OK, three steps forward and one back. After a 1989 XJ6, a 1997 XJ6 long wheel base, and a 2006 all-aluminum XJ8 Vanden Plas, I took a step back in time today to a 2003 XJ8 Vanden Plas with a quartz exterior and black interior. What’s notable about this beast? It’s 18 calendar years old and had 29,850 miles on it when I took a very long test drive yesterday before buying it! It ticked over 30k today on the way home from the small town in the Shenandoah Valley where it popped up on a Subaru dealer’s site Monday morning. I moved immediately.

It was a one-owner car, serviced at a Jag dealership. The mechanic who did an independent check on its condition for me emerged to say: 1) it’s quite clear Mrs. Hollar never let the grandkids in the car and 2) you’ve to a real creme puff here. So, meet GOOD KITTY IV, successor to GOOD KITTY III, destroyed by a falling pine nearly 3 months ago. I found this after a daily nationwide internet search that rejected cars like #3 that were thousands of miles away and almost invariably had well over 100k miles. I loved #3, but could not find a decent replacement, and toyed with a convertible but came back to sedans as quieter and more comfortable on trips.

The official GOOD KITTY vanity tags go on after 30 days pass so the DMV has all the paperwork to permit license tag changes. When I went to pick up the car today, the salesman had it parked out front and told me that a few minutes before I arrived someone came up and asked if it were for sale! Whew. Glad I didn’t sit around dithering.

I’ll post a photo once I have figured out how to do that.

Eliot Brenner
Northern VA

 

Congrats on your latest find, sounds like a real gem, looking forward to hi-res photos