Hello you excellent people! Not to get too personal here and I realize I'm new and still biding my time to get my very own XJS, but I was consuming internet content about the XJS as I'm prone to do, and ran across a excellent well shot video giving the XJS its praises and a short segment was talking about how the age of owners is dropping and it's not just for the typical stuffy old person anymore or however they phrased it. Got me wondering: how old is everyone? Are new members who just bought their cat trending lower and lower? I'm 33 and couldn't imagine getting any other car as my project darling. I'll try to make this a poll to make it neat and have a little fun. Anyway thanks for the mountains of information on this brilliant forum.

 

I got my XJ-S when I was 32. I'm now 36.

 

Lucky man! How's it been so far? What made you chose this car over any others?

 

Watching 1985 Bathurst race with the XJS running around as a 11 year old left a lasting impression. Seeing my first XJS in person as a 20 year old that was for sale also left a impression (I could not afford).

Think I brought my girl in 2017 when I was 43, still the best car

Cheers
Steve

 

I was fifty-seven when I bought my XJS Convertible. Enjoying nice weather for seven years now. I should have done this much sooner.

 

I bought my V12 XJS last January at age 68, it was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream that I thought would never come to pass..... I have owned many different cars, and the XJS definitely sits at the top of the pile! When I opened the hood and saw the engine, I was immediately thinking "Have I bitten off more than I can chew???"
The wonderful folks on this forum, most especially Greg & Grant, have been helping me to make this dream a reality! I never thought an old guy like myself could get so excited, I am simply THRILLED to own this car! Like Keesh commented, I should have done this WAY earlier!!
John

 

I bought my 1st XJS when I was 36. Paid $300 for it. Badly wrecked but the engine was good. That went into my XKE race car. Then I started to slowly collect Wrecked and rusted XJS @ XJ 12 for the engines. Eventually wound up with 50.
Early 1990’s I got my first Keeper XJS. A very early 1975 that I turned into a race car. ( notice a pattern? )
The only XJS I have now is my current in progress race car.

 

I must admit Steve that I've yet to see one in person. Can't wait to though. Hopefully it'll be the one I'm buying.
Too right. I'm trying to get ahead of the curve and get mine while I'm "young" and have my daughter help me. Shes only 5 right now but in 1-3 years when I get mine I would love to have her help daddy by holding the flashlight.
I'm glad you got to purchase what you wanted. I too frequently feel this thing might be a dragon in disguise but I've watched and read SO MUCH about this car that I feel ready. I'm also a life-long tinkerer in regards to "Oh I should change this out and make it better." I originally was eyeing up and reading about late 60's Rolls Royce Silver Shadows but decided those are WAYYYY too much work. Plus it's an enormous car that I don't think will fit in my garage and I cant have my project baby sit outside.
You should change course and make this project a weekend fun car to go to the shops and whatever.

 

You have no idea of the thrill it is to dive inside a Corvette at 150+. Braking at the absolute edge of traction an inch or so apart. Only to take position away from him in the corner. Then thunder up the hill at full throttle, jamming gears ( dog ring transmission) trying to hold him off.
After the race my face hurts from the laughing and smiles as we discuss tactics used and BS. About next time.
The car ticking as it cooled off. Smells of Castrol and brake pads cooling. The joy of preparing a car capable of providing that level of satisfaction.
Then the sweet sorrow of the long drive home, remembering the things done well and mistakes that need improving. Knowing it will roll into the shop without damage or repairs needed.
Compared to that, toddling around town in a car with all that potential would make me feel like a poseur.

 

Lol I was just teasing ya. I want to first and foremost experience the Jaguar ride and comfort and panache. Then many years on I'm sure I'll modify it. Manual transmission at least. It deserved that from the start.

