As I wrote in February I bought a 1995 XJS convertible straight six with only 40.000 miles, and I left it at the mechanic just one week before this coronavirus nightmare started. The confinement rules in Barcelona are now much less strict and I could finally go and get her.
As with any used car, we replaced all the fluids and filters, not just engine oil but everything. The rubber components were in good shape, but as they were 25 years old, I decided to replace all the coolant and fuel circuit hoses, just in case. We also cleaned the radiator, put new thermostat, new spark plugs, checked steering mechanism, suspension, and last but not least, cleaned and protected with anti-rust all the ground points to avoid electric gremlins that seem to come out of nowhere and drive you crazy. The tires had been barely used, but I saw that they were manufactured in 2008, so I decided to install new Michelin ones. Some of these things were not really needed, but I learned a long time ago that one Euro spent in maintenance saves you hundreth in repairs. I also wanted to take advantage of the fact that parts can still be found today. The last action was to clean the leather seats and apply a generous ration of protection cream to keep the leather in good shape.
I could have done most of these things myself because the straight six engine is pretty simple, but I prefered to leave it in the hands of that mechanic in Barcelona expert in classic cars, mostly Jaguars. The final bill was not cheap, but I consider it as an investment. If one day I need to sell the car, that bill with the name "Mendieta Sports Car" will be kind of a guarantee to prove that I was very serious about the maintenance and this car was serviced by real experts. I am also very happy because the people at Mendieta confirmed me that the 40.000 miles are real, there was no rust anywhere, and the car had been very well maintained by the previous owner.
The car runs like new, and after almost two months confined at home I cannot describe the sense of freedom that I have when I drive it with the top down. The only thing that makes me a little uneasy is that absolutely EVERYBODY looks at the car wherever I go. I will have to get used to it, because it is actually my fault: if I did not want that kind of attention, I should have bought a Toyota Prius!!
Best wishes of good health to you and your families.

 

Car looks great, good work, do you sponsor other peoples cars?
Mine would love all that attention LOL

 

Blue is the best colour for Jags, isn't it?

Lovely machine. I always wonder about those foglight covers. Do people really encounter a bank of fog, stop the car (and get rear-ended in the fog?) and remove them just so they can turn their foglights on? Also love how the strips covering the three chrome bumper sections moved from black rubber up to about '92 or '93 to chrome for the last lot of cars. It's like they were looking around the car wondering if there was anything else they could slap chrome on....

 

I didn't know you could get quad headlights in 95.

 

Beautiful car!

 

Very nice. Have a lot of fun and enjoy it. The headlights on all the facelifts were all oval, I'm guessing like me the PO swapped them for quads. I used to drive mine with the foglight covers off as it seemed to took better....But then l found out how much it cost to replace them after a stone chip, SO now the covers stay on LOL

 

Looks good, get ready to find random people coming up to you in parking lots and gas stations to strike up a conversation lol

 

Great looking Jag !!! Enjoy.

Rick

 

Green is the best color for Jags...

 

To be honest with you, my favorite combination is green with the leather color that I already have. I saw one like that and it was absolutely gorgeous, but the mechanical condition was far from good. It is not that I don't like blue, but it was not in my list. What happened is that I remembered the first and most important advice you all gave me: buy based on mechanical condition and previous care. Even a high mileage is not that important if the car has been well maintained. So when I saw this car in such great shape and with such low mileage, I did not care at all about the color. And let's be honest, the blue is also very beautiful. The only color I did not like at all was white.
I was tempted to ask my mechanic how much would cost to paint the car in green, but I shut my mouth because I know how expensive is to do a professional paint job. And also, the top is blue and would not match at all with green, so I would have to replace the fabric which is in excellent condition despite its age. So blue it stays and I love it!!!

 

Blue wasn't my first choice, either. I was initially going for a cool grey one. But Kingfisher Blue looks really cool in person. Still not a fan of the doeskin interior it came with, but I can live with it. (Red, grey, or black interiors, or even dark blue would be better.) Assuming you both mean British Racing Green for green, I don't agree there. Too obvious, and I don't like the colour anyway. White's not good either--too light. My ideal colour would be Moroccan Red, a really dark purplish red.


This with a charcoal grey interior would be amazing....

Anyway, that's just my opinion, which means to me at least, it's 100% correct....

 

We agree on that. My first option was green, but my second was either Moroccan Red or Flamingo Red.