The fact remains Oh Ye of Taking the Mick, that the Jaguar V12 is the only V12 production car engine of its era that does not require constant maintenance and hugely expensive levels of attention from new, and which remains strong and reliable to this day. Now, unlike its exotic contemporaries, the XJS cost 30% of their price, could be used every day, was not temperamental and was decently reliable for up to 10 years when its electrics start to give reliability problems - as did those of all cars of its era, for instance the Porsche 928.
No question it could have been better, but ALL cars are a compromise between price, development time, reliability, and all of them are creatures of their time; with the faults and advantages of those conditions. Moreso, the objectives of the designer and manufacturer are part of the judgement. The XJS is a GT, with an astonishing balance between comfort, speed, handling, space, silence, looks, and ride which has never been bettered.

 

MY 2 cents worth, and some be upset, so be it.

All my Jags, 6 and 12 have served me well. Bearing in mind that when I had the ML7, MK10, S Type, I lived 250 miles from any civilisation, so a break down was not a good idea, NEVER had one, and I am NOT a genius, or anyone special by any means.
Aussie Common Sense, a sadly lost commodity world wide me thinks.

I hear of the V12 "bashers", OK, if you dont like it, dont have it, simple.
Dropped valve seats?????, NEVER seen one. Heard of one, but in fairness, he COOKED THE SUCKER, trying to get home, in the Aussie summer, with a split coolant hose. Hardly the cars fault, or the manufacturer.

Wiring, HELL yes. Take a couple of days, a good few beers, and rewire the sucker, simple, and repeat in 15-20 years.

All mine, again 6 or 12, had issues when I got them, FACT. I did the "sort out" properly, which very few owners will ever do, and enjoyed the results.
710000kms on a PreHE, and twice around our coast road (25000kms) each time, in the HE. I doubt there are many brands that could even get close.
A Properly running V12 is a thing of that "warm and fuzzy feeling", BUT so few are running properly, again, NOT the cars fault, or the manufacturer, that the owner refuses to do what is needed on an older classic, which rather upsets me, mainly due to that "blame game".

AND

I got crackly wiring just starting on the 2010 X Type. SIMPLE, replace that wiring NOW, dont wait, it is what it is.

I need a few beers, come on down Greg, plenty in the shed fridge.

 

I know where there's this Jag V12 that I can get for Really cheap.
Can I have Transporter coordinates to Grant's house so he can lay hands on it and I can drive the wheels off???
Please??
Petty Please??
Or maybe Greg's house??

 

We are too young for this sort of thing, LnR! Maybe when we grow up a bit there will be time...But there is a long queue ahead of you, No.1 being:
Stripped-out roofless convertible V12; no side glass, no aircon, no blowers, no hood, no hood pump/side glass mechanisms, no door glass no electric motors, no central locking, no weight. Tonneau cover only; full GF/GiF cooling mods, AJ6 kit, welded faired-in metal behind front seats for top notch rigidity. Could lose 350kg no bother, absolute rocketship.
Just have to see if our Mum's will let us!

 

Elinor,

NOT a problem, as long as you are NOT in a hurry.

I just took 3 days, YES 3 bloody days, to change 6 spark plugs on the Managements S Type. I did this 10 years ago in 3 hours start to driving out, including mandatory human fluid top ups.

Back on crutches at 73, sometimes even the damn "chair", is slowing me down a tad, but anything is doable as we all know.

Waiting for Greg to bring his V12 Downunder, then we can do a nice 20 hour beer run to Nigel in Kal, see how his compares to mine, HAHAHA.

 

I've driven an E-type, I raced against them on the track.... They are amazing in both regards so their value makes perfect sense to me, E-types are a cultural Icon and very representative of a era or historical period and therefor in my view they are valued correctly, might even be under valued at this point.

Personally I don't care for the looks of an E-type but they do drive and perform wonderfully for a 50 year old car primarily based on good physics and design.

Even the latest generation of marketing mavens are still using the e-type to convey cool. Two make their appearances at the end of this commercial that is presently running.

 

I don’t recall Kirby blaming V12 design defects and oddities on poor upkeep by USA owners.

I recall commentary more along the lines of Americans not being accustomed to such dire consequences resulting from nonchalance and/or lack of knowledge. They had no idea how severe the consequences could be and thus took no special steps to avoid them.

And there is/was nothing in Jaguar literature to warn owners (or repair shops) about unique V12 problems nor advise them on how such problems could be avoided.

So it wasn’t so much a matter of lazy Yanks doing a poor job of upkeep. It was more a matter of nobody knowing any better 30-40 years ago. Nowadays we are much better equipped to keep a Jag V12 on the road.

Cheers
DD

 

You are on, get some serious heat into the car across the Nullabor and (as I shall be a lottery winner to get down to you) to hell with the fines! 'course, if LnR can squeeze in the back, we could pick her up at Perth (and get a time Adelaide to Perth).

 

Doug, I may have misquoted "The Great Palm". It's been many years since I read his book cover to cover and I seemingly recalled a section that discussed how infrequent antifreeze changes would result in scale deposit buildup, chronic overheating, and thus a greater likelihood of dropped valve seats; chalking up the rash of failures to lousy service intervals. The author also claimed that the % rate of V12 failures was higher in the US than in Europe and included some data to back this up. I found this fascinating and didn't intend to cast dispersions on my fellow Americans.

Now as I scan through Kirby's book and my notes I cannot find anything about this so allow me to rescind my inaccurate citation. It must've come from a different book. Not being able to locate the source material, the veracity of the above claims is in doubt. As a part-time graduate student, accuracy and well-cited sources are integral to my work, so apologies.

With the market saturation of pushrod V8s in the US in the 70s and 80s, many still carbureted, "nonchalance and/or lack of knowledge" about a relatively low production, fuel injected, OHV, aluminum block V12 seems very plausible to me. Without the wealth of internet resources today, many owners (myself included) would be in the same boat.

 

IN YOU DREAM YOU'LL SQUEEZE ME INTO THE BACK!!
IF this ever happens, I'll have My OWN car by that time and drive it MYSELF, thank you very much!
And remember, in Merca we know how to drive Really Fast in STRAIGHT LINES!

But first, I need to acquire that V12.......
But before that I need to get this engine in Nix...
But before that I need to bleed the brakes ...
But before that I need to..........
(';')

 

We'll see....

 

Straight enough for you Elinor, about 1200kms like that. Used to be unsealed until recently, that was fun with the Road Train, NOT.

 

I should Certainly be able to find Top End and kiss the Red Line quite a lot in that 750 miles!!
Gives a whole new meaning to Vanishing Point.
(sigh)
(';')

 

Greg,
I have recently been reminded that Old Age and Treachery will Overcome Youth and Skill, EVERY TIME!
I therefore humbly and respectfully step aside.

 

Grant, such wisdom in one so young!
OK LnR, we will do it like Henry Ford did at Le Mans and cross the line together!