I Love To See Them In This Condition
Discussion
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165894751789?hash=item2...
Its no secret my love for Jaguars greatest XJ the X350 . Its just so doable for the working man in a way that previous second hand XJs never were . I remember all those Steel Bodied Models and the absolute horrors that lurked within them when it came to buying used , it simply doesn't exist with the X350 . Take the Car above for instance . What a beautiful carriage to spend your retirement pottering about the Highways and Byways of England in and literally for peanuts in both outlay and maintenance costs . Trust me when I tell you that its an England thats disappearing faster than you think .
Its no secret my love for Jaguars greatest XJ the X350 . Its just so doable for the working man in a way that previous second hand XJs never were . I remember all those Steel Bodied Models and the absolute horrors that lurked within them when it came to buying used , it simply doesn't exist with the X350 . Take the Car above for instance . What a beautiful carriage to spend your retirement pottering about the Highways and Byways of England in and literally for peanuts in both outlay and maintenance costs . Trust me when I tell you that its an England thats disappearing faster than you think .
Colour wise John , they did both Jaguar Racing Green and British Racing Green at the X350 Models introduction . Its my belief that this is probably the Latter . The Wheels are the 18" Luxury Alloys which were Standard Spec on the V8 SE ( Dynamic on the V6 ?) and you aren't the first Ive heard comment that they aren't your favourite . Out of all the Jaguars I have owned however , I look back at the Luxury Alloy with much affection . They were by far the easiest to clean with a Bucket and Sponge . Spec wise for a V6 , this car is pretty well optioned missing only the Headlamp Washers which to be fair were pretty crap anyway . I have been meaning to post this Wheel Guide for ages .
https://www.jag-lovers.org/brochures/xj/2004_xj8_4...
https://www.jag-lovers.org/brochures/xj/2004_xj8_4...
Edited by reddiesel on Sunday 22 January 07:21
reddiesel said:
a8hex said:
Yes, if it were a 4.2 it would be worth looking at for that price rather than investing in putting my X300 back on the road.
I have to tell you and I suspect you already know it , the X350 V6 is perfectly adequate and definitely moreso than the old 2.8 was .
I've enjoyed the V8 X350s I've driven but I wasn't so keen on the V6 one I drove at the launch. An XJR would be best of course but I've got an 5L X150 so I've got the fast thing covered. The V8 is torquier than the V6 and so more of a relaxed cruiser. IMHO
W211 said:
I too am very drawn to this generation of xj
I've read a few tales of manual gearbox conversions on xj's... but I think they tend to be older models. Is anyone doing these swaps on x350s?
Many years back there were posts about converting the X100 generation XKR to a manual gearbox and a poster here with the handle NormanD did a lot of work on this. I think he eventually got his car working and had originally intended to sell a kit but I don't think that ever happened. IIRC the complication was convincing the integrated engine/gearbox/dashboard ... etc. system to work without having the gearbox there. The X350 is probably ever more complex than the X100 as no doubt the air suspension system is all tied in too. I think he was replacing the Merc gearbox rather than the ZF one.I've read a few tales of manual gearbox conversions on xj's... but I think they tend to be older models. Is anyone doing these swaps on x350s?
Others who managed were building race cars or at least track cars and didn't mind ripping out all the electronics including most of the cars interior.
The last generation of the XJ which was supplied with the manual gearbox was the X300 and even there the Jaguar dealers would try desperately hard to persuade you not to order one. When I bought my X300 in 96 the dealers would only take manual cars in as part exchange and would pay far less for them than autos whereas autos they could sell all the ones they could get their hands on... sadly not a problem Jaguar have faced recently.
W211 said:
Looks interesting, I guess you need to have a chat with Swallows Racing then reddiesel said:
a8hex said:
Yes, if it were a 4.2 it would be worth looking at for that price rather than investing in putting my X300 back on the road.
I have to tell you and I suspect you already know it , the X350 V6 is perfectly adequate and definitely moreso than the old 2.8 was .I could understand the point of the V6 when they were new and it had tax benefits for company drivers, was the thick end of £10k cheaper, and you were using the car just as a car but if you're deciding to spent £8k on an ancient semi classic ish car you're not piling big miles on you really don't want the "adequate" one do you?
It's always the way with any barge, nobody really wanted the V6 when they were new they were just saving money but now the difference between the V6 and a 4.2 is a couple of grand you'd be silly not to find it.
I know everyone uses the phrase but I could never get my head around this idea of any desirable vehicle being considered a toy . For me the word stinks of the feminist apologist brigade and their desire to reduce men to mere grown up children . I didn’t Graft on Building Sites like the proverbial to buy myself a toy . I grafted like most of us do in order to progress in life and avail myself of what the World has to offer . Possessions I’ve always seen as a mark of my progress and when I couldn’t afford I went without till I could . No different from most of us I guess
I didn't in anyway intend toy as anything other than being something I want to have to play with. When I bought my XJ6 I needed a car to get me from A to B in order to earn a living and I was lucky enough to be able to afford a very nice and comfortable (plus fun) way to get from A to B. When I bought the XK150 and X150 I didn't need them as a form of transport they were simply something for me to enjoy and any utility of occasionally going from A to B was purely secondary, I could get there other ways. So to me they are things I wanted to "play with" and I don't have an issue with viewing things that I do for no better reason than I want to and that I want to enjoy as "playing".
I've been known to have arguments with senior executives in big companies along the lines that if they don't provide their IT engineers computers to play on how do they expect them to know how to work them... but that's another issue :-)
I've been known to have arguments with senior executives in big companies along the lines that if they don't provide their IT engineers computers to play on how do they expect them to know how to work them... but that's another issue :-)
Absolutely no criticism of you or anyone else using the word in that context , ideally I suppose you would prefer a working class kid raised in similar circumstances asking how you managed to own that Vantage or F Type working on a Construction Site .Instead you get Jason with his leased Audi congratulating you on your " new toy ". Are those sort of Kids still out there ? I dont know . Nowadays its a brave man or a complete imbecile that takes young Johnny from two doors down for a blast in his new Aston no matter how well he thinks he knows the Parents .
Edited by reddiesel on Wednesday 25th January 07:29
stickleback123 said:
It's always the way with any barge, nobody really wanted the V6 when they were new they were just saving money but now the difference between the V6 and a 4.2 is a couple of grand you'd be silly not to find it.
All other things being equal of course. There's plenty of V6s on the market and chances are by including them you might well find a better V6 than a V8 for similar money and it'd be silly to rule the base model out just because you didn't like the smaller engine or lower spec variant if that particular one was a better car overall.
Jaguar steve said:
stickleback123 said:
It's always the way with any barge, nobody really wanted the V6 when they were new they were just saving money but now the difference between the V6 and a 4.2 is a couple of grand you'd be silly not to find it.
All other things being equal of course. There's plenty of V6s on the market and chances are by including them you might well find a better V6 than a V8 for similar money and it'd be silly to rule the base model out just because you didn't like the smaller engine or lower spec variant if that particular one was a better car overall.
If I was buying a £1,500 smoker to see out the remaining MOT in and hope for the best at the next one I 100% would go on condition over trim or even engine, but the car linked really doesn't fall into that category.
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