Originally Posted by zray

I feel fortunate that I was able to thrash my e types, a '67 and a '70, during the years when they were just another nice used sports car. So I had no moral dilemma to solve, as todays collectors might have.

I changed the head gasket in my driveway, then I drove them from Oklahoma to the west coast (more than once), as fast as they would go, when traffic would allow. My best average was 90 mph for the whole 1,400 mile trip. Maybe not fast enough to win the Cannonball, but great fun nevertheless in the late 1970's / early1980's.

Z

Originally Posted by Scottsgreenjag

Wonder what Carroll Shelby would have thought of XK8's?? He started racing in 1952 with a "49 MG TC, and switched to a Jaguar XK 120.

And I'm thinking possessive on Shelby's name, not plural. Shelby's cars over the years included a British AC, 3 or 4 different Dodge vehicles to include a pickup, lots of Mustangs and for the Shelby Series 1, he chose an Oldsmobile 4.0L 32 valve V8.

What is your daily driver and what was your first car?

Originally Posted by WhiteHat

sure you will. now, not later, simply take the car out and start having some adventures within parameters that make sense to you and your situation. plan a route across a continent where you wish to go. or see how far you can go and come back within a weekend or day (my MO). if you finally reach the point where natural wear requires a rebuild of the engine or replacement of its rings, do it yourself and take pictures. i could not do these things while young, but now the grown children think that i am nuts in a good way.

could not do as much as i wanted with the E Type due to obligations, but did enjoy it while keeping it nice. a collector was chasing me as it was an excellent condition survivor as i rolled the miles. we stayed friends and he struggled whether to do the full restoration. warned him that things would be very different if he did it. as an excellent specimen, it restored very well but he ended up selling it as it was a piece of jewelry. this is where the value made sense to shift usage, but if I was in a different place, would have kept it as a mileage accumulating survivor. would have been fun to be close to the level of restored specimens with hundreds of thousands of miles and the upgraded cooling system that i added , AC system and the undercarriage paint and rustproofing. remember, restoration often means making something as bad as it once was. i wonder if future xk8 restorers will lose points for Real Gauge, upgraded thermostat housings, oil pressure gauges, rust proofing (oh, sorry, though that i was with the Corvette guys again.)

will one day purchase a Series II to add to the collection and not make the same mistakes twice.

Originally Posted by Jeagar

Sure. That sounds like a great idea. Take my X100 to the south of France, once I get it.

But I was basically wondering if the X100 will indeed ever reach the classic status of the E-type. I think it will. But the lack of a manual transmission sure will hold it back a bit in my opinion.

Good question about the X100 losing points for updated parts. If the car collectors scene stays as silly as it is today, I think it will absolutely lose points for the upgraded parts. So if I get a 4.0 car with low mileage and still the plastic tensioners, original water pump etc, I better keep those in a closet after I upgrade, just in case.

Originally Posted by giandanielxk8

Do classic car collectors really prefer having a car that may implode just because it is more original? Stuff like the tensioners were part of Jaguar TSB's if I recall correctly. I think that would count as keeping the car "original".

Originally Posted by johns427

".....so now I say what the hell, I'm not getting any younger....."

Originally Posted by Jeagar

Lovely car. There is something about the original 1996 wheels that is so complementary to the whole style of the X100. I really like them. They fit the retro looking body very nicely. Are they 17"?

Originally Posted by Jeagar

Not nearly uncrashable enough, if you go by those bad Mustang drivers videos on Youtube.

Originally Posted by Ungn

Those are the "revolver" wheels. I really like them too. If they were widened to 9.5" they would be perfect to run 255 in front or 275/285's in back. They don't fit the 14" (355mm) Brembos, but they should fit the 325mm brakes.



I can't figure any of those videos out. I track the car and it is crazy control-able, like magical, like you have to be really stupid. Learn the track with stab full on. after you learn the track go to advance track and the tail hangs out. Take the stability control off totally and you will be spinning out of control in under a lap. Only an idiot would to that, though.

Originally Posted by giandanielxk8

Do classic car collectors really prefer having a car that may implode just because it is more original? Stuff like the tensioners were part of Jaguar TSB's if I recall correctly. I think that would count as keeping the car "original".