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Well, I after quite a while of pondering to purchase a Jaguar XJ "when an appropriate one arose"...Well, an appropriate came online October 31st.
Ironically I had been reading about Series I and II era cars when the one I ended up purchasing came up for sale.
I have always desired the XJ6C but finding a good one with a decent price was a difficult endeavor. They have increased over time and I already have several other vehicles plus working on a garage addition placed a truly high dollar car out of reach. 1978 XJ6L Taken 11 25 18 1978 XJ6L Taken 11 25 18 1978 XJ6L Taken 11 25 18 1978 XJ6L Taken 11 25 18 1978 XJ6L Taken 11 25 18 1978 XJ6L Taken 11 25 18 1978 XJ6L Taken 11 25 18 1978 XJ6L Taken 11 25 18
So my mantra of the past few years has been to find a "survivor" or a car already restored. That said the vehicle that appeared for sale is a 1978 XJ6L. Green with Biscuit interior. The combination being very familiar due to the models I often viewed growing up in Pennsylvania.
What struck me about this car was the milage of 11,495. That's correct under 12k. Next, it was a one owner car with service records from the local Jaguar dealer with the last (way overpriced) service in May of this year. The original window sticker, all keys, etc came with the car. Even the original 8 track tape player is still in the car...lol (which I will leave in place)
Being in Maryland I drove the car back to Michigan (now that's a gamble!) and it performed (almost) flawlessly! The "almost" was a suspect inertia cut off switch but it acted up less often as the miles progressed. The car seemed to relish being USED as I varied the speed from 60-80. Now it has just over 12k miles. And I DO believe FINALLY have all fluids, etc up to proper operating temperature!
I look forward to future ownership of this car. I know it's a "dark years" Series 2 but it must have been screwed together on a good day to last this long. The original owner took care of it "mostly". Cosmetically it is pretty decent the interior is near perfect but will need the stitching redone on the seats (dried out which is a common occurrence) The motor compartment "needs" detailing (which is part of the fun) so that will come in time.
All in all, I couldn't be happier... Always loved the "Turbo Steel" wheels!
I look forward to reading, learning and participating within the forum...
Welcome aboard.....nice clean jag!
When time permits go to the "New Members Section" and place this introduction where you will receive a warm welcome.
Wow, what a stunner. Lots of great info here on service and repairs. Is that a "Fuel Injection" badge I see on the boot? If so you've scored! The early FI cars are so interesting and its better to have FI then a pair of Zenith CD175's.
Interesting you have a Porsche 928 S4. Many here including myself have one. I've got a S3 5 speed.
Bravo for driving cross country in a newly acquired vintage car. That is how you make great memories. If you clean and tighten all the electrical connections the dark years are gone. I have a 1979 and a 1987, the later of which I drove 2000 miles home. Welcome to the Forum.
What an incredibly Gorgeous specimen you found! Congratulations!
I personally think the Series 2 was the most Beautiful of all Jaguars. I freely admit my bias.
You're so right about the car loving to be Driven! In fact, they Need to be driven!
Welcome and congratulations!! What a beautiful car! A ‘78 XJ introduced me into loving Jaguars and I’ve been hooked ever since. You certainly found a gem. And I like your list of other cars, especially the 928. I’ve had a couple of them and wish I still had one. You have good taste. :-)
If you were going to do a lot of miles per year in that car, then you'd no doubt run into the problems that the first owner didn't come up against because he didn't do the miles ! However, I expect this will be summer, low miles car, (correct ?), so you should have a lot of enjoyment with it. Main problem with cars of that era was build quality especially the body shells. Rust protection was very poor, so if you want to do anything at all to improve it, do the rust proofing now, and the car should then last forever. You have a beautiful car there, a very rare survivor with that kind of mileage, with wonderful condition of exterior and interior.
Welcome aboard.....nice clean jag!
When time permits go to the "New Members Section" and place this introduction where you will receive a warm welcome.
very nice example. Does the car LOOK the low mileage? If yes, you got lucky. Finding a well preserved Series 2 is like winning the lottery.
YES! Otherwise, I would have walked away! lol
It made the 500-mile trek plus drive back to Michigan with aplomb and appeared to love it. As mentioned I will be doing some motor compartment as it's not "bad" but not detailed...Well for 40 years plus i can't complain. Believe it or not, the car doesn't leak and fluids. Give it time though...
Wow, what a stunner. Lots of great info here on service and repairs. Is that a "Fuel Injection" badge I see on the boot? If so you've scored! The early FI cars are so interesting and its better to have FI then a pair of Zenith CD175's.
Interesting you have a Porsche 928 S4. Many here including myself have one. I've got a S3 5 speed.
Yes, She's fuel injected. I agree in your comment. I'm sure to "enjoy" this part of my later motor compartment detail at a later date.
Also, I'll include an image of my S4. Also a low mileage "survivor I located in November 2012 with 24k miles. One owner as well, manual, LSD.
Bravo for driving cross country in a newly acquired vintage car. That is how you make great memories. If you clean and tighten all the electrical connections the dark years are gone. I have a 1979 and a 1987, the later of which I drove 2000 miles home. Welcome to the Forum.
Thank You and yes, memories were made. All good! Enjoying the forum already!
What an incredibly Gorgeous specimen you found! Congratulations!
I personally think the Series 2 was the most Beautiful of all Jaguars. I freely admit my bias.
You're so right about the car loving to be Driven! In fact, they Need to be driven!
Welcome to our playroom from ElinorB.
(';')
Thank You! And yes she needs to be driven! Will do this coming year and get her out for the public to see. Not enough sightings of these cars at all!
Welcome and congratulations!! What a beautiful car! A ‘78 XJ introduced me into loving Jaguars and I’ve been hooked ever since. You certainly found a gem. And I like your list of other cars, especially the 928. I’ve had a couple of them and wish I still had one. You have good taste. :-)
Thank You! I have always had a soft spot and had been looking off and on years. Well, the time came...
[QUOTE=Fraser Mitchell;1996209]If you were going to do a lot of miles per year in that car, then you'd no doubt run into the problems that the first owner didn't come up against because he didn't do the miles ! However, I expect this will be summer, low miles car, (correct ?), so you should have a lot of enjoyment with it. Main problem with cars of that era was build quality especially the body shells. Rust protection was very poor, so if you want to do anything at all to improve it, do the rust proofing now, and the car should then last forever. You have a beautiful car there, a very rare survivor with that kind of mileage, with wonderful condition of exterior and interior.[/QUOTE}
Thank You and totally agree. The original owner DID do it's servicing and then obviously didn't drive it. Much. For example to give the type of owner he was (or maybe really busy to be bothered) on one of the service records he informed them of a "sticky throttle". Well, the issue was FOUR stacked floor mats that hung up the pedal. Then of course,stated in dealer speak as "extremely unsafe". So I had TWO layers of floor mats when I picked up the car.
As for rustproofing, he had Ziebart done when new and all the plugs are there with zero rust underneath. In fact, it's very clean and original including the exhaust with the "crimp" style " clamps in place.
I'll be going over her over the next year and will enjoy. I knew when it came up for sale I couldn't pass on it.
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