Magnificent Rustbucket

My grandfather had a Cadillac before the war but it had only the eight cylinder engine unfortunately. It still looked fabulous in the photographs I saw of it as a child though. Have you driven a straight-eight? My grandfather had just ordered a new Cadillac in 1939 so was unable to take delivery. After the war it took him a while to get the foreign currency together to buy another car and he was unable to get a Cadillac because of the huge demand for them. He was able to buy a Buick Roadmaster though, which he took delivery of in 1948. When driving it from the docks he was followed by a poli

Ha ha - I'm not sure about World authority, I've just owned one for a long time! The experts on these are Rob Jenner (as mentioned by China Tom), Bryan Neish on the Jag-Lovers website (posts as Bryan N - I don't know if he still does as I visit Jag-Lovers even less often than Autoshite and he was retired when I was first using the site nigh-on 20 years ago) and David Marks. I love my XJ40 and never tire of it even after all these years. They're old cars now and although they are robust they suffer badly from rust and many have been neglected. Buy the best one you can find. The 4 litre car

18 years of the road is quite a while! I suppose it depends on why it went off the road in the first place and how it has been stored as to how easy it is to revive it. I find my XJ40 to be particularly tolerant of non-use - it just shrugs it off.

I don't think it would be easy to find another one like this for only £600 - I think he has found a real bargain here. I wonder how many people have an XJ40 on Autoshite. I know you and I have both had one for a great length of time but I tend to think of them not being that much of a 'shiter's car, possibly people think the're too heavy on petrol? Mine, joining the bonnet up theme: P1130239 by *D*B*, on Flickr

I have never driven on a motoring holiday in France, but when I went as a kid and I went with my parents we would have occasional bursts of speed on the Autoroute like that (generally when my mother was complaining we would never get there on my dad's meandering route) - but we never did it consistently. My father liked a powerful car and I remember we once covered the distance between two peages too quickly and were made to park up and wait for a period. My father was quite relieved there was no fine. People used to drive in far faster in the UK way-back too. I remember kneeling on the back s

When I was a small child on holiday in the South of France in the late '70s, I remember my dad talking to a fellow who had driven down there in an A30, all the way from the North East of England with his wife and two children. They were camping somewhere IIRC. I wasn't particularly impressed - but my father was (his first car was an A35), which is why I remember it. In those days it was a 'thing' for people with a powerful car to do the journey from Cheshire where I lived to the South of France in one day. You could do some real speed back then. It was an anathema to my dad who preferred

What a superb spotting thread.

Yes, they drive quite well actually, in an old-fashioned gung-ho fun sort of way. I like the Z3 2.8.

I'm surprised an Eventer was ever cheap enough to be bangered. I don't remember them being down to 'throw away' money like the ordinary XJ-S and the XJ saloons. I guess the man was prepared to spend a bit to race a rarity.

1941 Cadillac Series 60 Special.

Ford LTD in the early 1980s.

My Jaguar was initially registered with a K plate, but had a private plate put on it when it was still fairly new. Some years later the private plate was removed and put on to another car. The DVLA re-issued the original K plate to the car, but marked it 'Non transferable.' Some years further on, the same private plate was put back on to the car. The private plate is not marked non transferable and can be removed and put on to another car. If I was to do so, it is highly likely the DVLA would re-issue the car with the original K plate which would again be non- transferable. As stated by other

FANTASTIC car. Wow.

I haven't visited Autoshite for a while, but have enjoyed reading this.

A Lendrum and Hartman right hand drive Caprice - a rare car. Sad to see it in this state.