My Hobby Car Of A Lifetime #14: 1997 Jaguar XJ6L — “Is This What It Feels Like To Be Rich?”

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– Posted on August 21, 2024

The Summer of the Cat.  Depoe Bay Oregon.

 

I had thought of my XJS as a long-term project. I had read on the Jaguar Forums that the ’97-’99 Jaguar XJ6 was the most reliable and trouble-free later model. It made sense that I’d buy one to drive while I set my XJS in order.

I was going to immerse myself in their mystique and I couldn’t get enough of that Jaguar goodness. Or you could characterize the experience as stepping in “it” with both feet!

So I started looking on CL.

I found a ’97 XJR  for sale in Southern California.

The XJR features a supercharged straight six engine similar to the XJ6. This one was green with a tan interior, a classic combination.

I contacted the seller by email, then we spoke on the phone to arrange a meeting. My wife and I would go to Anaheim and stay a couple of nights. The seller knew that I was coming, and when I arrived he told me that the brake booster had just gone out. he said that he would fix it and call me back. But by the next day, he hadn’t fixed it, and after that, he never called back.

Is this the most beautiful sedan ever made?

 

I was disappointed after what happened with the ’97 XJR, so I started looking on CL for other cars in the area. I found a white XJ6L for sale in Eagle Rock. We went to see it. I drove it, liked it, and left a deposit. The seller, the owner of a small mechanic shop, said that he would have it smogged, and we could return to pick it up next week. It was the owner’s personal car and that gave me confidence that the car should be up to date with maintenance.

The car was Old English White, with a “biscuit” leather interior, a kind of light grey leather. It had a set of chromed 16 inch “dimple” wheels. There was lots of chrome and polished stainless steel trim including a very ’90s wheel arch trim. I thought that it looked perfect. There was also plenty of wood trim in the cabin, including half of the steering wheel. I will admit that I fell in love with wooden steering wheels after owning this car.

Oh, how I came to love this interior.

 

The paint was very shiny for a 15ish-year-old car, and there were only a couple of very minor dings. The interior was very clean and in good shape. It drove, shifted, stopped, and rode well. All the accessories and equipment worked fine. It even smelled good inside. All this for just under 3,000 dollars.

 

The instrument display was exquisite.

 

A  week later we rented a car to drive back down to Los Angeles. It was a Hyundai Elantra and it was a pretty pleasant car. This was my first experience with Hyundais.

We drove the Jaguar back From LA and I was in an excited mood. It was glorious! Whenever a long trip home in a newly acquired car turns out well, it is such a positive bonding experience. On the drive up US101 I looked at the leaping Jaguar hood ornament and thought to myself, “Is this what it feels like to be rich?”

At the Luther Burbank Gardens in Santa Rosa.

 

I decided to immerse myself in the Jaguar experience. I used the car for daily errands and commuting, but I also drove it a couple of times up to Sacramento and Santa Rosa. We took it on our family vacation to the Oregon coast and continued up past Astoria into Washington state. I chose to have faith in the car and drove it all the time. We took it to Pismo Beach for a family function, a vacation trip to Clear Lake, and out to Clovis for a British car show and Antique Faire.

Crossing the bridge at Astoria Washington.

 

If something “bad” was going to happen, then it would happen. I would deal with it.

Driving through the mountains on Highway 5 into Oregon and on the seeping curves of the Coastal highway I was very impressed by the supple ride and agile handling. Sitting behind the wheel in that beautiful leather clad and wood trimmed cabin made the trip seem really special. That made me feel really special, exactly what a luxury car was supposed to do. The car had plenty of power and returned fuel mileage of around 25 mpg. I did not experience a single mechanical problem during that trip to Washington.

The car exuded a supple grace that was unlike anything that I had ever experienced before. The Jaguar catchphrase of “Space, Pace, and Grace”, certainly seemed appropriate. This model was the successor to the long running XJ6, and it was a huge improvement in design. This would be the last straight six engine that Jaguar would produce, and it was magnificent. All alloy construction, dual overhead cams, four valves per cylinder, crank fired ignition with coil on plug, as well as fuel injection. It was equipped with dual exhaust manifolds, and dual exhaust pipes for optimum breathing. It produced 245 hp. just 40 short of the V12.

Plenty of room. The long wheelbase cars were often used as State cars in Britain.

 

The styling retained the classic beauty of the early XJ6, but was modernized. I especially loved the airy greenhouse. My car was the extended wheelbase model with a five inch longer wheelbase. The rear seat had more legroom than the short wheelbase XJR that I had looked at earlier. I found it extremely beautiful and timeless. A modern classic. The interior had all the traditional appeal of leather and wood. there is something that is just so enjoyable about driving a car with a beautiful interior.

It convinced me that I would only seek out cars that had a similar bright and colorful interior.

It was such a joy to drive, so satisfying. I decided to drive it without worrying about anything. It was a grand two years!

While everything worked (including the a/c), the fuel gauge would often stay down on the empty mark. Then the CEL, check engine light came on, and  I cleaned the throttle body and found a loose connection on the air cleaner intake tube.

I was always concerned when smog check time rolled around. CELs were a constant problem reported on the Forum, even if the car seemed to run fine. However, my car passed every smog test while I owned it.

The identical concept in motoring, separated by Fifty years.

 

Problems did develop. The upper radiator hose connecting nipple began to deteriorate and the hose would sometimes pop off. I put two clamps on the connection, and that worked for quite a while. But eventually, the hose would pop off regularly. I had been carrying a couple of gallons of coolant with me at all times. However, I knew that it was time for a new radiator. My local auto parts store quoted me a price of 700 dollars. That was not going to happen!

I started visiting my Local Pick and Pull wrecking yard, keeping my eyes open for a suitable donor. It only took a couple of weeks to find a car with a good radiator. Fifty bucks for the win!

The other problem was that the front suspension was demonstrating a lot of wear to the control arm bushings, just like my XJS! They are similar in design, and there were the same problems in replacing the bushings. My response was to swap out the worn left front tire, for a good used one, and just continue to drive the car. But not as much.

I had seriously considered buying a newer model Jaguar sedan, but after spending years on the forum, I knew that the newer cars had some very serious shortcomings and problems. The V8 engines had a very fragile cooling system with plastic tubes and junctions that were prone to sudden failure and this engine would not tolerate overheating. This would result in a blown head gasket, which was usually fatal for the car.

Beware Cat, the spoiler cometh!

 

While I still liked the car quite a bit, I thought that it might be better to sell it, so that I could concentrate on the XJS.

This train of thought continued to gather steam, and I sold the XJ6 to an online buying site.

The XJ6 has its final moments on our court.

 

This led me to sell my ’51 Jaguar Mark VII project car shortly after that.  Followed surprisingly by the XJS!

Where there had once been three Jaguars, now there were none!

A new phase of my hobby car ownership had just begun.