Ah well, now we are part of the XJS fraternity after much threatening so to do etc etc (and several abortive visits to the various Classic Auction sales).
We attended the Practical Classics Resto Show at NEC (visiting Friday) and had an interesting chat with the gentleman on the club stand with the BRG Facelift (?Glenn?). We returned later in the day to announce that of the 6 XJS in the CCA sale, we had dismissed 5 of them but had decided to 'phone bid on the Diamond Blue 4.0 part-facelift (66K mls) sat way away from the line up of other Jaguars. Many thanks to that gentleman for a friendly chat. Both he, and several other folk we met at the NEC, commented that the day has arrived for the XJS, following the (now) silly prices for E-types, so we thought it best to look at taking the plunge before the pool emptied.
MOH (my other half) did return to the NEC for a flying visit on the Saturday to check a few points, most importantly as to the inboard rear brakes (this being a '92 part facelift). Closer inspection revealed new or almost new discs etc etc so somebody had already had a big bill!
Voila, Sunday dawned and we were delighted to 'phone bid the winning bid (and, also, a thankyou to the CCA folk who were very helpful, and very patient). So K11PRR (already named Prrrdy) will be collected from the secure storage on Tuesday.
We have dabbled with the idea of a XJS to join our '07 Lunar Grey XK X150 (10K mls from new) and our '07 Seafrost Blue S-type for some time, but have come across some rather sad examples of the XJS including a pre-facelift with decidedly droopy outer front bumpers and a wood pole to prop the bonnet open, not to mention some very questionable paintwork.
Looking forward to our own full appraisal and any required fettling; no doubt we shall end up buying another CarCoon, but we think buying yet another Jaguar might result in smacked legs all round. Meanwhile, we look forward to the next Jaguar Parts day at Stoneleigh (got snowed in last time) and, no doubt, the odd bit of business with Growler Parts! Photos to follow once Prrrdy has been collected.
As always, happy growling, and prrrrrrrrrr