If I had all of the money in the world, I’m pretty sure I’d have one of these in my own personal showroom, albeit in a condition more befitting my wallet status.
As I in fact actually do not have all of the money in the world, I make do otherwise. For a cash outlay of only three dollars (it used to be two), I can indulge myself in my favorite outdoor showroom, the junkyard, and explore every car I’ve always wanted to my heart’s content, as they all show up here eventually. I don’t know if it could get any better, frankly, as the enjoyment to dollar ratio is as good as it gets.
And before you ask, no, I did not take this one home. And I have no plans to do so either. This one is too far gone for me. Perhaps Mr. Saunders, but not me. Still, it’s magnificent. Or it was magnificent, some of that has dripped off over the years and has become absorbed back into the soil from which it came.
I don’t really know if it’s a 1976, it could perhaps be a ’75 or a ’77 (UPDATE: Turns out it’s a 1974). The yard says it’s a ’67 which is not so as that was before the XJ series debuted in 1968. But the V12s were a special sort of cat, curiously this is not the first of such that we’ve seen, it seems like a lot of V12 Jags end up in a state of disrepair such as this more modern one we saw last year.
While this one appears to stem from the Boulder environs, I don’t think the CHE means this was the Che Guevara edition, although I could picture his bereted visage in the window while cruising this one down Pearl Street and stopping at the Village Coffee Shop for a cup of joe… But what could it mean otherwise? I think you might be ahead of me on this one as we swing around to the front.
Before we fold that bonnet forward towards us though, that view never gets old. The way the hood drapes over the headlights, the length of it, although curiously sans leaper, it’s still instantly recognizable. The same way you wouldn’t mistake a VW Beetle for a Porsche 911 you also wouldn’t mistake a Mitsuoka Ryoga for an XJ, no matter how curvy the bonnet is. And this chrome don’t peel either, my good chap.
But yes, the word “heresy” does perhaps become synonymous with the word “pragmatic” as soon as you venture at least a few miles away from Browns Lane. Or when the warranty expires. Not everybody, wait, make that pretty much nobody, seems to be able to keep a Jaguar V12 running as it should. Maybe they never did, even when new. Who could even tell if it was running on just ten or eleven, really. Sticking a Chevy V8 (or at least that’s what I’m presuming this is/was) was all the rage back in the 1980s or so. Or even before. And well after, I don’t know.
Actually I do know when it stopped, right about the time Ford bought Jaguar. Then things seemed to work better. It’s a little odd though that GM didn’t step up instead, they could have just formally LS’d all the things and we’d be done.
Yes, I’m sure all the anglophiles will be spluttering now about how do we know this wasn’t done recently or perhaps the Jag had already travelled some intergalactic distance or whatnot, but no, I don’t think so, but let’s pop inside since the door is open. That door, by the way, wanted to be open. I shut it half a dozen times, and each time I turned and stepped back to take a picture and as soon as I was ready to snap, it would release itself and open again. Just like a cat releasing itself on the carpet when your back is turned. I slammed it harder and harder and then eventually just gave up. Door stays open!
The oil change sticker does not lie. The professionals at the Auto Repair Place in Boulder, CO, know their stuff. And if they say they changed the oil back in 2013 at a mileage of 43402 using only the best 10W30 oil they had on the shelf, who are we to doubt them? Is this the last oil change it got? Hmm. While the odometer is missing from this car (hang on, you’ll see), Jaguars didn’t get six digit odometers until recent times for one reason. They did not need them. I don’t think any Jaguar prior to the X-Type’s debut ever rolled one over. So the question now is, was that odometer number with the Jaguar V12 in place or even more shamefully did it not reach that and the V8 was already installed, and if so, for how long had that been the case?
I’m pretty sure this car has been sitting for a while. Sadly there isn’t much left that’s salvageable. You’ll have to use your imagination.
Here’s what’s left of the back seat. The “L” in the model designation stands for long wheelbase, although the missing bottom rear seat cushion makes it look like there is much more legroom than the reality. Still, eventually, all XJs would become L models by default.
