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Definitely for Sale - 1994 Jaguar XJ6 3.2 Sport X300 - Bonus XK8 Content


Broadsword

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Gentlemen, my word is my Eurobond. Since the tragic loss of the XJ40 seen previously, I've been determined in fulfilling the wish I had since getting my first Jag nearly a year ago, namely obtaining the XJ Sport. Yesterday's collection caper saw me attempt to travel from York to Blackpool North by rail. This didn't seem impractical, but I was quite wrong. I had to change at Manchester Oxford Road, got off the train and immediately 90% of the trains were cancelled. No warning from anyone. Funnily enough the TransPennine website said they were running a good service. By the way there was no bad weather or anything else going on, just no trains for no particular reason. At this point it became clear that Blackpool North was a lost cause. The owner of the Jag won off eBay was very helpful though and I suggested I try and get to Preston. Long story there was one train which seemed to go north from Oxford Road and luckily for me it got to Preston where me met up in a new MX5.

So here we are, a 1994 XJ Sport in sapphire blue with oatmeal interior. Obligatory pez shot (petrol station conveniently located 200 yards from where the car was laid up).

If ever there were an example of a car falling through the cracks on the market, this is one. I remember seeing for sale months ago. I ended up dismissing it as obviously a bad example because it would have sold otherwise and I wasn't actually out to buy a 3.2 or indeed anything since I had the XJ40. Anyway it reappeared with fresh MOT on auction and the price had clearly come down. Zero effort gone into listing it, so I called the number on the eBay listing only to learn that a dealer had listed it for a friend and that is had been "restored". Not a great start, but I had very low expectations, so I said exactly what I was willing to pay auction or no auction and then I was put through to the real owner. Basically a price was agreed at that point, and I said that will be my bid on the auction. Anyway I won the auction and collected yesterday, I wasn't convinced I'd take it home, it sounded a bit too good.

Anyway the car has been sitting for a while in dry storage, but that was indicated so all ok. We got to the car eventually yesterday evening and, albeit dusty, it was gleaming. This is because it has had a respray. It fired up on the first crank, amazing. I was told there was no rust. This is true. There is actually less rust than the dead XJ40 and the front wings are perfect. All the dials were pointing in the right direction, the bodywork was looking arrow straight and the engine was purring. And yes, the 94 X300 has no glove box just like late XJ40s due to introduction of a passenger's airbag. Ridiculous. Deal done, tax, petrol, check tyres and vital fluids and make a break for the East Riding.

With a 120 miles to cover there was a bit of a risk with the car having sat for a while and the really bad weather on the way. Fortunately the Jag was eager to go, the roads clear and weather great. There is no air conditioning (no compressor fitted), but the fully functioning sunroof makes up for this somewhat. Home was achieved in 2 hrs 15 mins.

For the money the conditioning is outstanding and it turns out the seller was being quite honest. It is rot free, has been kept in a dry garage most of it's life and his father really looked after it. His father passed away unfortunately and the car was inherited. He works at a body shop and effectively got a free respray as part of restoring the car, but too many memories kept him from using it. It then went into storage and has been half for sale ever since. The moment you open the engine bay it becomes obvious this is a minter. It ticks a great many boxes. The interior is really tidy and even the headlining is tight. The doorcards on the front are a bit loose, no doubt due to being taken off for painting.

To drive it's the improvement on the basic X300 chassis that I wished for. Better feedback from the steering, a slightly lower stance, much better seats and tighter handling. It's superb. I can even tolerate the 3.2. It's lacking mid-range punch, but is nice and revvy. There is a slight vibration somewhere at speed which is hard to pin down. I know a rear silencer is blowing a bit, but that needs more investigation.

More observations as I use it, but overall I'm really, really chuffed. It's the model I always really wanted and it has what is my favourite boot badge in the business "XJ Sport".

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That does look nice, I have to say, especially that colour.    Bonus plate too - has it stayed on it?   One of the late Lincolnshire issues from 1963 - they skipped reverse numbers and letters and went straight into "B" suffix.   

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Absolutely lovely. The plate is very nice too and, although illiquid, it's got to be in the £1.5-2K bracket (regtransfers.co.uk has WCT602 up for £2250). It also begs the question, how much did it set you back?

I know nothing about selling number plates, but that does sound rather remarkable. If someone offered me £1000 or over for the plate, I’d bite their hand off. Surely the problem with the valuation is that there isn’t realistically going to be anyone looking for that plate in particular (please correct me if I’m wrong). I have no sentimental attachment to it and really it would be more authentic to reclaim the original reg for the car.

 

Oh right, I won the car on auction for £1100. The maddest thing is that this car sold twice before but no-one ever turned up. Their loss.

 

Can’t comment on tyres yet. Certainly seems plausible. Lots of tread on he tyres but they are a bit old.

 

From the sales photos the leaper annoyed me. Seeing it in person I kind of like it. Not the kind of leaper I’ve seen before. This cat looks like it has been on steroids.

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To my mind this is the best looking Jaguar saloon. And great colour too, as has been said already.

