Hi,

I am planning on buying an XKR (X100) after Christmas. I have a picture of the car I want in mind, however (unsurprisingly) reality is proving a bit different.

Can anyone tell me if there was a European-market XKR made with a piano black dashboard (as per on the XJR)?

If not does anyone know of a place that can make replacement wood panels to create this look? Either way I am keen to get rid of any factory sat nav and have the three clocks (with the true gauge modification) for that classic look. So regardless if I can find a car with a piano black dashboard (I have only ever seen one advertised and it had way too many owners) I will need someone to make/supply the centre panel to accept the three clocks.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Nick

 

Wrap the veneer in gloss black vinyl, it's what I did in my XJR.

 

Hi Cambo,

Thanks for the suggestion, what result did you achieve, did it look convincing? If you had any pics that would be wonderful.

Cheers,
Nick

 

It's more than convincing, basically everyone who's seen it had no idea it'd been wrapped until I told them.

 

The triple guage panel can be purchased on ebay

 

This is a low supply and low demand market. Not that many cars to choose from, but the low demand keep the prices low. You will have to look for a while until you find something you like, but it is unlikely to hit every single thing on your wish list. Get something close, and make sure you are comfortable dealing/changing/repairing/upgrading the parts you do not like. For me, I tend to gravitate towards cars in good cosmetic shape because I know nothing about leather, paint, carpet, trim, weatherstripping, etc. I have more patience for mechanical and electrical issues.

My sense is that what you want here is "easy". You can get a replacement dash set from anywhere (eBay, breaker, etc.), even one piece at a time, then you sand, prime, paint, gloss, polish, or even wrap until you like the result. What is harder is to replace the existing wood veneer pieces. The traditional look is to have the center dash pieces be sort-of mirror image, i.e. cut from the same piece of wood: a specific wood grain pattern on one piece can be found on the neighboring dash component because they were made to fit together. If this is what you want to preserve, then you have to procure entire dash sets, as originally paired up at the factory, so more expensive. Just my thoughts.

The alternative to the wood veneer is the fairly rare carbon fiber option. It became available in the later years as an option. I am sure you can find pictures with a search.

Best of luck.

 

Nick,

Do like PrettyBluefin, if you have Black Interior....Wrap the wood in Black Carbon Fiber Vinyl....Her's looks great with the Silver outside......

Billy Clyde in Houston

 

In case you did not already know about this (I too am in search of the perfect car that is in my mind and like you, don't want navigation, prefer the 3 gauges):

XK8 / XKR Navigation to 3-Gauge Conversion - TheJagWrangler

 

That's what I did, bought the parts on e-bay and practiced my wrapping skills (it's actually pretty easy), did mine in fake carbon fiber in the end but tried stainless steel (which was really hard) and a bunch of other colors first. The spare dash parts are pretty cheap, or were.