Obviously the owner was hoping for some sort of divine intervention. I don’t think it occurred, thus its resting place in the rear footwell. This is the first time I have seen a copy of the Good Book in a junked car though. The travel size tequila bottle also present is just out of frame but perhaps a fitting accoutrement to the overall scene.
I like to say things could always be worse. But no, they really could not. At least there was no electrical fire, so there’s that. Otherwise the glass is not just half empty, it’s empty, full stop. Or just broken. Don’t cut yourself…
But can you see the splendor that used to be there?
Yeah, that’s right, mine would be something like this! And with the wheel on the proper side too! If I had all the money in the world. Which I don’t.
But back to reality, the indignities just don’t end. Although if it was a total creampuff it might be even sadder.
I mean, one has to wonder, just how much salty slush could a car possibly splash onto a rocker panel in 40-odd thousand miles? I thought adding lightness was more of a Colin Chapman thing.
The boot is huge though. It’s actually remarkable that considering how curvy the XJ’s body is, the trunk (in all the generations, not just this one) is always very square-ish to maximize the number of boxes, parcels, cases, or trunks one might need to fit.
I don’t know, I just love this thing. Even in the sorry state it’s in, it still exudes The Cool. It’s even multiple shades of green to remind you of all the green that it would need spent on it. And here you though it had something to do with the Brits and Racing…poppycock!
And the damn door is still open.
Cheerio!
Related Reading:
Paul found an apparently running 1973 example
TK found a perfect 1974 at a car show
And there was even a Coupe version that might even be lovelier
The HE badge signified High Efficiency for the improved V12 engine, but I’ve never heard of a CHE
Jimbo you make me laugh every time – your expeditions are always welcome
The “CHE” badge looks like someone snapped off the last three letters from an old Porsche badge. I read in Automobile Magazine that William Lyons designed this car with a little influence from the ’63 Riviera (which, being honest, I don’t quite see here). You have to love when the guy in charge of a company sits down with a metal shaper and bangs out an XJ6 or an XK120. Times sure have changed.
That is a Chevy small block, Jim; it looks like you can still get parts for the conversion:
http://www.jaguarspecialties.com/v8_kit.asp
The Riviera? Seriously? The XJ is such a direct evolution of Lyon’s earlier Jag sedans. I struggle with finding even the tiniest shred of Riviera in it. But then I’m not a writer for Automobile Magazine.
The slope of the rear window? The XJ’s greenhouse changed radically from that of the Mark 2 or Mark X, but I’m not sure how easy it is to tie that improvement to the 1963 Buick Riviera.
Yep, it’s in the September 2006 “Design Issue.” The XJ6 was ranked one of the 25 most beautiful cars ever (as was the Riviera), and the blurb underneath said that Lyons “took the 1963 Buick Riviera as the inspiration for a four-place GT car, which he later turned into a sedan, adding mix-and-match Jaguar styling elements.” Maybe the idea for the car is the inspiration, but I think the British probably had the four-place GT thing down before the Riv.
Either way, it’s a little weird.
I have never heard that before!
That is both sad and pathetic. Whoever wrote it is utterly clueless.
Jaguar had been building essentially four place GT cars since their first car, the 1935 SS sports saloon. All the smaller-midsized Jaguar sedans ever since have all been form the same mold: sporty saloons.
The Riviera was just a response to the Thunderbird. Both were inspired by the two-door Continentals (I and II) , which of curse were inspired by the classic European GT cars of the 1930s.
Utter rubbish.
What I’ve read is more along the lines of Bill Mitchell being inspired by the sharp lines of the Hooper bodied Rolls-Royces when he designed the Riviera. The XJ is pure William Lyons, with that forward-slanting 4-headlight front end dating from the Mark X of 1961 and the rear end a kind of Kamm-inspired E-type with its tail cut off.
