I saw what looked, and sounded, like an SS100 this morning.
Capt. Birdseye was driving it and grinning from ear to ear.
Worth a few bob if genuine.
Kevin...
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They should resurrect old models like XJ220 and MK2.
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>>They should resurrect old models like XJ220 and MK2.<<
Don't forget the E Type.
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The Mk 2 was an excellent bit of kit. I had one and drove many. But I don't think resurrection would be a good idea. They look lovely but the driving experience wasn't excellent - although rewarding if you knew what you were about. You had to really drive them round corners and the 3.8 - fastest of the lot - was a real handful if you tried to use the performance of which it was well capable.
Oddly enough, you might think if you don't know, the 2.4 or the Daimler V8 was probably the best of the lot - had all the looks and very adequate performance but not enough power to get you into trouble. Morse knew what he was about...
If you want a Jaguar (please - not Jaaaaag) with performance and satisfaction, then go for the Series III XJ (for accommodation) or the last of the XJSs (for presence and balls-out performance). But then, I would say that, wouldn't I?
ps: The awful XJ220 had the engine out of a Metro 6R4 didn't it?
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An elderly uncle of mine had, I think, a 2.4 MK2.
My mother would take him out in it for a Sunday afternoon drive with a very young me in the back seat.
Mother was a decent driver, but I remember uncle, who had more or less given up driving by that time, urging her to get a move on.
I suppose the old boy hadn't bought a Jaguar to hang about, whatever seat he was sitting in.
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I'd love to have owned one but just couldn't afford one when younger and put off by the reputed unreliabilty when i could.
I loved the Mk2 and the S type of its day, i was passenger in a newish H reg XJ6 with 4.2 and manual box with overdrive possibly the highest geared car i've ever been in, i seem to recall 120 mph equated to about 2000 rpm in total silence.
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>The Mk 2 was an excellent bit of kit. I had one and drove many.
Wheel man?
Kevin...
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...Wheel man?...
Jaguars were fast and - relatively - cheap, so beloved of villains, and the rozzers who used to chase them.
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>>If you want a Jaguar (please - not Jaaaaag) with performance and satisfaction, then go for the Series III XJ<<
I had a series 111 4.2 in Olde English white with red leather interior, great car, great engine,
but I wasn't over fond of the PAS, too light IMO, especially compared to my previous car (240Z!)
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OK, it must be the change in the weather here in Blighty, it was the series 11 I had, not the series 111.
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You don't see many series II XJs around, must be the poor quality steel BL Cars/JRT were using in the 70s. Would be interesting to see the number of survivors compared to the original Series I cars. The Series II was the nicest looking IMO.
I prefer the looks of the pre facelift XJ-S to the last of the line cars personally.
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>> ps: The awful XJ220 had the engine out of a Metro 6R4 didn't it?
Yes, it was a TWR fettled version of it, and knocked out a massive 542 bhp which was actually more than the 500 bhp target for the naturally aspirated 6.2 litre V12 that was originally slated to go in the car (and which the deposit paying customers were promised). The final car was also missing the promised four wheel drive system, was £40k more expensive than promised, and neither could it match its target 220 mph top speed.
What the customers were promised, and what was delivered bore little relationship to each other. Big, naturally aspirated V12 versus small, turbocharged to high heaven V6 = totally different driving experiences. That, the astronomical price, and the recession saw to the 220's failure.
Classic British car industry stuff, really. Treat the customer with contempt, and deliver a half baked product.
Last edited by: DP on Tue 21 Sep 10 at 11:28
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Dad had a Mk2 3.4 in gunmetal grey as a company car when he was rich and famous, followed by a white S-type.
I followed in his footsteps during the petrol crisis of the '70s by buying a 3.4 automatic S-type for pocket money. My mates were driving hot Anglias and Minis and an MG Midget but if you showed enough commitment, the S-type would handle very nicely on its big Dunlops.
