I'm a life long racer, I raced vintage Jaguars and MGs when they were still considered newish cars.
But racing is expensive and in my retirement I need to work on a smaller budget without going into debt like I could in my youth. So I look for affordable yet fun.
Jaguars are one of those things. Great stuff surrounded by luxury trappings. Rich people and wanna be rich like to look the part but few ever actually use the good stuff in Jaguars. Things like an engine that looks like it was designed by a racer. A rear suspension that uses needle bearings at the pivot points. That is strong enough for 800 horsepower but handles like a formula car. Brakes that will stop a car from 150 mph without effort. A race winning heritage.
But you can pick up all of that for an extremely modest price I've found nice rust free examples for $500 and less. ( to be fair patience is required at that price point since they can be parted out for much more)
Same with alcohol E85 is a power adder even to stock engines and it's the cheapest fuel you can buy
So I've tried to share my experience with others. Certain things cost about the same no matter what car you choose. Seat belts, fire extinguisher, fuel cell, safety equipment, tires etc. Some things like stripping the interior out removing sound deadening and undercoating are just labor and need to be done on almost any car you race.
What makes a difference is what you start from. A Ferrari for example has a great starting point but almost insane price even for the cheapest examples. The Jaguar is also a great starting point but insanely cheap cost or entry point.
Yep, I get it. I just bought the XJR and realized that it has taken a 99% depreciation in 22 years. It had an original sticker of $66k which in today's money is $106k!
In reply to singleslammer :back in the 1980s I used to pick up slightly rusty XK-Es for $50
minor rust in the rocker panels that could be repaired for $300 worth of panels out of England a little welding and some paint. I'm embarrassed that I bought them for parts cars
Today cars like that sell for over $150,000
I honestly expect the XJS to be in that sort of price point within a decade or two
However please don't quote me I'm not a car flipper. I treat cars like a hammer. To be used and maintained as required but not sold whenever I can make a profit.
I have an x308 XJR, lovely beast. I recently passed on a $500 early 90s xjs though so I could get a miata.
Jags are heavy. You have to push them hard or they won't move.
Not sure about the alcohol though.
In reply to Toyman01 : Jaguar is both a luxury car and a performance car.
Strip the luxury off and you'll save a lot of weight but the performance is still there
As far as alcohol it's like farmers and the government want you to go faster while spending less money to do so.
The good thing is the added power of alcohol is well documented
In reply to yupididit : Well you will be in a big group with a Miata. One of many.
However please tell me a miata that has the visual and impact that the Group 44 XJS has
Wait...
There's profit in reselling hammers? I had no idea. Of course, the cat's out of the bag now.
;)
I like my XJR a lot. The e55 AMG and e39 M5 are better at everything besides looks to me.
To be honest I think Mercedes and BMW do performance luxury cars best behind Porsche. If you remove all the luxury doodads from any of those then of course performance will increase via weight savings. Or, buy an AMG or M and enjoy both. I'm glad you're passionate about Jags, but you talk them up pretty hard when the competing Makes are as good and better at those things.
Your Miata question vs group 44 XJS, yeah I don't care much at all about the group 44 XJS. So that question doesn't apply to my decision between two $500 rollers. Plus, the Miata needs are not much compared to that XJS. But, I'd still pick the Miata if it was just as needy.
With that said, I'd take an F-type R over most anything right now.
In reply to yupididit :
That's. The great thing about this forum
You are free to support any car you'd like and share reasons why. I may not agree with you but that doesn't make your choice wrong.
Miata's are absolutely a known quantity so it is easy to get up to speed with them. Follow step 1,2,3 and your car will have the same potential speed. You can settle for a different color and or graphics to distinguish yours from others. Used parts also have a strong following and known fair price. Most events will have several Miata's
As far as Mercedes BMW and Audi go I'm sure each brand has their supporters and reasons for preference. I wish someone would come on here and share those with this group. I know next to nothing about them other than a few rebuilds and tune ups.
I found myself looking at used XJSes (XJS's? XJSssers?) today thanks to you. What you said about them being the next XKE made me think. I've always wondered how to spot the next car that's going to go from "reasonably affordable" to "astronomically expensive." I don't know that the XJS has it, but they've definitely ticked up in value over the years. Despite that it looks like you can get a pretty nice one for $5000 or so. It's hard to beat the value proposition on that - v12 sound, grand touring looks and ride, collectible plates and insurance means cheap overhead. I have no idea what it's like to keep one in good shape. But it's hard not to want to find out!
When will a 1985 XJS be worth $100,000? Tell me so I know how long I'll have to hold onto it.
Edit: Oh wait you said "a decade or two." That might be too soon to be believable but I am patient.
In reply to dculberson : please note my disclaimer. I am not into cars as an investment. I enjoy them for what they are. I own them for decades and sell only when there is a dire need for money which almost always means I get far less then their market value.
If you look at English market values they are up in the £30,000 region for the better ones. Which will be 6.0 V12 convertibles in primary colors
As far as $ prices I expect a fair amount of inflation to occur in the not too distant future. This country has a long history of paying it's debts with inflation. Increasing spending and cutting taxes is a sure sign of what trend is approaching.
Dculberson,
There's no short of clean ones in socal.
I am a big Jaguar fan. I also really like MB and BMW. I found that as a all around performance car for every day use the Jaguars were a great compermise of both sports car and GT car. The MB always was the better GT car. Always felt heavy to me but always had more than enough power to keep things fun. A great highway cruiser and was almost always king of the stoplight drags. BMW on the other hand is all about being a sports car. So much so that it to me detracts from it being a good long distance GT car. It always is demanding your attention. The tight suspension and firmer seats keeps you completely engaged in the act of driving even on a strait section of highway every bump and crack make there presence known. Jaguar to me is in the middle of the two. They never have the all out power of the MB with suspension that is in between the two German brands. For me Jaguar is the perfect compermise between the two. That is why I like them so much. This does not mean I dislike MB or BMW. Far from it they are both excellent cars but if I had to pick one car the Jaguars compermise between the MB and the BMW makes it the car for me.
In reply to dean1484 : very interesting
I'm very myopic and fail to take any interest in non-Jaguars.
Its very nice to hear from someone with experience with all three
Just curious. I am considering selling my C4 Vette for a 95-97 XJ6. Getting on in years and the fall in, crawl out is getting labor intensive. How are these XJ's of this vintage? Looking more for a longer distance ride that can be sporting when need be.
In reply to Dirtydog :I understand what you mean about getting on in years. The low roof line of my XJS makes entrance and exit tough when you approach 70
The sedans ( XJ6-12 ) are a little nicer but being taller you lose some of the sporty flavor even though so many parts interchange between the XJS and the XJ12
Thanks for the input. Mid 60's and holding firm. The Vette is a fun car. Mine thank you, is trouble free except for regular maintenance. My sporting spirit was spent riding motorcycles for about 5 decades. Now time for a little more luxury.