Oh, how many derelict hulks in junkyards have I fallen in love with, seeing the glory that once was. I am not sure this would have been one of mine, but I can certainly see how a person could fall under its considerable charms.
I remember being wowed by the idea of the V12s in these cars. I guess I should have been wowed by any that actually ran right for any length of time.
I find it shocking that it was on the road in the last 10 years. It looks like it has been a
home for wildlife since the Reagan administration.
Oh yes but it was on the road 9 years ago. My guess an internal fault caused the car to be laid up naked to the Colorado winters. The copy of the ” Good book” says it all. ..
The “CHE” stands for “Chevrolet High Efficiency”.
Looking at this poor thing makes my head hurt. This poor Jaguar is like an onion…at first glance things don’t look too bad but start peeling back the layers and, oh boy.
That said, Jim you are still right. Despite its condition it does still possess a certain charisma and presence. Not all cars can do this.
Almost sprayed my morning coffee at that CHE explanation!
If there is no fuel injection badge it’s a ‘74 or ‘75 FWIW.
Ah, and looking closer at the bumpers indicates it’s not a ’75, so ’74 is most likely, thanks for that, I’ll amend the text…’74 is also apparently the most “common” year with 4,744 produced for sale worldwide.
Jim, this looks like just the fix up project for a little “father-son” bonding! Forget the easy fix ups you’ve worked on, this is just slightly more challenging and who doesn’t like a good challenge? 🙄
Great write up on a formerly mobile money pit of a sculpture. So beautiful when right and owned by someone else, so disastrous when owned by you.
THREE dollars for the entry fee!! Around here, it’s still a buck, thankfully.
I’ve always been told (or maybe I just thought it up all by myself) that the purpose of the entry fee was that it changes the legal relationship between the customer and the business, and most every yard I’ve been to also makes the customer sign a legal waiver upon entry. I guess now they’re turning it into an additional profit center.
It’s interesting how it varies. My closest yard is free (they are an independent), the LKQ yards in Denver are $2, and this one (UPAP) now upped it to $3 a year or two ago (but the receipt also gains you admission to their other local location for free, so a 2 for 1 if on the same day which is okay by me. But the same chain only charges $2 at the Albuquerque location (where I found parts for the Jaguar wagon). All have you scribble someone’s name on a waiver sheet or press a button on a monitor to accept your rights (or lack thereof).
“I’ve always been told (or maybe I just thought it up all by myself) that the purpose of the entry fee was that it changes the legal relationship between the customer and the business.”
To my mind, it means I’ve already paid for the small parts slipped into my pocket, saving me the trouble of standing in line at the cashier.
Regarding the roomy boot: that’s the spare tire compartment you’re looking at. The actual boot is rather shallow.
I’m not all that impressed with the original interior; that transmission shifter looks like a real afterthought, and the plastic parts generally are of mediocre design and quality. The Series III stepped it up some, but then that’s the one to have anyway: a Series III Vanden Plas.
I wouldn’t be all that surprised if this thing turned the odometer once.
…and three Cibié headlamps, worn out and used up. What a grand set of photos!
If the car was up and running back in 2013, it’s hard to imagine that the interior could suffer so much deterioration in eight years! It sure looks like the car sat neglected out in the elements for quite a while before it hit the salvage yard. The Chevy engine transplant kind of negates the idea that replacing the original engine would cure any future problems. Like with any vintage car, it takes a a huge amount of commitment on the part of the owner to keep a car like the Jaguar in good condition over the long haul. The owner can’t even delude themselves that the car will be worth big bucks somewhere down the road. Of course that car is too far gone for salvation, even with the Bible in the backseat! It’s just a parts donor now. If you really want a Jaguar, buy the best one you can find and afford.
