It was quite a distance away and I took a friend for moral support incase I did anything silly and actually bought it. We found the place but after a quick look and a test drive I decided that common sense would have to prevail and I did not buy the car. The bonnet was heat bloomed and there was a lot of rust, even for a car of this age, and all I could see was a big hole in the road into which I would be constantly pouring money.
Disheartened I spent the next six months trying to forget anything about such cars and continued to enjoy my frugal but boring Sunny with it’s 50mpg. Then, there was another XJ-S in the paper, this time at a local dealers yard. So off I went and again. Although I was tempted there was too much wrong for it to be right. It was an awful grey brown colour, water pored from the vents as we accelerated, the speedo clock had been changed and there was rust, that old enemy of all cars. By now I was learning more about Jaguars and had considered that despite the V12 being impressive, because of it’s size and thirst, it was seemingly not the car favoured by the secondhand market. The lighter, more efficient 3.6 litre straight six cylinder, seemed to be the one to go for, It had the same acceleration and top speed, but consumed half the fuel of the petroholic V12.
During this time I had got to know of a dealer in the north east of England who dealt in second hand Jaguars and from which an uncle of a friend of mine had bought a car and was very happy with. I telephoned Phil, of East Coast Jaguars and, as luck would have it he had just got in an XJ-S 3.6. It was a bit out of my price range but, bearing in mind what I had seen for a few thousand pounds then this should be better than anything I had seen so far, and I had been looking, on and off now for nearly a year. When I arrived at Philip’s house the car was sat outside on the drive and it looked stunning, the sun shone off its bright chrome and silver blue paintwork. Wow, I thought, could this really be mine? After a cup of coffee and a chat I was sure that the sale was genuine and we took the car for a test drive. Philip drove it around the winding coast road and out along a short stretch of dual carriage way. Oh yes, could that car move?! My previous Jaguar driving experience had been gentle and smooth as I didn’t want to cause the owners any upsets, but Philip’s driving, although perhaps a little scary, convinced me of the car’s performance and handling. I didn’t commit to buying and nor did Philip place any pressure, and I drove the hour and a half home switching between “Yes, what the hell, do it” and “Don’t be so stupid, it’s too expensive and it’ll cost a bomb to run”
A week passed and I knew I had to have the car, so I ‘phoned Phil and said that if he still had the XJ-S, I would buy it. We agreed the price which was to include work on the front nearside suspension and I sent a deposit to secure the car as mine. I still had the Sunny and it took what seemed like an eternity to sell, but I got a good price and was sure that the new owner was happy as she was already driving an older model to mine.
Collection day came. I had cleared the garage to take the new arrival, as at nearly sixteen feet long there was no room left for all that essential junk one collects in one’s garage. I blagged a lift from my moral support to go across the country to get my Jaguar. Driving back home, I still couldn’t believe what I had done, I couldn’t believe that this car was mine, that I owned a Jaguar, not just any old car, a Jaguar. The words to an old ‘Madness’ song rang in my mind, “I like driving in my car....And it is a Jag-u-aaarrr!” It was late when I got home and so I parked beside the garage and went inside the house for some light bedtime reading of the handbook. I fell into a restless sleep and dreamed of owning a piece of British motoring heritage, a Ford Escort, or perhaps even a Vauxhall Astra,... only joking. (Both of which would have cost more to buy brand new than I had paid for the Jaguar.)
I was in love.