 

When I was shopping for these I remember feeling like they are either hidden gems and slightly undersold (like yours), or terrible, abused examples with a remaining life measured in months.

 

Is the toolkit in the engine bay?

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The £400 plate is a Northern Ireland registration and these are normally 'cheap' because they contain letters such as Z which very few people have as a name. By and large they are used as cheap cover plates. The nice plate that has come with that Jag could well fit someone's initials hence the greater value.

 

If you watch any car ads for new cars they will invariably have a three letter, three number combination registration. It seems to be a balance of a smart thing to have on your car, but not too flash.

 

It's a nice bonus on what already appears to be a bit of a steal. The downside is they aren't too easy to sell unless you do it at a give away price.

 

If you're not that bothered it is possible to list it on a number plate site and use it until it sells. I'd imagine the dealer would agree a minimum value of £1k and sell it for close to £2k.

 

As probably known on here good, inexpensive X300 and X308 Jags are getting thin on the ground. If you're really into them Jag of West London (or at least I think that's what they are called) seem to be getting a name for selling nice ones. They've a couple of lovely XJR imports from Japan.

 

Anyway, well bought and, like others, I'm somewhat envious.

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I have the new keeper's supplement of the logbook and that has the current reg on it. I wasn't paying too much attention so didn't rear any specifics on the front of the logbook wrt. the plate being transferrable or not. There is an old style blue logbook in the pile of paperwork with WCT 607 and no mention about non-transferrable. Anyway I might as well have a go at selling it. The original plate is M956 RCK according to the handbook. The dealer stamp says Dutton-Forshaw of Preston.

 

No original tool box. This is poverty spec relative to the Sovereign so I don't think it came with. There was a old toolbox in the boot probably from a Series 3. Some of the spanners are wrong, but since it doesn't fit the car, I will sell that too.

 

Current MPG figure is 23.3 after resetting yesterday (still going up). The XJ40 seemed to get stuck at 22 MPG.

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That looks to be a good buy.

 

WCT607 will be worth a lot more than a Northern Irish plate generally - and particularly one with the  letter 'Z' in it. I suspect you could well sell it for a couple of thousand if you are patient and have a bit of luck. WCT are fairly common initials so quite a few people will be in the market for the 'plate. Getting it free with the car is a bit of luck.

 

I seem to remember that when I have had a car with a non-transferable 'plate it said so on the V5. I can't see why it would be non-transferable anyway - 'plates are normally assigned that status to prevent plate rape, rather than for a fellow transferring his own plate on to the car later.

 

If you transfer the plate onto something else or sell it,  the DVLA will assign the car a new 'M' reg number. If the car had the private 'plate from new this will be a new number, but if the car was originally fitted with an M reg 'plate, then they will most likely re-issue it. Either way, the new 'M' reg plate they issue to the car will be non-transferable.

 

Edited to add: I have just noticed the car was originally sold with the 'plate M956RCK. They will most likely re-assign that to the car  when yopu remove the current 'plate. M956RCK will be non-transferrable.

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Bonus being the last letter of the three is T so start emailing all transport companies that have WC as their initials. They'll often shell out £300 a pop on the right combo of letters on a dated plate for their trucks so the boss deserves a dateless plate, right?

 

Noticed recently that every single Lomas Distribution truck has LD, two numbers, and then the driver's choice of three letters like DAZ, ACE etc.

 

Anyway. That's a bloody lovely conveyance, beautiful. Can't believe how little it cost you. 

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Knowing these cars fairly well, that looks like a cracker. Prices for these are firming up now (and I gave mine away for free right before they surged in value, go me). Yours is in a nice colour combo as well. But you have to pronounce "XJ Sport" like Terry Thomas, perhaps with a devilish twitch of the eyebrows.

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. Yesterday's collection caper saw me attempt to travel from York to Blackpool North by rail. 

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Lovely car - the train service has become something of a joke at Preston with many Northern Rail trains being canceled due to lack of staff.

 

Even better are the last second platform changes which see 100's of people leg it from platform 2 to platform 3 over the footbridge.

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The best look would be with the leaper gone and the XJR mesh grille installed. Problem is that there will as usual be a mess left by removing the leaper, requiring a professional in this case to bring it in line with the rest of the bodywork and the XJR grille is quite expensive.

 

As usual there is a little list of jobs:

 

1. Fasten doorcards on the front doors properly.

2. Both keyfobs appear to be dead, one is X300, one looks like a X308 fob. Tried reprogramming to no avail.

3. Figure out the slight vibration at speed, not wheel wobble.

4. Will probably follow on from 3. A full set of tyres new. I still have lots of tread on these, but they are past their best.

5. Driver's seatback needs a bit or reattaching.

6. The radio aerial mast works perfectly, but has a mind of it's own. It comes up sometimes and can go down randomly.

7. I want to install an Andy bracket. Contacted the people who make it, apparently they are out of stock and a new batch is yet to be made.

8. Obtain original toolkit for engine bay.

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