No matter where the junkyard is located one finds the same thing. When I used to visit my nearby Pick & Pull looking for 88-92 Mazda 626 parts (those years are now gone) I saw the same effects. People in the yard using a sawzall to get their part out while destroying everything else around the parts and other parts. Ripping up interiors to get something out thereby making a seat now useless. Oh, and once in awhile someone would just tear something up for the fun of it. Of course all this destruction makes the car useless for others and therefore affects the income the yard could have made. I always unbolted my parts with the correct tool in the tool box I lugged along. That box wasn’t light and have you ever walked a F100 hood out of a yard by hand along with a tool box? I have and it took close to 45 minutes to move 75 yards to checkout.
One of the many reasons why self-serve wrecking yards are an endangered species.
That is an intoxicating Jag, even in that state! I love “ruin porn” whether it’s buildings or cars……and it doesn’t get much better than this. Based on the body I’m willing to bet the chassis had a 1 or even a 2 before that mileage figure……which makes the V8 swap sensible.
I don’t know when Jags got the six digit odometers either, but my 1988 XJ-SC (actually built in March 1986) has six digits (seven, I guess, if you include the tenths).
I had a friend in grad school that had an XJ of about this vintage with a Chevy V8. It ran like a top, but of course nothing else worked (wipers, power windows, AC, etc.)
Last night I went down the internet rabbit hole of researching 80s icon Tawny Kitaen whose most iconic role was seductively gyrating on the hoods of two Jaguar XJs which shared this body style in a Whitesnake video. Still something to see if you’ve never.
That video turned a generation of 1980s teens into Jaguar XJ fans for life. Could you imagine if David Coverdale was a fan of Chevy Cavaliers instead?
I want the rear suspension. The rear wheels are still there, so the rear subframe must be, too.
IRS with differential, control arms, half-shafts, brakes…all on a bolt-in subframe ready for a custom-car project.
But then, I’ve got an eBay search for Jaguar V-12s; I just know I can make one run properly. Or at least dissect it for educational purposes. But of course, there hasn’t been a Jag V-12 for sale within 500 miles of me in the last ten years.
Over the years, I have known a few guys who started to restore a Jaguar.
I have also never seen one finished.
I too see the presence it still shows .
V8’s into Jaguars were very common in California until they made it harder to cheat the annual lsmog testing .
-Nate
That one is way to gone even for me. Its been used, abused and spat out. Poor thing. The tool left on the front set might be the most valuable bit left.
The Series II is my favorite of the XJs as I think the front is better balanced than the Series I while some of the detail on the Series III comes off a little more fussy. But I understand the Series II had by far the worst reliability being mired in BLs worst days. Thanks for the tour.
Purrrfect for those with a limitless bank account and own a tow truck company.
So, having bought an AMC Hornet Sportabout wagon years ago to see if it was as bad as the reputation (mine was worse), I bought an ’86 XJ6 last winter, with the 350 Chevy conversion already completed. Found it on Craigslist in Spokane, talked to the owner several times, finally bought it sight-unseen for $3500 and had it shipped to me. I’ve had the car for just over a year now and it’s been my daily driver for most of that time. Weirdly, it’s been reliable as could be asked since sorting out a few issues right off the bat (heater controls, window switches were dirty, fan shroud, rear brake calipers leaking). Spent a couple months and a few hundred on parts handling all that stuff and since then it’s just run — all the lights, gauges and windows work, the engine (junkyard 350, I believe) goes through oil and gas faster than I’d like, but really, it’s been shockingly reasonable for what it is.
Just my $.02
A friend of mine drove livery vehicles for a Boston based international company in the early 80’s. His job was to drive one of the fleet vehicles to Logan International Airport, pick up their expected MVP, and drive them to company headquarters, and to their hotel. The fleet consisted of our featured Jaguar’s but with 6 cylinder motors, Mercedes 380sl and Lincoln Town Cars. The drivers would fight over who got what. Nobody wanted the Jaguars. Reliability was horrid and they were a nightmare in the car wash with leaks. For reliability and comfort, everyone wanted a Lincoln.
I have to disagree on one thing. I have a V12 and the odometer rolled over twice. Although it’s kilometers. It’s a 1979 non HE.
