Some cars don’t have to be in top condition to be beautiful. That is undoubtedly what many people think of this Jaguar XJ. A real diamond in the rough, hopefully with a bright future.
The Jaguar XJ is a relatively common classic in the Netherlands and certainly a Series II like this one is quite popular. You will also often find them in a better condition than this red one. Yet this copy, spotted by Koen Smit, certainly deserves attention. Ken, thanks for the pictures!
The XJ in question may not be beautiful in the paint anymore, a closer look shows that the car is not in such a bad condition at all. There is also just a brand new apk, that inspires confidence. It is clear that the car deserves some love. A perfect basis for a partial restoration, although you may already have come a long way with a new coat of paint. Incidentally, the original Dutch XJ probably underwent a restoration quite some time ago. According to the registration data, it was originally a brown one, so the red paint was added later. Perhaps the owner at the time should have gone for a different color or at least a slightly better quality paint.
This is specifically about an XJ 6 Series II with the largest six-in-line in the nose you could ever get in an XJ: the 4.2. The time-honored XK engine, in other words, which gave way to the newer AJ6 engine with the XJ40 only well into the 80s. If the six-cylinder engine was not enough, you could opt for the mighty 5.3 V12 in the Series I, II and III. Unfortunately, the Series II was about as bad in quality as it was beautiful, so we’re talking about a British Leyland product here. Nice detail: this XJ is accompanied by another product from British Leyland, in the photo above you can see that some Triumphs Dolomite are parked in the showroom in the background.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl