This Jag XJS paced my Miata on Crest Road the other day, and since the owner was obliging enough to pose, I grabbed a shot with my CC Camera. The car appeared very complete, very rust free, but very much worn out.
This may be a common situation in other parts of the country, but here in California, we expect our Jags to have shiny paint and perfect bright work!
In fact, shiny Jags are so common here, I gathered this shot that same afternoon. A typical shiny, perfect convertible, living the California dream…
Back to our Jag. Sitting at the light on Hawthorne, I captured this image through a dirty windscreen. The “H.E.” badge marks it as an mid-production XJ-S, as the first H.E. models (High Efficiency) came out in 1981.
This XJ-S is not as nice as the XK-E I posted several weeks ago, but I’m sure the driver is having at least as much fun as the Mini driver in front of him.
Hmmm… Mini driver. That means a Mini, Jag, and Miata all occupy the left turn lane, waiting for the green arrow. Welcome to California, the Golden Driving State!
You can tell the nicer neighborhoods where even the beaters are Jags. 🙂
It’s the hired help…
The convertible is gorgeous though I never worked up much enthusiasm for the coupe.These were always out of my league,purchase price( cheap Jags very soon turn into expensive Jags) and running/maintenance costs will leave you with bills like a New York telephone number.The XJS was built in the Red Robbo period so quite a few quality issues came up.
The coupe looked better in profile after the facelift, which sorted out the black plastic behind the rear quarterlight, although I prefer the original taillights; the facelifted tail looks kind of anonymous. Still, once Jaguar introduced a proper convertible, it’s little wonder buyers preferred it to the coupe.
My late Uncle bought an ’82 HE in ’84 when I was 10, so I got to study the styling quite a bit. I never found the coupe ugly, just awkward. Nowadays though I love the coupe’s looks – it’s still not pretty but it’s very distinctive and unlike anything else on the roads, so that makes it a winner in my books. The convertible’s similar, but losing those delicious buttresses kills some of the distinctiveness. I quite like the later facelift, but they made the bumpers a bit too chunky, so the purity of the HE models is still my pick.
I’ve seen a few beater Jags around Gallup, mostly XJ6 sedans from the mid 80s to the early 1990s being driven by aggressive young males. One that made me smile in particular was a black composite headlight model with a Mexican flag for a front license plate. It wasn’t a car that I normally associate with Chicano culture. Although I’ve also seen US flags on very foreign cars. To each their own.
That one looks more rough than I think I’ve ever seen and here around Washington DC “prestige cars” often die a hard, lingering death in the hands of 3rd/4th/5th owners.
XJS is not a Jag I care for excepting the never-seen-here Lynx Eventer shooting brake version.
I’ll agree with you Lawrence! On sojourns to D.C./Maryland, I see many a 20-25 year old E, S, Mercedes and XJ-6 with duct tape holding headlights in place, oxidation, orange peeling, split leather seats and enough caked on brake dust to make the once silver aluminum wheels look like red dirt Oklahoma. The only thing cosmetically (externally) wrong with this ’84 Jag is the oxidized paint. The panels are straight and rust-free (California is car heaven). This car is sun-baked down to the ’84 issue blue plate.
The same Jag is someones daily beater to a supermarket near here I shot an old Datsun pickup parked behind it yestarday as the Jag is already on the cohort page, theres something right about a well used Jag I like, its kinda fuck the reputation this sucker just runs and runs.
I’ve always wanted one, and still do. 6 cylinder please, I’ve known a few people with V-12’s and the horror stories that abound . . . . . . . Four fuel pumps? And if one quits, they’re all useless until you figure which one of the four is the problem?
Just the same, a beautiful car, a wonderful grand tourer, and one of the few places in life where I’d willingly accept an automatic transmission. Although there are firms who will do the conversion to manual.
Living in a beach community, I see cars like this Jag fairly often. This is what happens when you live within a block of the ocean and leave your car parked outside for decades. It was probably fairly well taken care of, considering it isn’t riddled with rust. At the very least, that suggests a ride through the carwash with each gas stop.
California, where car lovers are forced to co-exist with vehement car haters, and the car haters are winning a little more every day, good luck.
I would love to own a ruined old whore of an XJ-S, it is the cheapest way to say “I own a 12 cylinder car”, a nice cheap beater, of course there really won’t be anything “nice” or “cheap” about it.
I like the wheels on the earlier 75-80 versions, perhaps in a lovely shade of British Leyland Midlands foamy diarrhea brown. I know that it will be torture, but there is a late 70’s swankiness about these, when the rest of the car world was trying to squeeze every mile out of a gallon of gas, here was the XJS with a 12 cylinder engine, long ass hood and tiny passenger compartment, looking like something straight out of 1969.
This is the image that comes to mind whenever I think of these Jags, arriving in your private jet , the XJ-S there waiting, with a dead battery…….
What will always stick in my mind is that episode in the 5th season of Mad Men where Lane Pryce wants to commit suicide, and can’t get the Jag started. Some writer must have owned an E-Type at one time.
To hell with reliability. I’d rather live the rest of my life with a Jaguar than one week with a Camry.
To hell with reliability. I’d rather live the rest of my life with a Jaguar than one week with a Camry.
Amen. I know that’s why at some point in my life I will pull the trigger on some car that other people think I’m crazy for owning. Life is too short to drive Camry’s for the rest of your life.
That was great, I remember that scene, I agree though, I would rather stare at a non running Jag than drive a Camry, or a Corolla……
No, Carmine – the XJ-S waiting there doesn’t have a dead battery; it’s dead because of the Lucas (Prince of Darkness) electronics. Is it the fuel pump (guess which one?). . . . fried voltage regulator? No ground? All of the above? See your local Jaguar dealer. Repair financing available. BTW – no aftermarket parts available – only obtainable from an authorized Jaguar dealer . . . at super-premium prices.
Though, if you are a “Jagddict”, and you want a coupe, you can still find the lovely XJ-C with the much less fussy straight 6 for less than $10K, decisions, decisions….
Not very many XJ-6 coupes to choose from as these were limited in their primary market (the U.S. – even rarer overseas and at home in Old Blighty). These are extremely handsome cars. Make mine in light metallic blue of that light green solid color (not seafoam metallic).
The XJC also has the benefit of looking good…
Jags appear to be common indeed around your neighbourhood, Dave! You shot not only one, but two convertibles … behind the green one hides a red one!
oh … and I must say I always lusted for these. make mine an early 6 cyl model wearing mustard yellow, please!
Good eye, C107. As I said in the post, Jags are common out here.
Wow, this is just like the JX/S I mentioned in the nicest dilapidated car you’ve seen post, only the tires are inflated and it’s moving lol.
I never understood why these get no love from so many people, my whole life I’ve been told by people “that’s not a real Jaaaag” every time I stared at one longingly. I could understand the dislike in terms of reliability and price, but it seems like everyone hates them simply because they aren’t a E-type. Whatever. That long low body, long hood short deck proportions, and tunneled “flying buttress” roofline pull me in every time.
Make mine an early I6 or a V12 with a SBC swapped in place 🙂
It’s certainly a real Jag, it’s just not a Jag sports car. Which is understandable when you realize that structurally, it’s based on the floorpan and running gear of the XJ. (I think its closest structural relative is the XJ12C coupe, but it’s still pretty close to the sedans.)
I flew to Ft Worth to join my former high school roommate for a drive to our high school in Arkansas in his brand new 1988 XJ-S. For weeks before I met with him I dreamed about driving this magical V12 contrivance that I had read so much about. The fanzines couldn’t praise this auto turd enough.
My first impression was that it didn’t have a whole lot of grunt. When I thought about it, I realized why it didn’t feel light on its feet-the thing weighed 4250 lbs, and the monster V12 was only 326 cu in in a very mild state of tune.
It wasn’t a bad ride, just very underwhelming. The right-hand outside mirror quit working first day out. My rookie told me that this was the third time this had happened since he drove it off the showroom floor three months ago. And we lost the radio shortly thereafter.
Some of the Commentariat have stated a crappy Jag is still better than a Camry. As the past owner of two Camrys, I would beg to differ. Although not enthusiast cars, they were fun over-the-road cars, got great mileage, and except for scheduled maintenance, spent 100% of the time running. Radios worked too.
The V-12 didn’t lack for power, even in U.S. trim — 262 hp SAE for most of the ’80s — but it did suffer at low speed from having only a three-speed automatic and a very tall 2.88 axle. The result was that it didn’t feel especially lively until you were getting into red-lights-in-the-mirror speeds.
Having the Camry is like 30 years married to the fat chick from your graduating class (having just come from my 45th anniversary class reunion, I know of which I speak). Yeah, trouble free, loyal, and completely lacking in passion.
Having that Jag is like taking your pick of a Victorias Secret Angel.
Be stolid and trouble free all you want – I cannot stand boredom in either cars or women.
So Syke, I’m a tad confused. Did you marry the fat chick? I’d always heard that the chubbos performed enthusiastically because they were so appreciative. How else would you reconcile some of the couples that you see at Wal*Mart?
Hmmm… Didn’t my XK-E post also receive comments that tip-toed around the subject of sex?
There must be something about Jags that brings forth the male libido…
I recognized the area immediately. A good friend, a Mustang fanatic, used to live up there with his folks.
When I worked as a mechanic at Martin Chevrolet and Scott Robinson Honda, my test drives often brought me to the outskirts of PV.
And the fact that wifey at Wal Mart usually has one in the stroller, two alongside, and maybe one in the oven as well.
A 24-pack of toilet paper, a giant plastic barrel of cheese puffs, two cases of cheap beer, and a dozen extra large chili cheese dogs- to go!
Ah! So you’ve been to Utah.
I don’t know, I consider the Camry more like a staid and conservative type church woman. And the Jag to me is more like a Victoria Secret’s catalog vs. the actual woman. After all, the car never runs!! It’s like looking at a picture of a woman.
Why not one of each? (Cars that is). Get in the Jag, make one attempt to start, and if (when?) it doesn’t, either put in the work to get it started if you’re going out for a blast or just get into the Camry if you have to be somewhere.
Some people just use the Jag as a daily driver never fix it until it breaks down and never ever wash it!
http://www.jagbits.com