The Joy of (XJ) Six

This may be true, since we (or rather Una) own two XJ6s, a white 1994 (the previous owner was past VJC Vice President Chuck Barber) plus a maroon 1995 VDP (also from club members Dick and Samantha Geoghegan). The '94 is the last and best of the XJ40 body, and the '95 has the reputation along with the '97 of being the best of the last six cylinder cars. They are both great and reliable driving Jaguars, and prove my contention that a Jaguar is still a luxury performance car at an very affordable price, just as in Bill Lyons' day. You just have to wait until they are ten years old and buy wisely, preferably from a club member.

However the joy is not completely unalloyed. One weakness they share is the cup holder, not one of Jaguar most robust or successful designs. The holder hinges on two tiny molded pins, which pivot in tiny holes. Excessive force such as actually using the thing, or resting your arm on the extended holder will break out one of the holes. The cup holder will then refuse to close securely, it can be forced closed but will pop open due to vibration.. Fortunately replacements are available online for about $80 from www.jagbits.com. Half an hour with a Phillips head screwdriver will install the new one.

One of the first actions Ford took when they rescued Jaguar in the eighties was to replace the old hard composition gaskets with more modern flexible ones. However the flexible ones tend to regress with time. The '95 was starting to smell of burnt oil and the area round the oil filler cap was always oily despite frequent cleaning. The chaps at Darbyshire's diagnosed a bad valve cover gasket, they removed one of the sparking plugs and it was swimming in oil, showing that the "donuts" which seal the bottom of the plug access holes were also leaking. They removed the valve cover and showed me the old gasket, it was brittle and hard as wood, as were the six of these donuts seals. The new gasket and donut set was rubbery and compressible, and the oil leak was fixed in less than an hour.

Both these jobs could easily be done by the average owner, and would help restore your "Joy of Six."