XJ40 Rally

[Partridge]

I went to the XJ40.com 2014 meet at Beaulieu this year. They were really nice people and I hope to see them again. No rivet counting, no snobbery. It was fatal though - the hunt for an XJ40 is back on for sure next year :mrgreen:

 

This belonged to a guy who was really nice and chatty, I spoke to him for ages. We shared a carriage on the monorail so we're BFFs now. His son was there, who also has an XJ40...between them they've had 13.

That silver one was as rough as f**k but won the spirit of the event award.

What a great day out

[ChinaTom]

I won Spirit of the Event last year as my XJ12 broke down on the way. Them's the XJ40.com crowd. One of them had come from Denmark just for this event. I meant to go this year as mine is now back in rude health, but I completely forgot about it until about four o'clock yesterday afternoon.

[Partridge]

Some came from as far as Finland for this. It was quite impressive really.

[Timewaster]

BFF? Is that in the autoshite lexicon?

 

If not it should be down as Big Fat F******

[320touring]

Looks awesome!

 

That said, i'm mildly disappointed as the thread title made me hope to see an xj40 being driven by tony pond down a forest track..

[brickwall]

Dammit! That's pure class, J508 is a looker

[Partridge]

An XJ40 rally car would be hilarious.

 

And BFF? BEST FRIENDS FOREVER HASHTAG YOLO LOL SELFIE HASHTAG PINEAPPLE

 

And J508 was lovely...four litres and three pedals as well.

[Pillock]

I like the sound of that club, no swan-fondling nerds ready to check your crosshead screws are orientated correctly, and they have an award for "spirit" rather than a twenty grand resto.

 

Makes me want an XJ40.

[Lord Sterling]

I reckon I'll be looking to get an XJ40 at some point too.

[Partridge]

Get yourself along to an event Sterling and check the cars out. If you join the forum they will make you very welcome

[Minimad5]

No doubt this has been asked to death, but hey i'll ask anyway.

What are these like to use as a daily ?
I would imagine most mechanical parts are still available, but how hard are panel to source ?

 

Square headlights and a lovely 4.0 are both firmly on my Jag want list.

[Junkman]

I somehow expected to see something like this

 

 

when I read the thread title.

[Partridge]

From what I've been told, and my brief time with one, fine as long as you don't go shopping in them or whatever. Obviously they're not meant for lots of short trips. One lady told me it was killing her's, so had to sell it. They work out cheaper in the long run if you run them often.

 

Economy in the mid to late teens around town gets old very quickly, and you'll start to resent the car pretty soon when you're forever putting fuel in it. On longer trips they do much better, more so if you have a 4.0 or 3.6, which aren't as stressed as the 3.2s and 2.9s...Go for a 3.6 for smoothness, 4.0 for grunt.

 

They're comfortable and make you feel special, more so then the later X300.

 

I can run one, because despite not being rich, I only make occasional, long trips once a week or so. I work from home 90% of the time so balls to economy. I'd not recommend one as a commuter car however, if you only use the low roads.

[Partridge]

I somehow expected to see something like this

 

 

when I read the thread title.

Those are very cool

[ChinaTom]

It is rot that usually breaks your heart at MOT time. I used to run my XJ12 as a daily, and I spent about £500 a year on it for a good service and silly little repairs like door handles etc. Then I stopped using it and it literally fell apart. It got to such a state that I was one Marlboro Light away from letting it go for £300 to a forum member to part out. I decided to restore it, and now I use it as an "occasional daily". Journeys between 10 and 100 miles will be done in the Jag, anything over or under in the Merc.

 

Having a good read of the threads on the XJ40 forum will tell you ALL you need to know about running these. The usual boring advice should be taken on buying one - spend as much as you can afford with the longest MOT. If the power delivery ever stutters, it WILL be the fuel pumps which are a pain of a job on the later models, but once done will not need worrying about for another 75k miles at least.

 

Fixer-uppers will be ruinous - if not your money, then your time. And I think they have bottomed out the value(less) curve now - the dogs are living on as spares, the good ones are starting to be appreciated.

 

It sounds silly, but only buy the V12 if you really badly urgently need a V12. They will ultimately clear you out of cash and patience. There is a cracking thread on a V12 restoration on the XJ40.com forum - you'll soon see that this is heart over head territory. Despite the various claims of 23 mpg (I have achieved it, but driving like that I should have bought a 3.2 to start with), you will get 15-16. I just did New Buckenham to Norwich - up the B1113 on the way, the A11 on the way back and got 16.3. The tank is pretty small too for a 6.0 engine - expect a 280 - 300 mile range. Spares for the V12 are not as easy to find as they used to be either. Plenty of parts now need manufacturing. 6 potters are much easier to maintain.

 

If I could have another, I'd have a manual 2.9 with tweed, or a 4.0 S. Be patient when looking - there are some good ones out there still at pocket money.

 

Quad lamps look better don't they? I know it is a personal taste thing entirely, but many foreign special orders for Sovereigns and Daimlers ticked the quad option and provided they are post 93, the headlamp surrounds will be colour coded which gives the car a much more modern look (IMO). There is only 1 Daimler version that I would buy - someone in Hong Kong ordered a Double Six in Saturn Orange with extra comfy leather (with quads instead of fishtanks!!). What great taste! Some Lavender colour models had black leather and purple stained wood! Goth paradise?

[Minimad5]

The fuel economy isn't something that would stress me out, i'm far from rich but earn a good wage. I also have the V70 to use if i ever felt my wallet becoming light.

