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I can't imagine a car could be left outside in those conditions could it?
Do you have a heated garage?
The garage is attached to the house and it is separately heated. I keep it relatively cool at about 5C unless I’m washing the car (there is hot and cold water and a floor drain/sump on each side) but this weather is too cold for that unless you can leave it for a day to dry before venturing out. Some people will say moving in and out of heated/humid parkades can be hard on a car as the condensation on a cold car will occur in places you wouldn’t otherwise see moisture (replicating the high humidity environment you live in I suppose) which is partly why I keep mine cool. Lots of people do park outside out of necessity but cold weather issues seem to be less with newer cars, tighter tolerances, lighter weight oils, better batteries and hardier electronics than when I was younger. Most cars are still fitted with an electric block heater but few people use them all of the time. The XJR (which is not fitted with one) was parked outside for the afternoon Monday and has spent a full day outside on occasion to accommodate my schedule with no issues.
Our front street this morning… that’s a Maserati, a Lincoln and a Mercedes in the foreground and a wide assortment of marques in the background.
I took this photo while stopped at a red light last Sunday but didn’t quite know where to post it - here, the weather thread, the joke thread, or sarcastically to the Best Car You’ve Seen This Week thread - so decided to also start a new Off Topic thread with it:
You clearly live in a very prosperous area Ken! I can imagine Maserati's are pretty rare in Canada; as they are here in the UK
I think that's what I would do, just keep the garage cool. Why heat it unnecessarily when all you need to do is take the freeze away. Cars are obviously much better built and can withstand more than I would have guessed. Though I bet one dose of that cold would kill my little Citroen
That was one of the most snowed up cars I have ever seen, It seems odd people don't just wipe the snow away!
Our weather has warmed up 30 degrees or so in the past week to a relatively balmy -8 Celsius so the XJR got some exterior TLC as we get a few post holiday days to ourselves with nothing on the calendar.
Not a full detailing but a good wash and a fresh coat of Meguiar’s Gold Glass Carnauba Plus Premium Liquid Wax.
If I don’t get any better offers, the interior might get some time and attention tomorrow and then perhaps the engine…
Last edited by Ken Cantor; Dec 26, 2022 at 06:42 PM.
Ken: those two photos really do show the continuity of design in the XJ series (until 2009, but that us a different story…). Both those Jaguars are enduringly beautiful.
The XJR is looking amazing after that clean, I don't know many people disciplined enough to wax their car in the snow either
Your Series II was stunning.
Even when it comes to the Jags I'm really not "that disciplined" Chris (my wife will probably tell you I'm not sufficiently disciplined about anything and she's probably right. ). For the record, the XJR was photographed outside but she was waxed inside a heated garage where it was relatively comfortable for both her and I.
As for the XJR's predecessor, she was a 1992 Series III V-12 VDP, Number 24 of the last 100 limited edition cars manufactured for Canada and, in most lighting conditions, the XJR's Carnival Red Mica is quite close in appearance to Number 24's Regency Red Mica. We purchased Number 24 in 2006 and she was, as you correctly noted, stunning right up until she was written off last January.
The XJR's current Series III stablemate that you can see in some of my previous posts is a slightly earlier 1992 "sister car" to Number 24 - Number 3 of the last 100 - that we purchased in 2014. She is equally stunning [that's her dash in my profile picture] although her Oyster paint, while spectacular in its own right, is a bit more reserved.
Last edited by Ken Cantor; Dec 29, 2022 at 02:06 PM.
Okay, okay… while 2022 had more than its share of things I would just as soon not see repeated, it does look like there are some good things that will be the same in 2023 as they were in 2022. One of those is always looking back after parking the XJR and sometimes having to take her picture because apparently you can never have enough pictures.
Gregory, You’re more than welcome to take her for a spin and take your own pictures whenever you want to pay her a visit! After all, it’s the least I can offer to one of the two Jaguar enablers in my life. We could even exercise Number 3 while we’re at it and do a full photo shoot as the other enabler still insists on being chauffeured in one or the other and not driving so they’re never out together.
PS Number 3 is still restricted to nicer weather than the XJR is being forced to endure if you’re looking at your calendar and wondering when to pack your camera.
Last edited by Ken Cantor; Jan 2, 2023 at 07:40 PM.
Gregory, You’re more than welcome to take her for a spin and take your own pictures whenever you want to pay her a visit! After all, it’s the least I can offer to one of the two Jaguar enablers in my life. We could even exercise Number 3 while we’re at it and do a full photo shoot as the other enabler still insists on being chauffeured in one or the other and not driving so they’re never out together.
PS Number 3 is still restricted to nicer weather than the XJR is being forced to endure if you’re looking at your calendar and wondering when to pack your camera.
Well, Ken, the XJR was really meant to live in a more gentle clime than Edmonton can provide, a place where the weeds grow all year long, where snow is limited to a two-day stay at Christmas, and where a very cold day means night-time lows of 0 C. And no number of photos of the XJR in snow can change that.
And as for #3/100, it most definitely was made for gentler places - say, an island in the Pacific?:
An island in the Pacific? Now that’s tempting, particularly as it’s cooled down to-15C this evening. On the other hand, it would have to be a fairly large island if these cars are going to be properly exercised.
And the grandkids wouldn’t be able to do this:
I had an invitation to watch our hockey team lose this evening which was disappointing but it did give me a chance to park somewhere different for a change. Which is, as you know, reason enough to look back and take another photo.
Last edited by Ken Cantor; Jan 4, 2023 at 12:00 AM.
Beautiful. once i got another x308 after having an x350 for four years I am reminded that the 350 boot is markedly larger -- not a complaint, just an observation. I think the difference came from shifting the fuel tank lower and dividing the volume on either side of the driveshaft/differential. Love my 308VDP but miss my x350 Radiance Pearl VDP.
Beautiful. once i got another x308 after having an x350 for four years I am reminded that the 350 boot is markedly larger -- not a complaint, just an observation. I think the difference came from shifting the fuel tank lower and dividing the volume on either side of the driveshaft/differential. Love my 308VDP but miss my x350 Radiance Pearl VDP.
The x350 trunk is definitely a bit larger length-wise, but still very shallow. I do wish there was more height to the trunk, but I suppose that would mean either losing the spare tire or losing the beautiful lines on the rear end so I'll take it as-is.
Beautiful. once i got another x308 after having an x350 for four years I am reminded that the 350 boot is markedly larger -- not a complaint, just an observation. I think the difference came from shifting the fuel tank lower and dividing the volume on either side of the driveshaft/differential. Love my 308VDP but miss my x350 Radiance Pearl VDP.
I suppose markedly larger or smaller depends on what you’re comparing to. The XJR replaced a Series 3 VDP which had a trunk that was narrower, shorter and decidedly shallower. One day I should actually measure the XJR’s trunk against her stablemate (also a Series 3 VDP) and post them with some comparison photos.
