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Your continued postings of photos of this beauty can only be described as unnecessarily cruel. Have a heart!
Some might say you have only yourself to blame for the entire thread and all the photos in it!
Others might wait until she is photographed shod for the winter and demonstrating her prowess in a much less hospitable environment than she has seen to date to determine whether, like the tin man, I lack a heart or, like the scarecrow, I lack a brain.
On the other hand, I was smart enough to purchase her when she was offered for sale.
Exceptional car and colour, they were Daimler in the UK.
I almost opted for Black Cherry for the rebuild, but chickened out - it's evolved slightly from the almost purple fleck to a more red over the years, having seen only a few Jaguars special ordered in this colour - because you need a lot of light on the paint chip for it to 'come alive', I had to go outside the paintshop and into the sun for it to go from black to these amazing deep reds. I looked at 2010/2011 chips, the later XF/XJ/XK really suit it.
Again, what a gorgeous car compliments to the owners of all of them!
The V12 Vanden Plas was a model that Jaguar made for Canada (only, no other market) after 1985, and yes, they were in essence Daimler Double Sixes but fully optioned, and with certain features stipulated by Jaguar Canada: mud flaps, coolant pre-heaters, bonnet-mounted washer jets, daytime running lights....
The interiors were splendid. These photos are of the Black Cherry car, #92 of the last 100 built (1992):
Did anyone catch that the engine sticker says DAIMLER and the driver's floor mat is also a Daimler mat? this car was built in May, 1992. Production of the Series III JAGUAR Sovereign V12 ended at the end of 1991. The only Series III model being built in the 1992 calendar year was the Daimler Double Six. The V12 Vanden Plas was, in essence a Daimler Double Six with Jaguar badging - however, by the time this car was built Jaguar had exhausted the supply of a number of Series III items - note that the mirror control is a single knob rather than the earlier chrome twin stalk control. The single knob control was sourced from Ford. And the supply of Jaguar (as opposed to Daimler) trim items was also sketchy and the fact that the V12 Vanden Plas was built on the Daimler line led to anomalies such as this car displays. They just reached for whatever they could find on the shelf that fit. The conversation imagined:
"Oy, Derek! Got any more of the gold on black grille badges?"
" Nope...hey wait...here is a very early V12 badge - the one in silver on gold. Will that fit?"
"Yup...let's have it"
By the time the X308 was being produced this sort of improvisation was long gone.
The 1992 car, #92/100 sold new in Vancouver in May,1993:
The very late mirror control:
The normal Series III mirror control:
The series 2 and series 3 are my favourite Jags, I do think they are nicer then an X308. But I would think the X308 is more practical to live with.
You should treat yourself to a Series 3, Chris. Still affordable and, as I've proved, so long as the body and chassis are OK you can bring a tired one up to a lovely level if you've got the patience and the space (I'm jealous of your garage in this respect). The X308 is the more practical daily driver but the Series 3 is the cheaper and easier to maintain in my experience - the longevity and ubiquity of the XK and V12 engines really help here . We did a round trip of around 270 miles to the Jaguar Summer Festival at Newby Hall over the weekend and it was a joy to travel in. I didn't for a moment consider taking the X308 instead of the XJ6.
The XJ6 does have a lot going for it, but they are not easy to come by in the US, When you do
find one, it usually needs a lot of cosmetic work. It goes without saying that when you do find a
good example the price rises significantly.
"Finally found a few minutes to put on the new cam cover decal. Of course she now thinks she deserves to be washed and waxed and cleaned to match. She’s probably right, the ladies always are." Ken Cantor
They ALWAYS think its time for detailing. The Duchess is always trying to
get my attention.
Finally found a few minutes to put on the new cam cover decal.
May I ask where you sourced the decals? I'm missing some of one and the other is completely gone. nice to add new ones when I clean up the engine bay and do the driver's side valve cover gasket set.
May I ask where you sourced the decals? I'm missing some of one and the other is completely gone. nice to add new ones when I clean up the engine bay and do the driver's side valve cover gasket set.
From David Mattocks who is a member of the Facebook Jaguar XJR X308 owners group (
). You can direct message him on the forum as I don't know if he's a member here. I prepaid for the decal and postage and it arrived a short time later well packaged and intact and appears to be OE or OE equivalent in the proper high temp backing/material.
Last edited by Ken Cantor; 09-02-2022 at 01:23 PM.
Finally booked some shop time for the XJR so at 99,574 km she got an oil change and filter; two rear subframe mounts; a transmission filter kit, fluid change and electrical plug; a serpentine belt and a supercharger belt. $1,568.74 all in (before taxes) for fluids, parts, shop supplies and labor.
Next up: a Ziebart/rust proofing package and inspecting a locally sourced set of rims to get some snow tires mounted before they’re needed. The owner initially thought they were Asteroids but said they don’t match the ones that are on this car (which are Asteroids) so I’m assuming they’re Pentas as they are XJR wheels that were originally sourced from England so we shall see.
She got an interior going over last weekend and it is holding up quite as nicely as the exterior except for the headliner which is starting to drop across the indent over the rear seat back and some bubbling in the sun roof.
Along with picking up the XJR, I also picked up a new battery for her stablemate who has been in storage since pre-Covid:
Unfortunately, what should have been a 20 minute swap was delayed by a frozen trunk lock so it was off to get some lock lubricant which took three applications accompanied by considerable key jiggling 30 minutes apart to allow it to penetrate enough to let the latch work. Not a complete waste of time as the windows got cleaned enough to safely drive the car.
20 minutes later the new battery was connected and the key was in the ignition. Cycled the fuel pump four times without engaging the starter to prime the rails, crossed my fingers and turned the key enough to engage the starter and the V12 rumbled into life and settled into a bit of a rough idle that quickly smoothed out. Time to leave the Camry behind for another day and head home.
Task number one was to use the hose to knock off the worst of the dust.
After that it was time for a proper wash, something that reminds you of how compact these cars are by how quickly you can give them as proper wash. Once she was presentable, it was time for some proper introductions and comparison photos.
And time to leave the two mistresses to get better acquainted on their own and spend some time with my darling bride of 50 years.
Last edited by Ken Cantor; 09-17-2022 at 10:53 PM.
I only need to pinch myself whenever I see them. Or drive them. Or think about them.
Your fleet might be described as a bit more eclectic with a bit more turnover but is equally interesting, particularly your ability and willingness to go places and tackle things I wouldn’t dare.
It’s a treat following your adventures and your enthusiasm as well as your relationships with Aston and Spencer as you do.
I love those side by side photos - such interesting evolution, and two stunning cars.
I went to the Everton match on Sunday and as I was getting out of my '82 XJ6 S3, a 2017 XJL pulled up and reversed into the space next to me. As I walked away across the car park, three people stopped me and commented on the differences between the generations. Chiefly they mentioned the size of the respective cars but also how much prettier the older car is. I couldn't disagree.
Having said that, I tried to engage the owner of the XJL to have a friendly chat about our cars and he really wasn't interested!
You two guys have inspired me to start an ownership thread. Just compiling the first 12 months experience after a 30+ year abscence from Jaguars.
08-14-2022, 04:52 PM