I wouldn’t take a mobile Mitsuoka over an XJ carcass for all the plastichrome and Di-noc in the world! And that V12 must make a handsome doorstop somewhere in the Rockies, I bet.
But that tacked-on 5mph rear bumper kind of kills it for me. Did the ’73s have that as well?
No.
1973’s got the plastic shelf on the front only; Jaguar added one to the rear as well for 1974.
Great pictures and article.
I prefer the series 3 with the restyled roofline, the L always looked as if the B pillar was in the wrong place and with the flat window glass the roof panel looks too big.
The worst thing for me though is the obvious cost cutting, this was supposed to be the top of the range BL car, but look at the boot lid and rear lights.
Imagine the scene in the Pressed Steel drawing office ‘Whoever draws the shortest slide rule has to tell Sir William he can’t have the body shell for £295/11/6 unless he has a gusset at each corner of the boot opening’.
And that lumpy boot handle over a number plate holder tall enough for a USA plate and wide enough for a UK one and out of proportion for either. Tail lights with those separate reflectors and reversing lights and none of them assembled to line up.
Just embarrassing.
Great find, lovely cars indeed just not this particular example.
Wouldn`t the Che edition have a repurposed Russian diesel instead of a small block Chevy?
This is one of my favorite article titles in quite a while!
The V-12 was reliable if routine service was accomplished on time. Also the engine needed to have coolant of 50/50 water/inhibitor mixture. So many people just put plain water in there and inevitably paid for it. The engine could run hot if not set-up right and it was important to keep an eye on all those rubber hoses. When they got too hot they started to fail. Best to replace all of the rubber hoses with silicone ones anyway.
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The XJ-12 was super refined, better than anything short of a Tesla (and better in terms of bump-thump and lack of tyre noise than any of those). It is easy enough to get extra performance out of this very un-stressed V-12 engine as well. What’s not to like?
BTW, I drove some of the conversions with American V-8 engines. There have been big and small block Chevrolets, Windsor and Cleveland Fords and the Holden V8. All of these lose the refinement. The car is much coarser as a result. Still, that 454 was fun to scream about town in. Jaguar really ought to have set up a small production line in the USA to stick big blocks in some of the XJ sedans. A 454 or 460 or even a 440 or 455 would have been easy for locals to maintain, get parts for and fix up if anything went wrong. Heck, even a 500 could have worked out OK. They would have performed and probably sold well enough. Sure, not so refined, but sell them as ‘sporty’, which they would likely have been. Worth a try….
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The best of the V-12s in terms of a good balance of performance and refinement for the road was Harry Mundy’s 6.4 litre version. Alas it never made it to production. Oh well.
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The XJ shape started out as a four door GT car reminiscent of a stretched E-type 2+2 with an extra pair of doors grafted into the design at the rear (for the back seat passengers). It gradually developed from there. Sir William is said to have taken several years (4yrs) to get it to the point where he was satisfied enough to take it to production.
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At a late stage in the design cycle the entire rear pan had to be redesigned. As production tooling had already been prepared for this section of the car the change was an expensive affair. The reason it was needed was that a replacement rear suspension had to be designed and accommodated (Mundy famously adapted the previous design from the E-type and 420G etc. sub-frame and all). It was a much bulkier set-up than what had been originally intended. The change was needed since the original suspension scheme, relying on a torque tube and suspension links which did not mount to the body via a sub-frame, turned out to suffer from resonances which were not able to be eliminated in timely fashion by suspension guru Mundy and his associate. They ran out of time and had to revert to an already proven set-up.
If you drive an XJ really hard you’ll notice a little rear roll steer effect which is as a result of this set-up. The rear seat area is a little tight, also as the result of reverting to the earlier suspension.
Don’t forget, by this late stage of the XJ development the styling was done and dusted. The packaging was all but complete. Much of the tooling had been built and it was a case of making what you had to fit fit with minimum changes (replacing tooling is expensive). Later in the XJ production the wheelbase was extended some four inches to gain back some rear seat leg room.