Where are our Jaguars?

XJ-S
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I recently went through a process of cleaning up the code on my website. Necessary because my website host had switched software to Linux.

With over 80 links to go through and weeks of work it seemed as if I was reliving the 27 years of XJ-S ownership all over again.

I am starting to realize that this car was more than a car to me. It was akin to having a child, nursing it, cherishing it, seeing it grow up and finally letting it go. (As readers of my website might know my car has often referred to as Samantha.)

The car was sold in in 2009 to EK (only using initials) who drove the car 1400 miles to his home. (Car performed flawlessly).

In August of 2010 I receive an email from JB saying the due to EK’s divorce he had purchased Samantha from EK.

In 2017 I received an email from JB saying the car was for sale. His description of the car was as follows.

“80,000 miles Paint is cracked but usable Front seat bottom needs redone

Runs perfectly, Drives perfectly, Air works perfectly.

New radio, hands free calling”

I have often wondered where Samantha is and is she in good hands. More importantly is the car being taken care of. In retrospect I would have liked to have sold the car to someone on this list that cared about the car as much as I did.

This brings me to the point of this post.

When I joined this list in 1983 Kirby was already here and soon after Ed Sowell (1975 XJ-S) came aboard.

We have all sold our Jaguars.

I am not sure Ed is active on this list, but my question to both is.

Do you know where your car is and what condition it is in? Essentially are our cars still being taken care of or are they destined for the scrap heap?

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The buyer of my car likewise drove it across the country to get it home. Called me when he got there, said the trip went OK. Never heard from him or the car again.

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Be careful what you wish for. I had an '87 Cadillac, owned it from new. Pampered that car - wax, leather treatment, by-the-book maintenance. Sold it when I got something better. Six months later, there it was in my mechanic’s lot. Big rip in the leather upholstery, dirty, dingy exterior, and a blown head gasket.

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In Switzerland, last I knew.

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Ditto, when I sold my Humber Super Snipe: guy took off, at night, in November, to Cali and never heard of it again.

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I sometimes think the other way around, I’d like to meet the owner two owners ago, and slap him in the face.

Probably good I can’t, it would be like meeting my wife’s past boyfriends.

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In my case it would be my mother-in-law…
As long as my father-in-law was alive, he bought it in 1997 and was the second owner, he was taking really good care of it. But after he died thigs went really downhill, incompetent mechanics and abusive brother-in-laws basically wrecked the car.
But I can’t complain because I got it almost for free!

I remember the first time we went for a ride, I just could not believe how smooth and elegant it was.
I still think of that moment every time something goes wrong to keep my spirits up!

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Or another way to think of it is there a car you once had, sold it , wish you never did, and also wished you could buy it back. In the case of the buyers of Kirby’s , Bernard’s and Ed’s Jaguars I would say those owners were fairly lucky to have well sorted XJ-S’s.
I was not so lucky when I got mine, I never knew of even heard of Jag Lovers!

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I was among the lucky. Got mine from a lover of Jaguars. It was well sorted when I got it, and only 8 years old.

Wish I still had my 1966 MGB roadster. Fun little car. Sold it in 1970 when family was three of us instead of two.

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I bought my '88 XJ-S H&E convertible about 2 years ago at auction, it came from Iowa with 39,000 showing. Had an immediate repair bill of $3,000, and additional for spark plugs and oil change. After that, ran like a champ, but had to disconnect the horn because intermittent blasting was unruly and embarrassing. Will take disassembling the steering column to fix, if the parts can even be found, so a horn auxiliary button would be the answer here. Right now have fuel filter issue, but at least it’s not the pump, and I think I’ll have that remedied today or tomorrow. The car was, at one time, lifted on a wrong lift and left marks on the undercarriage, but no damage. Some surface rust underneath, not too bad. Sounds and runs great. The console is delaminating, so I was going to remove and send that in for spa treatment. When I originally contacted the Iowa owner to ask for repair records, he boasted about what a great car it is…I let him know all the repairs I did and then said, yeah, it’s a great car except for this and this and that and this, all the stuff you didn’t fix before you sent it off to auction. Never heard from him again, thankfully. People who do not take care of cars like this and then auction them off just SUCK. The car is good now, but since I’m not a mechanic, and it’s all fixed, I’m thinking about selling it before I have to throw more money at it. Just don’t want to hang on for that “maybe” time when it’s a true classic and have to keep picking away at problems that crop up. But the car is in pretty good shape now after the previous owner’s neglect. It could be a show car, but I’m not willing to work with it for much longer. I am not a mechanic, just a woman who changed her own oil and learned to set the points on her first car, a Fiat 850 convertible (red, of course) in the mid-1970’s. Wish I still had that car…and the 1976 BMW 2002 I paid to have restored, but life moves in mysterious directions.

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A woman after me own 90-wt heart…:wink:

A great many people in the car business… would have to go to finishing school, to qualify as pond scum.

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Heh. In the case of mine, it’s probably more accurate to think of it as a test mule. Yeah, it ran great and it looked great thanks to the outstanding paint job I gave it, but there were a lot of bodges involved. Often I’d think about how to fix or modify something, go at it, and when done I’d write up how I should have done it for the benefit of you goobers.

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I resemble that comment.

:grimacing:

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The H&E is supposed to have some structural reinforcement under the rear suspension.

Also note that fuel issues have been caused by people using the wrong lift and accidentally crushing a fuel line. The supply fuel line runs under the car along the right side, and the return line to the tank under the left side. Crushing either will mess up the fuelling.

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Thanks Kirby, me too! What Book you say? Is there a book we should know about?
I’m in the goober category for sure!

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Hers is the structural reinforcement that’s under the tray behind the seats. This Hess & Eisenhardt was cut in half for parts. I saw it years ago in a salvage yard.

Bob
Yucca Valley, CA
87 Hess & Eisenhardt

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Thanks, Kirbert, good to know. I’ve been inside your book for the past three days, just can’t seem to put it down. Seriously, it’s a great read. Makes me kinda wish I had more problems to fix!

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I can’t even recall the last time I saw another XJS on the roads here in the Dallas area. People see Superblue and they sometimes make positive comments or ask questions about her, but that seems to be getting less and less frequent. :frowning_face:

Speaking of Caddys, I have been looking into possibly going with a '89 or so Buick Reatta for my next car (may even sell my XJSes off to get one :thinking: ) … I always thought that was Buick’s “response” to the XJS and Jag cars in general. Funny that it is also a luxury (supposedly cost as much as a 'vette when new?) 2-seater with LED instrument panel (just like in an XJ40) and HVAC and entertainment center controls, electric rear radio antenna, etc. However, unlike any Jag, it did have pop-up headlights. :cool: Can’t wait to get my hands on one and test drive it, although they are getting to be a rarity, too. :racing_car: The nice thing too, being a Buick, is parts shouldn’t be that hard to come by or afford - far cry from those for the XJS.

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Hi Kirby, fuel issue is very recent, the car has run fine for almost 2 years. And the lift issue was there back then, so I will check the fuel lines, but I think the wrong lift issue is a non-issue for this issue!

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Bernard!
That same thing goes with me too, wondering where my
69 E type is by now.
I sold it when my wife got sick.
The car was in good shape, bought it from europe, took it
all over overseas, without any problems.
Had it about 12 years and kept it in good shape.

                                                          Walter