: it has the historical panache of its racing heritage from the golden era, performance that lets it keep pace with modern day traffic, and the sense of presence that only a big heavy cruiser can offer. It’s still a throwback to another era…and just as impressive now as it was back when I was a car-crazy kid yearning for something special.
I’ve uploaded a few pictures to the gallery but the one attached here is the only one that shows me with the car; it was taken by a friend at her first fuel stop the night after I bought her, where I was pointing out the awesomeness of the dual LeMans-style filler caps. He had never seen anything like that and confessed that until I opened them he didn’t even know what they were for!
1987 XJ6 Vanden Plas: “the last XK”
PAINT: CEK “Bordeaux Red”
TRIM: AEM (“Magnolia”)
Build date 10/86
Sold new in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California 12/19/86. Brought to Colorado in the late 1990’s
Currently 47,600 miles
Christened “NOTORIOUS”, inspired in part by the reputation these cars have, and in part by the excellent song by Duran Duran which was briefly the #1 hit on the USA Billboard Hot 100 in October 1986 when she rolled out of the Factory at Browns Lane.
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 120,439
Likes: 17,014
From: Durham, UK
Welcome to the forum Mile_Hi_Kat,
Good to have you with us at Jaguar forums.
A splendid Intro. It was automatically locked for moderation. I can't see any reason why and have validated so other members can now see and read it.
I can see you've already found your way to the XJ6 & XJ12 Series I, II & III 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.
Please remember to add vehicle details to your Signature to help others to give relevant advice. Go to the User CP button on the left of the top menu bar, then Settings & Options under Your Control Panel. Select Edit Signature and enter the details.
You can also visit the US Central Region forum by following this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/us-central-36/ to find other members in your region.
Enjoy the forums.
Graham
Good to have you with us at Jaguar forums.
A splendid Intro. It was automatically locked for moderation. I can't see any reason why and have validated so other members can now see and read it.
I can see you've already found your way to the XJ6 & XJ12 Series I, II & III 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.
Please remember to add vehicle details to your Signature to help others to give relevant advice. Go to the User CP button on the left of the top menu bar, then Settings & Options under Your Control Panel. Select Edit Signature and enter the details.
You can also visit the US Central Region forum by following this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/us-central-36/ to find other members in your region.
Enjoy the forums.
Graham
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 121,135
Likes: 6,653
From: PHX some of the time
Welcome to Jaguar Forums Mile_Hi_Kat,
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: Jan 2014
Posts: 28,386
Likes: 6,340
From: Delaneys Creek,Qld. Australia
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