Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Thinking about historical registration. Part Two.

That's a lot of red!

Sometimes action takes precedence over thought.

I went ahead and sent off my application for my historical vehicle registration plates. A couple of weeks later they showed up in my mailbox. During those two weeks I decided to order a personalized license plate frame. I wanted to emphasize the historic nature of my automobile. 1989 was the first year of the production XJS convertible. Earlier  examples were custom conversions. The first factory approved conversions were built by Hess and Eisenhardt. I've seen one of those cars. They were very crudely modified, miles away from my refined factory model.

I attached the license plate and frame to my car. I decided that I would take it out of the garage and take it for a drive. I wanted to add at least twenty miles to the odometer, get it fully warmed up, and get the juices flowing. The car has been sitting for at least a couple of months though I did run the trickle charger for an afternoon a couple of weeks ago. 

The car fired right up and after I took it out of the garage I only saw few drops of oil on the garage floor. I have an extended loop around my greater neighborhood that will add the twenty miles I desired. The car ran fine, though I do stop and check for any leaks under the hood after it had warmed up.

I decided that I would keep an informal log on the mileage and use of the car. I don't imagine that I'll be adding too many miles in the near future.

I've got every issue now.

The Best of Old Cars Weekly.

I recently purchased some of the issues that were missing from my collection. I now have all six issues.  I subscribed to Old Cars Weekly for a few years back in the 1990s and have a couple of boxes of them stashed away up in the attic. 

These anthologies are just chock full of information. I can look through them and just read the topics that catch my attention at the time, ignoring the rest. The next time I revisit the issue I'll find other things I'd like to read. I take them with me on vacation, where I have the time to delve even deeper into the issue. These are real, old fashioned, newspaper formats. Sometimes there's a page with nothing but pure verbiage, not even a small photo to break up the page! I don't think that format would be well received by Millennials and other young folk. but I find it endlessly interesting. 

There are reprints of the weekly columns that were included in the paper. Some seem quite old fashioned even though they only date from the early 1970s. Especially the one entitled "Young Nuts and Old Bolts! I graduated from high school in 1973. It's hard to believe that's almost fifty years ago!

Sagas  of the Old West.

The author of this column lived through the early days of car collecting in the late 1940s and 1950s. He relates how he owned several rather rare and desirable Classics from the 1930s. He knew of many others who also owned many of these cars. These were just old unwanted cars at the time. They were worth very little, and the cars were only twenty years  or so old at the time. That meant that many were in quite good original condition. They could be freshened up and brought back to respectable condition quite easily. Paint and plating was polished and waxed. Leather upholstery was treated and restitched, and mechanical systems were freshened up a bit. The biggest problem at the time was finding good tires. Many were re-capped, a common practice up through the 1960s. 

Many of these enthusiasts owned their car s for only a short period of time. They would sell them to trade up to another more desirable model. Most could not afford to build up a collection, even if they had that inclination at the time. But some did. Restoration was not a consideration, you just didn't spend much money or energy fixing up an old car. You would drive it and fuss with it for a while. If you had too many problems, you'd just find another one in better condition.

In many ways that situation has a lot in common with me and my XJS. The car looks pretty good and I've got it up and running. I can drive it a bit just as it is, even without rebuilding the suspension. My primary concern is preservation. Luckily I'm now able to keep the car protected, inside a garage, under a cover. I may not be the perfect owner, with plenty of money and a perfectionist's attitude, but it's currently mine.  This model of car has been passing through a long period of undesirability and disinterest. Low values went along with that. But there is evidence of a light at the end of the tunnel, and I pretty sure it's not an approaching train! 

Speaking of XJS' I had an interesting experience a few weeks later. I passed by the Wheels and Deals consignment lot in Santa Clara and happened upon a very forlorn green (!) Jaguar. It looked about as neglected, at least cosmetically, as any XJS I'd ever seen.

The paint is very rough, but the body is straight.

I immediately noticed that it was a facelift model, a 1996, the last year of this model. It was also equipped with the fabulous 4.0 straight six motor. This same motor is in my XJ6. It is a rag top, rag being the operative word, and it's got the 16 inch alloys which I would like for my car!

I took a quick look inside and noticed that the interior was in slightly better shape than mine. Still the clear coat was peeling and whatever paint was left was oxidized badly. There were no rust spots that very easily visible. The asking price was appropriate, 2,100.00. A fair price. This surprised me a bit, as so many folks selling old cars tend to overvalue them. I continued my rounds through the lot.

That top is dirty but still intact.
I've never seen alloy wheels so dirty and oxidized.

As I was finishing my loop I noticed an older gent standing by the Jaguar, eyeing it quite closely. I watched him for a few minutes then I approached, maintaining my social distance, and keeping my mask firmly in place. I'm a Jaguar booster and apologist, so I initiated a conversation. "That's a '96, the last model of this series, by now all the bugs were worked out. It's also got the best engine, the 4.0 litre straight six, probably the best engine Jaguar ever made." 

In my opinion, the best engine Jaguar has ever made.

The gentleman said that he didn't know anything about Jaguars but the idea of a convertible was appealing as he was approaching retirement.  I told him that among Jag fans this configuration was held in high regard. The best engine, reliable, long lived and fairly easy to work on. The transmission was still a General Motors unit, but a newer design with overdrive.  These have been much better in the long run, than the Mercedes and BMW designs used in the newer models.

I hate to say it, but I think that the seats are better than mine.

The guy told me that he was looking for  a project. I said that there was a lot here to keep a guy busy. The placard stated that there had been brakes and some services done. I added that the suspension bushings usually were worn out and needed replacing. The parts weren't that expensive but there was a bit of labor to the job. He mentioned that he had worked on his own cars before though as he had mentioned , he wasn't familiar with Jaguars. I shared some of my Jaguar experiences with him. Still, I said if the motor and transmission are okay and the car passes smog, it might not be bad. He pointed out that the registration tags were current. That was a very good sign.

I told him that the cosmetics would be pricey to fix. The top, paint. interior and miscellaneous items. He wondered if the paint could buffed out and touched up. The body was straight, though the tail lamps and rear bumper cover were cracked. If you just fixed it up a bit it could be a fun car, and the price was right. Just don't caught up in trying to make it perfect. That would take you down the rabbit hole. 

I gave him a referral to the Jaguar forums and told him that he could find all the help he needed there. It was a great online community. We introduced ourselves and I told him if I came back and the car was gone, I'd keep an eye out on the road for him and the car. 

Would he take the plunge with the car? There were some attractive features on the car. Who knows. I kind of liked it myself, but I've got my own problems to deal with at home. Just like in "Sagas of the West," that XJS was like the neglected and undervalued Classics of the past, waiting to be rescued.

It may well be that I'm just biding time and holding onto my own car for the next owner That's alright with me. I don't have any real attachment or affection for the car. As long as someone will be willing to pay a fair price for it, I'll be happy to turn it over to the next caretaker.  Though I don't currently have it actively for sale, if someone saw it and made a good offer, the car would be on it's way.  

If it was only that easy.