1976 Jaguar XJ6 4.2 Coupe

Details

Oldtimer Australia is delighted to offer for sale a gorgeous Australian delivered, factory right hand drive, low mileage 1976 Jaguar XJ-C 4.2 Coupe.

This XJ-C would have to be one of the best, if not the best extensively original example in Australia. This three owner car has a documented 55,000 km on the odometer from new.

This car has full books, including the Leyland Australia Warranty Identification Certificate and the Leyland Passport to Service, both of which confirm this car is a ‘matching numbers’ example.

The story of this car starts in January 1977 when Jaguar dealer Cowan Motors Pty Ltd in Whyalla, South Australia sold the car to Mr Dean Ryan from Whyalla.  The car was first registered in South Australia as SCB 577.

Ryan kept the car for 17 years, only clocking up a miserly 32,000 km in that time. It is understood the car was repainted in his ownership in 1993/1994. In December 1994 the car was sold to Mr Glen Turner from Glenalta, a suburb located in the south eastern foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges of Adelaide, South Australia. He also used the car sparingly, taking it to Jaguar Drivers Club of SA outings, occasional classic car shows and concours events. He cherished the car and always kept it garaged under a soft fabric cover.

The car’s current Brisbane based owner acquired this Jaguar XJ-C in May 2016 and at that time the odometer read 45,000 km. When he acquired the car it was still in very good condition, however, it was starting to show its age. He engaged the services of well known and highly respected Jaguar specialists Classic and Prestige in Brisbane to undertake a major mechanical refresh of the car.

In 2016 and 2017 the Jaguar XJ-C was extensively refurbished. Work included reconditioning of the engine, gearbox and other elements of the drive train, reconditioning of the brakes, the suspension and the power steering system, the cooling system, the fuel system and the air conditioning. A new set of tyres were fitted and new inner headlining was fitted by Lee Brothers in Brisbane.

Today this Jaguar XJ-C 4.2 Coupe presents exceptionally well. When you walk up to the car first impressions are really good. The paint presents beautifully with a strong depth of colour and a deep gloss finish. Even up close you must look really hard to find any imperfections. The black pin stripe, fishing with a leaping cat (see the photos) is a nice touch. The black vinyl roof, which is just ‘so English and so period’, provides a perfect colour contrast and it is in equally good condition.

The presentation of all the external trim is consistent with the rest of the car. The chrome work on the car is in excellent condition and the same can be said for the lights, lenses as well as the glass.

The steel wheels were reconditioned by the previous owner and are still in excellent condition. The hub caps, which are a real feature on this car are unmarked.  The wheels are shod with Dunlop SP Sport LM 704 tyres which are date stamped 1716 (week 17, 2016). The car has only travelled about 10,000 km since these were fitted and they are still in excellent condition.

Inside the cabin, the interior presents exactly the way you would expect from a car that has travelled only 55,000 km and clearly been well cared for. Its condition presents more like seven year old car rather than a 47 year old car! The leather on the seats has aged gracefully and it is still in very good condition. The leather is soft and supple and it shows the slightest amount patina. There are no rips, tears or cracks. The rear seats appear to have hardly been used, if at all. The carpets also present well, with the exception of the driver’s footwell which is starting to show its age. The car will be supplied with a new set of carpets, which was the final job the current owner had on his ‘to do’ list.

The dashboard, the steering wheel and the centre console are all in equally good condition. The woodwork on the dash presents very well. The top of the dashboard often gets affected by the sun which causes the leather to crack and discolour. On this car it is in excellent condition. All the instruments appear to be in good working order and present well. Importantly, the air conditioning works well and blows cold air. The current owner has installed a modern Blaupunkt Toronto radio, however the original Clarion radio is still with the car.

The boot appears to have never been used. There is a spare wheel which is also shod with a Dunlop SP Sport tyre, a jack and a tool kit.

Open the bonnet and you are presented with a very good looking engine bay. Not surprisingly,  with all the recent mechanical work done, the engine itself presents like new. The actual engine bay is totally original and this is probably the only area on the car where its presentation is more consistent with the age of the car. That said, everything is neat, clean and tidy and importantly the car retains all of its original ID plates and tags.

We were genuinely excited to get behind the wheel of this car to see whether it drives as well it is presents. In summary, it probably drives even better!