Fingers crossed i will be getting something OMGMPH soon, so that will reveal all.

 

In the mean time - Great thread, keep posting Jag loveliness.

[Guest Lord Sward]

You've got to have the Fish Tank headlamps on a XJ40.  Its the law.

 

I used to hate the things when I sold them, but now, well, now I've aged and I really, really want one.  A couple of years ago I briefly ran a V8 in and around London and it was the business.  I got away with so much I wouldn't have done if I'd have been in a BMW/Merc/Audi/Lexus.  Still rotten in the cills mind, and that was a low mileage 99-on-the-T-plate example.

[Partridge]

Balls to fuel economy frankly. You'd blow half of what you'll spend fueling a nice old Jag on finance for some ghastly new eurobox.

[Guest Lord Sward]

Totally agree.  Think of all the good your doing by giving so much money back to the tax man.  When I ran the Disco, they named the new wing of the local hospital after me as I'd spend so much on fuel, and therefore directly funded the NHS.  Big V8s ARE socially responsible. And they sound great, meaning no noise pollution.

[Spiny Norman]

Balls to fuel economy frankly. You'd blow half of what you'll spend fueling a nice old Jag on finance for some ghastly new eurobox.

 

THIS.

 

Mine did well* over 20mpg in the time I had it, and every trip to the shops was a joy in it. In fact the longest trip I did in it was driving it home from Dome's gaff in Edinburgh, where it nearly* managed 30mpg.

 

But since it cost two payments on a depressing diseasel POS's 3 year PCP deal I didn't give a fuck. Everyone should own a proper Jag at some point, even if only for a little while.

[purplebargeken]

Just fecking buy one, don't waffle on about it. They is fab, just avid the 2.9 'cos they is shit. Watch for rust. 

 

Bloody excellent

[Partridge]

Saving up as we speak...Even considering flogging my mahooosive diecast collection to chuck in the XJ40 fund.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

No doubt this has been asked to death, but hey i'll ask anyway.

 

What are these like to use as a daily ?

I would imagine most mechanical parts are still available, but how hard are panel to source ?

 

Square headlights and a lovely 4.0 are both firmly on my Jag want list.

 

XJ40s are completely useable as an every day car. Pretty much everything is available and especially the late cars don't go wrong much. They rust like buggery unfortunately, to make up for it.

 

Parts are mostly really quite cheap and I find my Jag is an easy car to work on. Many panels and parts other than interior trim are available new. Supply of new parts for the XJ40 seems to be better than the X300 - Ford must have been less lavish with the spares than Unipart. Everything is available secondhand and with so many people having broken '40s, there seems to be a bit of a parts glut for 6 cylinder cars (V12 specific parts can be hellish difficult to find though), which keeps prices down. There is good forum support for fault finding, which I find really helpful.

 

I have owned mine for a long time and rust-horror aside, it has been a superbly reliable and durable car. The 6 cylinder XJ40s do like to be used every day, but I find mine is tolerant of non-use and short journeys have little adverse effect on it. Certainly, I have not found it affects reliability. The car has never failed to start in the time I have owned it.

 

My 3.2 averages 22 mpg in mixed driving, running around and about 25-26 mpg on the motorway if I keep it below 85. Fast driving sees it drop quite a bit, as do short runs. I used my Jag on a lot of short journeys at one time and averaged in the late teens when I did so - about 18 mpg. The short journeys had no adverse effects on the car though, other than fuel consumption.

I have a 3.2 litre Sovereign. The 4 litre has a definite performance advantage, especially in torque - for little fuel consumption penalty. Don't discount the 3.2 though; they're far from slow and the 3.2 is a smoother engine than the 4 litre or the 3.6.

 

I can't stress enough that you should get the best XJ40 you can. They're expensive cars to put right - as China Tom and I both know too well from experience. It is FAR better to buy a nice car to start with - though sentimentality was my undoing and excuse.

 

Got to be Fishtanks on a '40!

 

[Partridge]

Beautiful motor!

[ChinaTom]

 

The great thing about Magnificent Rustbucket's car and my car is that despite spending a lot of money and time on our cars, neither of us has fitted a leaper to the bonnet.

[dugong]

Everyone should own a proper Jag at some point, even if only for a little while.

Depends whether you class an XJ40 as a 'proper Jag' or 'tragic forecourt fodder'. I think they need they more time, frankly. The 6.0-litre V12 goes well, I'll give you that - and it was refined. Unfortunately 'ours' had gold detailing and an almost empty tank of fuel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know they make a lot of people happy for not a lot of wedge, so I'll be quiet - even if I struggle to understand the appeal of an XJ40.

[Partridge]

WANT! Dugong, stop putting porn on Autoshite! The gold leaper is basically a Sovereign ring for a car. Although to be fair the golden growler (stop sniggering) was standard on the XJ81. I read the review and really, really wanted it. It's my kind of car...I'm sure certain people will agree it's very me

 

But not everyone can like the same sort of cars. If we did Autoshite would be a pretty bland place.

[dugong]

It did 3 mpg on test.

[Partridge]

That makes the 15 or mpg I got out of that XJ6 seem Godly.

[dollywobbler]

I once got 9mpg out of a VW Golf diesel. Meh. 

 

I've never driven an XJ40 but imagine it's like an X300 but a bit more flimsy. And just as thirsty. Try as I might, I couldn't get more than 25mpg out of a 4-litre X300.