 

Ya. Got me.
I’m a bit of a thrill seeker. In the Navy I flew off aircraft carriers. I’ve got to admit a night landing during a storm at sea is more fun than driving a race car.
It’s just that I can’t find a good used aircraft carrier in my price bracket. Then there is the. Whole cost of the plane and people to drive the boat etc.
So Spending a few hundred dollars on a XJSV12 plus fixing it up to go Vintage sports car racing is more in line with my budget.
I’m willing to bet most people spend a whole lot more “restoring” their Jaguar than I do getting one ready to race.
Besides when I took the race cars to a car show, it got really boring saying the same thing hundreds of times during the show. That and guys with really beautiful and carefully restored cars were ignored by most people while they’d flock around mine. Crawl in over the door and make vroom vrooom noises until their parent or wife made them get out. ;-)

 

Lol typical Pilot. Full of bravado. As the better part of aviation (maintenance) I shall endeavor to maintain according to the manual.

 

Not sure how to answer the poll.

I was 25 when I first bought a Jaguar, 35 when I first bought an XJS, and I'm no longer close to either age now.

Cheers

 

I'd like to think current age as of today.

As far as the current tally goes I'm gonna have to say the people in the video lied a bit . I am curious about the two Pollers in the 18-30 range. Make yourselves known.

 

thanks to guys like you I always returned. Plus when I wasn’t flying everybody in the squadron taught me everything I really know about being a mechanic.
Yeh, I was the guy looking over your shoulder trying to figure out what you were doing and why.
But thanks to what you taught me, my crew never went down. We made every flight. Only crew in the squadron , heck probably the ship( (both tours) Same thing back at North Island between tours.

 

Steve I too enjoyed the 1985 Bathurst race. But by then I’d been racing a Jaguar since 1976.
That was the year that I met Group 44 racing their XJS at the same race track as me. ( I raced in Vintage Group 44 in TransAm).
They were very kind to give me a full tour of their car and explain modifications and preparation.
If you notice my current

fender flairs were done on the same molds Group 44 used

 

I turn 30 later this year, so on the ragged edge of your poll!

I've had two different encounters at a gas station, where, when they see my XJS, tell me they are looking to shortly buy an XJS or they already have one. Both times they were roughly my age. Plus, a lot of people who approach to complement the car average in the younger category, though there has been a wide spread. I think the aesthetic of the XJS is timeless but getting increasingly popular as past trends re-emerge. E.g. the resurgence of 70's style clothing in many clothing stores.

 

Hello fellow young person how do you do? Jealous you have one already haha. I'm just hoping I don't miss the train. Theres a fantastically great looking XJS for sale in Chicago that I wish I could get right now. Only 9500. Been for sale for months starting at like $11K. God I wish the time was right. Like I said I'm still waiting to see one in the wild.

 

I was 41 when I decided to join the V12 club. I couldn't afford the 456GT on Craigslist. I've been a Mercedes guy for a long time, but two R129 SL600s disappeared before I could look at them, and so did the E38 750iL on the far side of Sacramento. So I ended up with an XJS. That was five years ago and I've had the (probably unusual) thought "I should have held out for an SL600" more than twice. I'm currently procrastinating about putting the Jaguar back together after doing spark plugs yesterday.

Needy kitty.

 

Preference, I’m 99% German but I’m also frugal Working as a foreign car mechanic, it always shocked me the high prices I paid for German car parts. That and how often they’d be back in for some other serious issue.
Meanwhile I was racing my Jaguar in vintage sports car races. Blowing past the Mercedes and etc in my class. It shocked me how many times they’d fail to finish even one race.
Yet race after race, Year after year, decade after decade. The same Jaguar engine/ transmission, etc. just kept on winning. I litterly wore the paint off the car.
Due to lack of repair, I was able to keep racing that same car. With nothing more than normal race car maintenance.
The fantastic part was nearly all those parts were cheap discards found in Junkyards. Once the new wears off a Jaguar, prices go to the absolute basement.. Minor little flaws cause whole cars with low mileage to be junked.