To make a cold start easier, when all the engine work was done, the car was fitted with a manual choke which is discreetly positioned on the lower right side of the dashboard. With the choke on the car starts easily from cold and fairly quickly settles into a smooth idle. Out on the road this Jaguar is a real pleasure to drive. The engine purrs and is incredibly quiet. That said, when required it has more than enough power on tap and it pulls strongly through the rev range. The gear changes are smooth and the car just goes about its business in the most refined and sophisticated way. With all the work that has been done to the drive train, suspension, steering that is no surprise. The car is solid on the road, the steering is precise and there are no rattles or squeaks.

This car is just so comfortable and easy to drive, we would have no hesitation to drive it from Brisbane to Sydney tomorrow. Importantly, on arrival we have no doubt we would arrive with a big smile on our face and feel ‘as fresh as a daisy’.

In the world of classic cars people are always looking for that next ‘hidden secret’. There is no doubt that people have woken up the Jaguar XJ-C, but we see these cars still offering great value for money.

Jaguar only built 2,606 Jaguar XJ-C 4.2 Coupes in right hand drive car and very few of these were delivered new in Australia. Many of these cars have suffered over the journey of time and finding a car like this is rare and certainly something special.

Accompanying this car are the full set of books, including the original Leyland Australia Warranty Identification Certificate and the Leyland Passport to Service, a parts manual, a repair and operations manual, an original sales brochure, a documented history from new, a spare wheel, toolkit and a jack.

Highlights:

• Australian delivered, factory right hand drive example.
• Three owners from new.
• Documented 55,000 km from new.
• Excellent paint and recent major mechanical work c10,000 km ago.
• Full books with an impeccable service history.
• Very good history file.
• Ready to use and enjoy.

 

 

Background

The Swallow Sidecar Company was founded in 1922 by William Lyons and William Walmsley. In 1934 Lyons formed SS Cars Limited to effectively take over the operation from Walmsley. The SS brand was quite successful, though they had a reputation for having ‘more show than go’. The Jaguar name first appeared as a model name on an SS 2½ Litre Sports Saloon introduced in 1936. For political reasons, Lyons changed the name of his company to Jaguar Cars in 1945.

Whilst the SS100 is indeed a fabulous car, it was the launch of the legendary Jaguar XK120 at the London Motor Show in 1948 that really put Jaguar on the map. The car caused a sensation, which persuaded Jaguar founder and design boss William Lyons to put it into production. The XK120 morphed into the XK140 and ultimately the XK150 and in total, just over 30,000 cars were built over 15 years of production.

In 1961 at the Geneva Motor Show Jaguar introduced the E-Type, which like the XK120 all those years ago, took the motoring world by storm. The body styling was simply gorgeous and technologically the E-Type was an engineering masterpiece and it set new standards in all areas.

Whilst automotive styling is somewhat subjective the E-Type is often ranked atop lists of ‘the most beautiful cars’ and in fact it has been described by Enzo Ferrari as ‘the most beautiful car ever made’. And it’s not just about the looks as the E-Type is often at the top of other lists such as ‘The best sports car ever built’ or ‘The most significant cars’. It is truly a motoring icon. As a testament to the success of the E-Type, production evolved through three series from 1961 until 1974 during which time circa 70,000 cars were built.

Whilst the Jaguar name is synonymous for sporting cars it is also recognised for building some of the world’s best luxury saloons. Jaguar was and still is uniquely positioned in the market in this regard.

Jaguar introduced the XJ series of cars in 1968. Incredibly, the original XJ saloons (XJ6 and XJ12) were built over 3 series spanning 24 years of production and c318,000 cars were built.

At the London Motor Show in October 1973 Jaguar showed a two door, pillarless version of the XJ saloon. It was well received, but it took a further two years for the car to enter production. The car was expensive to build and in the later years it was sold against the XJ-S, which ultimately resulted in a relatively small production run. In total 8,378 XJ-C’s were built through until 1978, comprising 6,505 XJ-C 4.2 Coupes and 1,873 XJ-C 5.3 V12 Coupes. Jaguar also built 2,097 Daimler based XJ coupes, comprising 1,698 Sovereign Coupes and 399 Double Six Coupes.

As a result of these limited build numbers and the fact that these elegant cars offer a huge amount of car for the money, they have now become highly sort after by Jaguar enthusiasts and classic car collectors.

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