Hello all,
Recently acquired a 1987 XJ6. Purchased at auction from the original owner. 67,000 miles. Originally purchased from Palm Beach Motor Cars in West Palm Beach, Florida. The car’s lived in Southern California since 1991.
This is my first for a into the Jaguar marque, and European autos in general.
Jay
Portland, Oregon
Welcome. You’ll find lots of help here.
She looks a beauty! Enjoy driving her.
David
Welcome!
Great car! Enjoy the ride!
Gtjoey1314
Hi Jay,
welcome to jaglovers! Nice car you found yourself - seems like you did everything right to start such a love affair … Beautiful colour combo and nice Kent wheels to begin with.
Your PO committed some of the typical PO sins such as putting a leaper where it doesn’t belong or stick on door guards. To be sure, they don’t detract overly from the beautiful state of the body, but pls make sure that there’s no rust underneath those door guards and be happy he didn’t fall for those chrome wheel surrounds;-)
Use the car - it is rather a GT with four doors than a city suburb commuter - and you’ll find that many issues fix themselves! Apart from that you might put a cardboard underneath and “read” the writings on it. If you’re using the car within the typical conditions (<2000 mls/year, no snow, no salt, hardly rain, covered parking) chances are you’re into another 20 years of relatively carefree classic motoring. Enjoy and good luck!
Jochen
75 XJ6L 4.2 auto (UK spec)
Itsa beauty, Jay. Congrats !
Cheers
DD
Sadly, Jochen it was the importer/dealer, not the PO, who fitted the leaper and door protectors to all USA cars, and also Canadian models AFAIK.
Jay’s car certainly looks nice, but as someone like you who prefers the unadorned look, I can say that the leaper that has been on all my XJs since I came here is easy to like and I have changed my mind about them.
Even the door protector strip is a high quality rubber/chromed casting, but the rivets that hold it on mean you can never remove the strip and fill the holes until you respray the whole car. At least the small headlights are easy to swap and even the US bumpers can be pressed in fairly easily.
Jay, as a newbie we’d love to hear what drew you to Jaguar and how you find the car as you get used to it.
Pete
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone.
Yes, it does have the leaper and side molding. I never realized how divisive these were until I started browsing the forums and BAT comments after I got the car.
The dealer window sticker has them listed as dealer installed equipment and accessories:
"Vehicle, $36300.00
Transportation and Handling, $415.00
Dealer Related Expense, $1280.00
Dealer Installed Equipment and Accessories:
Glaze Wax, $275.00
Body Side Molding, $150.00
Leaping Jaguar Emlem, $150.00
Floor Mats, $150.00"
I’m enjoying the color combo (Talisman Silver, Savile Grey). I’m a little curious at the variety of colors on the interior; The leather being gray, the dash black, The headliner tan, and, I’m assuming the original, floor mats having a greenish tint.
I’ve only driven in a couple of times since I got it last Wednesday. I’m a bit hesitant to drive it; the Pirelli tires that are on it were installed only 3,000 mi ago, but that was also 15 years ago.
So on the list is fitting new tires, conditioning the leather (Leatherique), and taking it to the detailer to have the engine steam cleaned and some paint correction done (water spots and some light oxidation).
Good: I’d recommend no faster than 30 mph, till new shoes are installed.
JAY we had 5 of those new back in the day…EVERYONE had the leaper on the bonnet in the states.
EVERYONE has the side door strips as a 1979 Cordova would crash its 4,500 pound door into the jag.
All the experts never owned a Jag or those jags new…ENJOY THE CAR!
ENJOY LIFE! Drive past your riots and meet me at Wiggles farm!
Thats colorado.
WONDERFUL CAR.
GTJOEY1314
For all the experts
Brand new at the time 1982 or 84 I forgot
Leaped and side moldings and yes they were riveted in!
If I could source two side leapers, they miiight find their way onto the side of the Jeepster…
FWIW, my USA 1985 Series III came with neither leaper nor the side strips.
My USA 1987 Series III had the leaper installed but no side strips.
Cheers
DD
Jay enjoy the car, everyone that bought the car new is dead…See you in colorado!
Hope my E TYPE makes it without snow tires 
PS Back in the 80’s there was an EXTRA cost for your initials painted on the drivers door, when you were proud that you made money!
George Daube had his 1,000 miles xj6 which he sold and now its for sale down south…he even had a special wooden steering wheels and wire wheels. All were in a glass show case at the dealer…they made more on those than thecar!
Curious to me that toggle switches were outlawed in favour of rocker type, but leapers were permitted as a dealer fit. The former might involve chipping your nail varnish, but the latter might disembowel a pedestrian. Those sort of protrusions were banned here a long time ago - not fitted on Series 1 cars. People still retrofit them privately. Paul.
An XJ in USA without a leaper? Surely only if someone stole it Gotta have the cat. Only looks dumb on an XJS and they sometime got them too!
Any tire preferences? Light city driving with the occasional jaunt out to the country. I’m already paranoid about water getting into the trim around the windshields, so mostly dry weather driving.
Leaning towards:
BFGoodrich Advantage T/A Sport
Michelin Defender
My 1986 Canadian spec has the door strips and, very similar to the ones in the photo.
Very luckily, they are not riveted but mounted with very strong adhesive tape.
Easy to remove, albeit the rest of the door has faded so they leave a darker stripe underneath them.
Definitely going out when I will respray the car.
Ahh, the big debate…
Back in the 70s and 80s these were all the rage. In my dealership days virtually every car got 'em, mostly the rivet-on type. Almost as soon as the cars were off the transporter a crew was on site to install the side strips, en masse.
Cheers
DD
Welcome Jay, the car looks great in that color and looks to be in very good condition. Have fun with it, as far as tires I replaced the original Pirelli tires that were on my car with a new set of Pirelli’s 215/70R15 about a year ago when I bought the car. I found them locally on sale, so they were fairly reasonably priced with mounting included.