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Great engine the straight six XJ jobbie, I've tuned many of those over the years, quite a robust engine,
alhough I've seen more than a few head gasket failures on them,
I've worked on a few V12's as well - with 4 Strombergs, none of this fuel injection marlarkey :)
Quite daunting though when first you open up the bonnet to be greeted by 12 spark plugs, 4 carburettors,
and leads and wires everywhere!
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...Great engine the straight six XJ jobbie,..
Pal of mine, whose dad owned a garage, built a modsports XK150 racer with a 4.2 straight six engine.
Ladder chassis and fibre glass body.
We tested it one day at Silverstone and the engine had a major bottom end failure.
The block survived, but there were a few holes ripped in the sump.
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>>We tested it one day at Silverstone and the engine had a major bottom end failure.
The block survived, but there were a few holes ripped in the sump.<<
Jeez, I bet he was gutted, but larfed about it later, over a few pints, reckon he remembered the oil next time :)
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Local ITV news version of events:
www.itv.com/central-west/75-years-on-the-road92854/
once you get through the adverts..
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Good video, worth watching, I'm off now - Tata.
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...reckon he remembered the oil next time :) ...
Funny you should say that.
One of the problems of using the engine in race conditions was the oil use to build up in the head - under the two cam covers - and blow itself out of the breather at the front.
He ran a pipe from the breather into a container mounted on an inner wing and collected, I dunno, a couple of pints of oil in a couple of laps.
A bit of bench testing suggested the oil was nearly syphoning itself once it got going.
The problem was eventually solved by running an external pipe from the breather back into the sump.
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You up early or am I late this morning? :)
Or was it a night on the tiles?
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Wed 22 Sep 10 at 04:54
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>>The problem was eventually solved by running an external pipe from the breather back into the sump.<<
Er ... I thought that was what air filter housings were for :-)
I've seen air filters that looked more like oil filters due to excessive crankcase pressure,
and that was just on 'cooking' engines.
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Hi
Any photos of the modsports xk150? Or the name of the builder? I own an xk150 which used to have a glassfibre bodyshell about which I have very little history. Any tech details or race / track history would be much appreciated if by some miracle it is the same car. Haven't quite worked out how to add photos but can send one of it by e-mail to see if you recognise it!
Cheers
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 22 Jun 12 at 01:15
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Welcome to c4p mnkiii.
We have one or two Jag lovers on here ;-)
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Cheers for the welcome. Look forward to seeing if any info comes forward re the modsports xk150.
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Iffy - who posted about the modsports - is a regular on here but may not have seen your request.
If you email one of the moderators they can pass your email onto him.
Moderators have a little magic wand alongside their names. They also wear tutus but not everyone knows that ;-)
Click on a mod's name and it will bring up their profile along with their email address.
RP, VxFan and smokie are usually loitering most hours of the day and night.
Last edited by: Kevin on Fri 22 Jun 12 at 19:38
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...update...
The poster - aka Robin - asking about the XK150 got in touch via email, so thanks to Kevin and VxFan.
Seems the car I helped build in the late 70s is almost certainly the one he has.
I've put Robin in touch with the real builder.
Robin is suitably made up, he's been trying to trace the history of his car for years.
I have told him it's hardly a thoroughbred - we used a chassis from another mark of Jag and plonked an XK150-shaped glass fibre bodyshell on top.
All held together with pop rivets.
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Excellent result Iffy - bet he's really chuffed.
Pictures?
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...Pictures?...
Robin emailed me a couple, if I can remember how Picasa works I'll see if I can create a link.
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Hey Hawkeye
It wasn't GYU 243C by any chance ? gunmetal grey 3.4S auto cracking car.
Also had a 420G with the gold cyl head triple carb engine, loads of grunt but would often kick the back end out.
Sold with just 13000 miles in 75ish for £500 due to the fuel !
They were the days
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75 years of Jaguar in pictures. - Kevin
