Jeff,
You forgot to include the cost for that custom rear spoiler.

 

Mountaincat, I like your post... hah!

I have a Blinder brand (from Europe) of laser parking system. If you mistakenly have it set incorrectly, it jams all types of police laser... very effectively. You have to make sure that the knob is in the correct position for the best detection of parking obstructions.

 

Mina Gallery shipped the exhaust system quickly and it arrived today! That will replace the nasty 'smashed pipe' factory exhaust system quite nicely with shiny stainless that goes under the rear suspension.




The rear end bits are currently being degreased prior to reinstallation.



Sometimes the Photobucket (image hosting service that I use) pictures are sideways due to their system not properly storing images even after they have been edited and corrected. Turn your head sideways for best viewing.

 

Let me make sure I understand this. Total total so far including original cost of car plus all the other stuff comes to $53,600 or am I adding something twice?!?!?

If you are out-of-pocket in the neighborhood of $40K to $50K after all is said and done, do you think it would have been worth it to go for a later model XK (or even XKR). I believe there is a pretty good selection of even 2008 and 2009 vintage that would be in that ballpark.

Just sayin'

Doug

 

You've got it about right, Seismic Guy!

...and those other cars aren't pushing 630 horsepower. I also built this one up with chunks of money that I was able to accrue and put toward the improvement of the car. I'm not a 'get a loan and make monthly payments' kind of guy and I like to build my cars up. I'm too busy in my business to do the work myself. I could have done much of it, but that doesn't fit into my schedule anymore.

I tend to like 'surprise' or unique vehicles. Seeing people's faces after they catch back up to me at a light is priceless. They'd expect to have their Vette trounced by a 911 Turbo or Viper. Nobody sees it coming from this particular car. It's a bit of a 'sleeper' exotic car.

I could have saved up the money (and more) to have gotten something like an F-Type in a couple of years and paid cash, but then it would still be used (I refuse to buy new cars) and I'd have missed out on all the fun that I'm having NOW.

I almost died multiple times when I was a kid and, most recently, in 1997 when a truck hit me almost head-on while I was riding my bicycle. I had an intense white light experience wherein I was allowed to come back so that I could accomplish my dreams. I've almost accomplished them all now.

Any of us can be gone in the 'blink of an eye'. How much fun can you have, here on Earth, after you've lost your life? I am getting a real thrill out of what I'm doing and I don't want to risk saving up a whole bunch of money to buy something really expensive, over time, only to not have been able to take advantage prior to passing away.

I am in good health right now, thank God... but you never know when your ticket will be taken for the ride home.

My next goal? A house in the foothills at the base of the nearby mountain. I think that I can pull that one off in about 10 years and buy it outright. I've never owned my own house, ever, and have been almost homeless for most of my adult life. At the age of 49, I only really started earning a decent living in 2010.

I can tell you this... the journey after this life is faster and more thrilling than anything you can imagine. I can also tell you that this life is meant to be lived and learned from. It is a true gift and opportunity.

Whatever they are, live your dreams... and tell your loved ones that you care every single time that you walk out through the doorway to go do something.

 

I never want to be in the position of telling someone else what to do so basically whatever winds your clock--go for it!

I can though say what I would do. If I were a free spirit without attachments or anyone to answer to (read young and single) and I was able to amass about $50K over time in a number of chunks, here is what I might go for:

Cars for Sale: 2010 Jaguar XKR Coupe in Fayetteville, GA 30215: Coupe Details - 336022982 - AutoTrader.com[JAG[XKR[]][]]


And it is likely there are more out there like this. No muss no fuss and I have a newish car ready to roll.

Doug

 

Very well said Jeff.

After closely following your adventure I was tempted to be presumptuous and answer the question before you did, but that was not fair and I held back.

I was thinking much along the same lines.

 

What's funny is, I like this XKR so much so that I've already planned for the event where it is ever in a bad wreck. I'm just going to buy one like it, then have the wrecked beastie towed to the techies and have them switch all the fun stuff over to the non-wrecked one.

In addition to that, I'll be having another motor built up, perfect, new, balanced, with stronger rods, and some head work (flow improvements), next year. When that gets done, I'll swap out what I've got and do the same to it so that it is sitting on the shelf, ready to use if I ever blow the motor. We'll find out what a much smaller pulley can do after that! This is not a high priority, though, and will probably get built up over a year or so.

I keep my cars for long periods of time.

 

Thanks for sharing Jeff, truly appreciated.

 

Good answer and great attitude! Liked this post almost as much as your upgrade journey to date.

Looks like you're really having fun. Keep it up.

 

There are a fair bit of us who wouldn't buy a newer body style XKR. I'd rather put money into my '05. The 04-06 XKR's are my favorite. I almost bought a Audi S5 vert instead. I'd rather have that than an 07+ XKR.

 

I have admired Jeff's journey like most of us on this forum and since he is having fun with his car it's definitely money well spent.

If I would have done something different would be to get the best possible car (.ie 2004+ low mileage, full extras like brembo, unmarked leather interior, the wheels he liked etc) as I feel there would be massive savings on labour + parts rather than updating a 150k mile car.

That said it's been a spectacular journey and I am also one that would not consider a newer XK. I find our cars timeless and much better looking than the new shape.

Pavlos

 

I'm far too "sound fiscal policy" wired to pour that kind of cash into any vehicle, but I've enjoyed following Jeff's continuing saga with his souped-up XKR. So please stay safe out there, Jeff, as you keep us posted on your wild and wooly escapades....

 

Jeff, I've truly enjoyed this thread. I too enjoy cars that lead folks into under estimating what they're up against. To be honest that's my goal in almost any endeavor including my daily business life. I'd much rather be under estimated in any situation. Lots of people over estimate cars like corvettes, vipers and mustangs/camaros with stripes and dual exhausts. So I can understand how you feel when someone takes a crack at your "go to the country club" car and their "over estimating" grin goes away in your rearview mirror. By the way what you do with your money is your choice---how many folks spend 6 figures on golf/country club memberships or seven figures on homes that we really just use to store our stuff? Carpe Diem man!

 

This is sort of where I am coming from augmented by my being an engineer and tending to look at more pragmatic paths. Even to the extent that while I was quite devoted to cars that I have liked (so far the 1995 Corvette is the winner after 14 years of ownership) my engineering/pragmatic side realizes there is a point of diminishing returns. In other words if I still had that Corvette, I could try and build it up into some supercar that would rival the new C7, but I would probably not do so.

Still to Jeff--you are quite the character and I mean that in a good way!


Doug

 

Can't speak for Jeff, but for me its not that I need to rival a newer model, I just really like this model (1997-2006), and have made it like Jeff a bit more special than it already is stock.

 

The brakes are starting to go on (they're HUGE):



The drive flange needed a repair, so it got fixed:

 

When you haul on the anchors on the freeway 'coz some bozo leapt on his you had better watch out behind you - because you will be stopping somewhat faster than your fellow travellers. Don't get rear ended by having a better car!

Nick

 

That is oh, so true. I have years of experience with driving a lightweight, suped-up, turbocharged RX-7 and had to get used to nobody behind me being able to stop as quickly or as briskly. It seems like I'm always driving with one eye looking at the rear view mirror. There have been several times when I have had to get into another lane just so the guy behind me would have somewhere to go. It's freaky to look over and see the face of the guy driving the truck that ended up sliding to a stop where your car was just 2 seconds prior!

 

Mind if I ask what you started doing that paid such handsome dividends so late in life?