It’s relatively rare - about 720 in RHD according to some sources. Ours is #292.
To me, our early 12 is very desirable and much loved. However the NZ market
doesn’t value them very highly. Mind you, NZ buyers didn’t think much of
Mark 2s either, until a UK buyer came out and snapped up most of the good
ones in 1989-90…
Ours is non a/c and thus (with the swb and lighter Series 1 doors) the
lightest spec for any XJ12. The usual caveats apply in regard to any XJ and
any carbureted V12. I have to say the colour of the ebay car doesn’t appeal
to me, but wouldn’t it be a dull world if we all liked the same things? And
then there’s always a colour change…
George
72 XJ12 swb; 74 Sovereign 4.2MODswb; XK120 OTS
You ask:
How rare and desirable is this car?
For years I have fought the V12 virus…but…my resistance is low
In reply to a message from Graeme Tutt sent Tue 5 Jul 2005:
Hi Graeme
‘‘VERY’’ would be my answer to your question of how rare this vehicle
is. I wouldn’t epect there to be many of the 700-odd SWB XJ12 S1’s
left in the world… I have only seen a few in the ‘‘flesh’’… I
also shudder to think how many have been converted to run other
engines! I have owned a few V12 cats and I have personally found
that the carby version of the engine is well and truly the easiest
to work on and live with on a daily basis… my humble opinion is
that the series 1 (short wheelbase) XJ, by far and away, handles
the best of any XJ and the V12 engine, in its purist form, only
enhances the true ‘‘sporting saloon’’ character of the vehicle.
after owning V12 powered Jaguars, the best advice I can offer
is ‘‘by the engine, not the paint’’… by this I mean buy the car
that is mechanically the most sound, not the prettiest.
Good luck with it - there is certainlly something extra special
about V12’s!!!
Kind regards–
The original message included these comments:
How rare and desirable is this car?
For years I have fought the V12 virus…but…my resistance is low
Any advice would be most welcome.
All Series I cars are collectible(!) V12s in particular. However, it is not the short wheel base model that is produced in only some 700 examples, it is the LWB. I’m out on a limb here, but I think production figures for the SWB V12 Series I was around 15000.
That said, the short wheelbase is a more sporting car and from the looks of it, this example is a nice project at a fair price (so far).
Bard, thanks for straightening me out! I remember now, the 720 figure
applies to swb in RHD only. The LHD figure was higher, although 15,000
seems high. And I think you are correct about LWB being rarest of all.
Of course we could simply look up the books, but it’s more fun this way
isn’t it!
Cheers
George
Bard wrote
“…All Series I cars are collectible(!) V12s in particular. However, it is
not the short wheel base model that is produced in only some 700 examples,
it is the LWB. I’m out on a limb here, but I think production figures for
the SWB V12 Series I was around 15000…”===================================================
The archives and FAQ will answer many queries on the XJ series…
FAQs: http://www.jag-lovers.org/xjlovers/xjfaq/index.html
Archives: http://www.jag-lovers.org/lists/search.html
