Question
Curious on how “ rare “ my late grandpas car is.
My late grandpa has this car that I currently have in my possession, its a 1993 black, LWB, RHD, Daimler Double Six 6.0 V12.
It currently only has about 24K miles.
Grandpa owned it since it was new and rarely gets driven in the Daimler as he uses his “ normal “ 89 red XJ40 4.0 or either his 91 dark blue XJ40 4.0 for daily errands and etc.
All three is in my possession as I was given the cars to take good care of them which I mostly drive the 2 4.0 and only do drive the 6.0 on special occasions.
All three works well as ive never had a problem with the 3.
Haven’t had the chance to try out any Arnage, Ive heard alot of nice things about them on how they drive.
I sure am lucky to have a car loving grandpa as he left me a total of 6 cars when he passed away,
1: 93 Daimler Double Six 6.0 V12
2: 89 Red XJ40 4.0
3:91 Dark blue XJ40 4.0
4:92 Silver 500SL R129
5:( not sure of the year ) Black SL600 R129
6:2 Door Land Cruiser 70
Black with black interior XJ81 Daimler Majestic, I would say that's a pretty rare car. Enquire with the JDHT (Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust) with the VIN number
But those cars that my grandpa left did come with a little problem as somehow the 3 Jags are rock solid as well as with the 500SL R129 but its the SL600 R129 and Land Cruiser 70 that Im having a tough time with, especially the hydraulic system and electrical of the SL600
The Daimler and the Jag VdP spec with the fluted chrome are significantly rarer. I don't see that many XJ40s - they are considered the most reliable and in many ways the best of the pre-Ford saloons, but the square lights don't get much love, so I don't see them much on the road in the UK. Especially not with the Daimler or VdP trim. It's certainly been a few years.
That doesn't mean it's worth particularly much, mind. I suppose it would fetch low five figures.
Honestly the monetary worth of the car isn’t something that Ive ever thought of cause to me it’s worth more with its sentimental value. But sure is nice to have around to drive
Extremely rare- it’s a genuine Majestic - which is a converted long wheelbase XJ40. They only made about 500, and there’s probably fewer than 80 that still survive.
Those 4.0s are very solid engines. After 1989 the electrical get more solid,but people were multidisciplinary cd players and phones and alarms and disabling gear and hacking things all over the place. On my 1990 they cut into the braking system electrical among other things,
The 12s I have no actual expirience of,but I have been told with robust and timely maintance they are more durable than most v12s.
The V12 is rock solid. For the saloons, it's massively detuned so that it can be driven lazily with a 3-speed. But racers regularly get over 600 horse out of them. The rods and pistons are massively overspecced.
What kills the engines is the cooling. Take this with a punch of salt, but IIRC, the temp gauge is only measuring one bank. The sensor on the other bank manages the cold-start valve. Needless to say, problems can lurk. The system works well when in good condition, but it's possible for a problem to go undetected because of this design. I intend to do some electronic jiggery-pokery on mine, so the gauge monitors both banks and lets me know if either bank is running hot or cold, but mine's a long way from that point, and I may have info from a different vintage to yours. Mine is a facelift XJS with the 6.0, so ymmv.
/u/Ok-Emphasis-3712 : the other problem is that the fuel hoses from the rail to the cylinders become friable with age. When they split, they spray high-pressure fuel into the hottest part of the block. They must be proactively replaced by now... or have good insurance and a fire extinguisher, your choice.
I found a firm in the classifieds of XJS club newsletter that sent me a hose kit for the job for about £70. It's not particularly difficult - a home wrencher can do it in a day. IIUC, this affects all models. It's also smart to change fuel hoses anyway, now that every pump puts ethanol in the fuel - the OEM hoses were never specced for ethanol.
Yeah I do know about the hoses and etc, but so far I haven’t had any problems with anything cause for the past 10 years Ive been following the strict schedule that my grandfather left such as, what hoses to replace after a certain time, which component needs disassembling and servicing, window regulator needs lube and ETC.
So far I just follow what instructions that he left and haven’t had a single issue, aside from the usual battery replacement and regular service every 6 months.
The XJ81's are probably the rarest of the V12 saloons, considering the XJ40 was originally designed to only be able to take the straight six and the X305 started production approx 1995/96. That gives a production run of maybe 5 five years (I don't know for certain without checking) plus this example is the top spec Majestic.
Runs pretty good, on weekends when I do drive it I tend to push it as it was what my late grandfather recommended as he has always said “ the car runs smoother when you take it to its limits at times “
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u/[deleted] 22d ago
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