I had a little adventure over new year's ... more or less starting at this house in Ottawa on the 31st:

where I picked up the 1995 XJR I had bought sight unseen (!). Here's a photo from the advert.

Leaving there I was confronted with this dash, along with a noisy exhaust (up by the engine I think):

I planned to drive for about eight hours that day, westward on Hwy 17. This is a typical lake-by-the-roadside view on the way to North Bay.

Not much traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway. This is December 31/20 at 3pm.

Took a break in North Bay. "Delicious whirlypop popcorn". There's a tow hitch on the Jag.

This is North Bay break #2, by a plowed-up pile of snow behind a variety store. It'll probably still be thawing in June.

Fast forward to the next leg: a sojourn on Manitoulin Island, starting with the single-lane bridge that gets you there.

Then the motel in Little Current for a solitary mid-pandemic New Year's Eve. It was about -15 C if I remember correctly, dead still.

There was an obnoxiously bright sign out front. The car still looks pretty clean:

Manitoulin looks like this. Again, no traffic.

Aaand here's the reason for coming here: to collect new pup Jeffrey.

Then back over the bridge to the North Shore south of Espanola:

Zipping back eastward on 17 towards Sudbury (where we shall Turn Right):

This is a typical pooch-stop where we find a quiet spot for a pee/stretch/drink/snack.

Looks like I didn't take a lot more photos of the drive southward...I have driven this stretch many times and just wanted to get home. Also, I was racing against a messy snow-freezing rain system that I would drive into if I got home too late.

This messy snow-freezing rain system:

Thankfully we were only in that for about 45 minutes before arriving home on New Year's Day with a new dog and a new Jaguar. We wait for spring.

Incidentally, I got this car from the original owner, who had purchased with it a set of snow tires on 16" Jaguar steelies. He put them in the back seat for me to bring home.

 

What and adventure and a great first drive. Glad you got got home ok, it looks like the car did well on the drive too.
Are you going to be looking into the Trac Fail and ABS lights? It could be the ABS controller module, mine needed to be re-soldered.
Hope the dog and the car are settling in well.

 

Yes so I bought this on a whim as a project. Doggo and I are getting on very well thank you! He's already huge though, didn't expect that so soon. He is lots of fun and my first dog.

The car does not run well at all. As determined in another thread, the ecu has been wet, and there is an intermittent over-fueling issue. The ABS and Trac problems are related. A couple of times over the 1500 km trip those warning lights went out, and the systems did work. But they always came back on (always on and off together).

It is otherwise in...mixed...condition. Sagging headliner and a bit of trim missing around the sunroof switch, broken cup holder. There are rust bubbles on the roof where something has dripped on it. Little bits of rust on the rear arches. The car has been smacked all down the right-hand side and fixed, to my eye, not to the standard I might expect if I had had this car from new and had all the money in the world. But ride and handling are superb and overall it looks like the 45000 mile / 25 year old car that it is. No regrets so far, boy does this car have some stories to tell.

I just gave it a good wash the next morning then parked it. Now the idea of a manual swap has gripped me and I am trying to put together a comprehensive list of the parts it would take before I start buying bits *****-nilly.

 

Lovely car, and rare with such low mileage.. Looks like a very early X300 (94/95?) as you have a "real" oil pressure gauge , rather than the later "idiot" gauges.
The trac fail / Abs warning lightd are 99% likely related, and are well covered in threads in this forum. Enjoy!

 

Bingo! Build Jan. 1995. I thought they were rare too LOL but it's the same as me Dad's (also black and at 47000 miles, built Feb.95, we bought it last spring) and another black '95 about a two hour drive away (50000 miles) was listed and sold within a week back in November. It looked fantastic but they only asked $13000CAD so it went quickly.

 

Wow a great story. Two new additions same trip. Both lovable. A peaceful, quaint motel on a cold New Year's Eve. A badass black supercharged Jaguar.

Next summer, you and the pops must hit the road together in a similar trip but without the slippery roads. Like a pair of superheroes. Or a pair of villains. The highway authorities will notice you.....

 

Lucky dog.

 

Now that's a great idea! I'll get some Go-Pros.