Hello,

I am very eager to know why you are so addicted to your XJ6, XJ12 Series I, II & III?

Let's have the ball rolling and share the reasons we like these type of JAG.

 

Maybe not addicted but committed (or ought to be ). I have always loved the lines of these cars and once I have sorted out the running issues of the one I have at the moment I will be even more addicted!
Con

 

because my XJ has outlasted my marriage.

 

i bought mine to celebrate my divorce!!!
took me a looong time to want to get married again!!

 

'Addiction' doesn't even Begin to cover it!
Incorrigible and unrepentant tom-boy that I am, my Jag makes me feel like a Lady!
I've sort of come to like that.
(';')

 

Great question, Mike. For me it has always been about the luscious woodwork. Lot's of cars with one of these things:
• Sexy lines
• Nice leather interior
• Great handling
• Inexpensive to buy and maintain

But no car other than Rolls Royce or Bentley have such beautiful woodwork. On both of my series IIIs I have replaced all the woodwork with newly re-veneered pieces. When I stop at a light I just look at that wood and sigh.

Also, I'm a shade tree mechanic at best but the one thing I'm good at is fixing electrical problems. And my Jaguars provide an unending supply of challenges in that department

Jeff

 

I was born in 1943, in the wonderful spa town Royal Leamington Spa close to Coventry. Hitler had bombed the hospital I was likely to be born in but that was, I guess, par for the course! So I grew up in Coventry and am a “Freeman of the City of Coventry “ I served my apprenticeship at Humber Hillman and attended college with guys from all the many motor companies in Coventry. There was a certain cachet with certain marques such as Jaguar, Daimler, Armstrong Siddeley, Alvis and so on. The list goes on! However, the Le Man 24 hour races stirred the blood and that beautiful engine stirred it even more. I can’t think of any better reason than loving old Jaguar/Daimlers.

 

Was the UK as destroyed as Hamburg and Berlin?

What a disaster! total destruction in Germany thanks to the ambitions of a madman. One powerful army can't win a war against 3 powerful armies.

 

My first experience with a Jaguar was my parents’ ‘77 white XJ12L. I was 16, I think, and had a Jensen Healey as my first car. I loved that car and would enjoy another one. Anyway, that XJ12L grabbed me. I couldn’t believe how gorgeous it was and how beautifully it drove. There was simply nothing else like it on the road. My parents always owned Cadillacs and while they were nice, the Jaguar was in a class of its own. Then the Series III came out in ‘79. Wow! As nice as the XJ12L was, I thought the Series III was even more beautiful.

My parents eventually got an ‘86 Vanden Plas and it was as nice as I imagined it would be. When they sold it and got an ‘88 XJ40, I was disappointed and wished they kept their ‘86. Since they sold it in ‘88, I always wanted an ‘87, which was the last year for the Series III in the US. In the meantime, I had several XJS’s over the years as well as an X300, two X308’s (I still have one), and two XKR’s (I still have one of those as well). I’ve loved them all. But I still wanted a low mileage ‘87 Vanden Plas.

Finally a couple years ago, I found one on AutoTrader and bought it sight-unseen. It was across the country and I was leaving for vacation and didn’t have time to go look at it. But I just couldn’t risk it selling to someone else so I took a chance and bought it before I left for vacation. I love this car so much. I don’t need to be driving it to enjoy it. Just seeing it sitting in my garage makes me happy. I think these are the most beautiful sedans ever made.

 

we are ALL under the control of SIR WILLIAM LYONS, you know he was of Irish parents living in England, he learned hypnotism early!

 

I've lived with an XJ of one series or other since 2007 and I always seem gravitate to the SIII. It is a very quiet, pleasant car to drive and you're insulated from the world in any of them. Commuting home on a cold, nasty winter night with the climate control unit servos whirring in the background to keep the cabin temperature pleasant while the quiet, venerable old six propels you home gives you a glimpse of things being alright with the world, at least for a little while. Few other cars I've been in give me that feeling - even the XJ8 we had. These cars were also wrought by people, not robots; as such there seems to be some essence of the car being alive rather than a mere collection of metal parts. Sir William always said that, of all things made by man, the automobile is the closest thing to being alive.

 

It's the way she moves.

 

Great Britain took a right hammering from Germany from 1940 until the end of The Battle of Britain and very many towns and cities were devastated. However, with later weapons and the help from our allies and friends including the USA, the bombing of Germany was horrific. I recall visiting Cologne during the ‘70’s and you did not need to travel far from the centre to find wrecked buildings being occupied on the lower floors only with just the skeleton above remaining! My German engineering friends absolutely hated the RAF.

 

they had it coming. A powerful army is not invincible against three powerful armies.

 

you right ,, as of present military China 20 to 1 times more people trained for combat than US!

 

Speaking of WW2, my late father acquired a damaged Lagonda Rapier in early 1939. The PO crashed it deliberately hoping to collect the insurance so he could upgrade to a Lagonda V12.
A new bell-housing, amongst other parts, arrived in Adelaide the day before Britain declared war on Germany. I spent hours at the library after school researching old copies of Motor & Autocrar for the V12 only to discover two racing versions destined for the Le Mans 24 Hour race were destroyed in an air raid (Middlesex, I think). I was pretty angry after reading that.
British cars have always been in our family, and I just adore that little brass plate riveted to the inner fender of my Series 1 that proudly states: "Made in England"

 

I feel so crazy about XJ6 Series 3, can't stop hunting for them
i have not driven my own for long but i never feel like owning any other aside XJ6 Series 3.

Where do i get them to buy in the US?

 

There are a couple for sale in the "Marketplace" section of the Forum. Hemmings always has a bunch for sale.

 

I've owned my 1975 XJ6C for 17 years - on and off the road as a daily driver ever since. I get compliments, stares, strike up conversations (they usually want to talk about cars THEY used to have), thumbs up's, headlights flashing, waves, etc. etc. ALL THE TIME. I never get tired of it! My wife caught me talking to her in the garage the other night, and thought I was crazy! What does she know?! I heard a phrase on FANTHOMWORKS the other day - Your (special) car is the closest thing to a family member without a heart beat.

 

Jose:

1. i served in the US Army in Germany from 52 to 55. I was in Hamburg a time or two Never in Berlin. A robust rebuild was in full force, but many scars remained.. Goering could not match the swarms of B17's and B24's that delivered destruction...

I met sand married my dear departed there. She recalled those days as a young girl. bomb shelters, strafing… her Dad and uncle as older guys went o war, she assumed the job of looking after her mom and aunt.. Many tales of it during and after...