Hello, all--

A female friend has been willed a 1991 Double-six Daimler Sovereign in Paris as part of an inheritance and asked for my advice. We live in Pasadena, CA.

First off, am I in the right thread? 1991 would be XJ40 years, but it is a V12.

Secondly, is a double-six Sovereign road-legal here? I don't believe these models were sold here....or were they, simply badged as an XJ12? Can it be imported and driven on the streets here?

She and I both live in California....will it have problems passing emissions? Any owners here in California that can advise?

What are values of an excellent-condition LHD 1991 double-six Daimler Sovereign with 58K miles here in the US? My quick research seems to show that its value is under $10,000 here in the US....maybe $5 - 7,000. What say you?

Thanks all for your expertise. Thank goodness for forums like this.

Chris

69 E-type FHC Signal Red
97 XJ6 VDP Arctic Blue

 

Nice car





A 1991 DD6 would be a "Series III" car....so you should post in that section in the future



Depending on which source you believe anywhere from 6 to 41 Series III V12s came to the USA circa 1979-1980 before Jaguar decided to pull the plug, and yes they were badged "XJ12". Series III V12s ....nice ones, not rust buckets....are desirable, and especially coveted in the USA.

Anyhow, I *think * a 1991 might be old enough to import without any restrictions. For some reason "25 years old and older" stick out in my mind...but you might go to the DOT webpage as a starting point.


Others will chime in but "California" might be a real wrinkle even if "Federal" (DOT) isn't



Like any other used Jag actual condition is *everything*. Mileage...not so much. A super nice V12 Series III would be in the $7000-$10000 range I'd think. A poor condition one isn't worth any more than the 6 cylinder version. I believe a few (4 or 5?) truly exceptional, show quality examples have sold for $25000 or more....but those were as close to perfect as an old Jag could be and usually the unique Canadian market "last 100" special editions....which were built as DD6s but badged as "Jaguar Vanden Plas"

Cheers
DD

 

Chris,

The XJ40 based XJ12 and Daimler Double Six were introduced in February 1993. As Doug has said, this will be a Series III. Consequently, I've moved the thread.

Graham

 

Thanks--I haven't seen photos of the car, but I did ask her if it had round or rectangular headlamps. "Rectangle", she said.

 

Well, the cut off year currently is 1992 so you just squeak in with a '91, regarding the 25 year old rule. However, I don't know if the car is on the list of vehicles you can legally import without having to jump through safety and emissions tests. I assume its on there considering the car is part of a family of vehicles sold here, so you can claim reasonable right to import through that avenue if they give you grief. If someone else has already done the hard work, that saves you a lot of time, effort and money.

To be very honest, this is going to cost you a good chunk of change and you may want to sell the car rather than try to import it. Just putting it on a boat and having it dropped off at a local port is going to be over $2000.

 

Then it isn't a Series III. Must be an XJ40....1993-1994-ish. Still a nice car but you can find V12 XJ40s fairly easily here in the USA so no sense in importing one

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks, guys, for all your help. Yup, it looks like not only is the car not worth importing, but values for them are higher in Europe than here, so selling it there is the way to go.

 

All amounts in EURO below. 1 US$ is approx. € 1,05 at the moment of writing....

Over here in the Netherlands a pre-1987 XJ12 in good optical and running condition doesn't sell under € 20.000,-
The showroom state versions go up to as high as €60.000,- (and climbing).
All later model (even though they are Series III versions) go for about half that amount, because they can't be classified and licensed as old-timer for another 10 years...(we had a regulation change a few years back and "the man" drew the line at 1987....

The 6 cylinder versions are about half that (e.g. €5.000 or less)

The "Sovereign" versions (XJ40) are somewhere between €6000 and €10000 depending on the condition and engine version.

What is really sad, is that you can buy an fairly decent 1999 x300 for about €2000,-......