I’m sure most of you think of a Jaguar XJ6 as a four-door sedan. Certainly, the vast majority of the cars that left Browns Lane were produced that way–only 6,505 XJ6 coupes (Series II only) were produced out of 10,426 coupes (XJ6, XJ12 and Daimler models) and 318,000 Series I, II & III XJ models! The Series II two-door is said to be the last Jaguar Sir William Lyons designed, and it’s a truly classic shape. This coupe is being sold in Elyria, Ohio, and is listed here on eBay, where bidding as I write is only up to $3,650 and there’s no reserve!
I think the rear 3/4 view is even prettier than the front. The curves are just right and are only spoiled by the horrendous US-required 5-mph bumpers. Oh well. The car looks remarkably stock at first glance and unusually retains its original chrome-plated steel wheels and center caps. All XJ6 coupes were equipped with vinyl roofs from the factory; I’ve heard a theory that it’s to hide the roof seams but I couldn’t confirm that.
I will give the seller credit for the many clear pictures in the ad. Unfortunately, they show what I would call a lot of rust. LOTS of rust. You can see the front valence here, and if you look closely and scan the other pictures, you’ll see there’s a lot of rust in the floors as well.
Yeah, there’s rust back here too. Holes. But bear with me for a few more paragraphs–there’s a plan that would work pretty darned well. All cats cars have a role!
Okay, one more rust shot. There’s no telling how much filler is in there as well. But I still say this car has a future home! We’re told the car was acquired from an estate sale, and runs and drives (!)
Sure, it’s a Jaguar, which means there are going to be electrical glitches (three windows don’t work) and leaks (no kidding, that’s why there isn’t even more rust on the underside). But for what might be a hammer price of less than $4,000, you could be driving a powerful, exclusive coupe where people think you’ve spent a lot more money than you have! I’m not normally a proponent of using body filler to sculpt, but think about it on an annual basis; because the car is painted white, the easiest color to hide less-than-pristine bodywork with, you could spend a couple of weekends with abrasives, rust converter and a couple of gallons of filler, cover it with an inexpensive “Earl Schieb-type” paint job (or even rattle-can) and for less than $5,000 you could get a couple of years of classy driving! I can’t in good conscience call this a car to restore–this is one to refurbish and drive instead of the $5,000, 250k-mile econobox that makes sense.
Have you ever worked with old British leather? It’s amazingly simple (but labor-intensive) to tremendously improve what this currently looks like. There’s not much in the way of tears, just a lot of discoloration and creasing. Work in a good leather cleaner/reconditioner multiple times, then re-dye the seats and vinyl pieces. You’ll still have the dash crack, but perhaps that’s a good location for a smartphone clamp? Gotta have your tunes and GPS, right?
The venerable XJ DOHC six appears here in 4.2 liter, 172 horsepower form. The 231 lb-ft of torque coupled with the sub-4000 pound weight of the XJ6C will move you along nicely; just don’t pay too much attention to the fuel consumption. I’m one of the rare fans of the easy and cheap to rebuild twin 175CD Stromberg carburetors and I’m impressed that the air pump is not only in place but has a belt still attached. Perhaps the claimed 75,000 miles is legitimate. I’m not saying this XJ6C will ever be a mint-condition classic, but it could offer classic transportation with character–what do you think? Are you allergic to rusty kitties?
@Jamie Palmer, I don’t think your “lots of rust” is a Jag’s “lots of rust”. ;)
I totally agree it can be worse! As a 4-time recovering Jaguar owner…I’ve owned and driven much worse!
Auction ended early because there was an “error” in the listing. Wonder what that means?? If you can buy for $5k I think it would be a fun car to tinker with.
It’s been re-listed with a Buy-It-Now of $14,950, suggesting that the seller had second thoughts shortly after receiving his weekly Crack delivery.
The new price is nuts. Period.
The coupes are rare and better looking than the sedans ( to me). If it had a manual trans, It would be a fun driver! (not worrying about value to some rust that needs repair). It all looks like surface rust and some body filler repairs on a white body are easy. ( without spending much $). This car will never pull in big value, so clean it up and drive it!!! It willl still get many looks!!!
Relisted on Ebay for $14950.00. Guess the price was the ‘error’ on the listing.
Well Jamie, put the bondo and rustoleum away I guess.
No kidding!
I am a long term XJ12C owner – but it’s been in storage awaiting my attention. This looks like a nice XJ6C. The interior will cost you about the balance of the car value. The rust is concerning, as parts for a jag that old are not real easy to come by – but they can be found.
All the XJ 2 doors left the factory with vinyl roofs because they were unable to produce a metal roof that was smooth enough for painting.
And, a $14K asking price? I think that’s a typo. Worth $1.4K.
Took a tour of the Jag factory back in the day. They didn’t have a single stamping for the passenger door. They cut two 4-door front doors in half and welded them together.
When I bought mine, the vinyl top had been removed and the top color (silver) matched the remainder of the car. Whoever did the work did a good job. I recall that many of the coupes had rust issues beneath the vinyl top and one reason they were so late in finally being produced was that it was difficult to get the side windows mounted in such a way that they didn’t leak. I sure wish I’d kept mine.
Born in Columbus OH, I learned early on why it’s the center of the so-called “rust belt.” Our new ’63 VW bus began rotting from day one.
Sad…so sad.
I’ve always loved these two doors. The lack of the b-pillar really improves the lines. But it also makes rust in the floors and sills even more of an issue. Given that there are already holes in the floor showing, you’d have to pull the carpets out of it before you could be sure what you are looking at.
I currently own my third XJ and know them fairly well. I posted this to different old Jag and coupe forums; the consensus is it’s a LOT of rust for that price. There will be more in places unseen. This is a total rebuild, but salvageable, and could easily run $30 thousand or more. You can buy a very very good example for the same price. The seller should take whatever best offer they can get.
There have been a couple of very nice coupes for sale recently with asking prices of $35,000+. Whether they actually sold, I don’t know. Upholstery kits are available for these and isn’t all that expensive of project if you have the talent, tools, and patience to install them yourself. Like a dummy, I sold the one I had years ago, but I can honestly say it never stranded me in the years I owned it. In my eyes, it’s not as nice looking as the XKE, but it’s pretty darn close.
A nice XJ coupe is a truly beautiful car. However this one is a roach, the rust you can see is just the tip of the iceberg – once it starts to get rusty they become terminal very quickly. The rusty front crossmember tells all you need to know, they rarely rust due to the weeping oil cooler.
At $5k the seller was on crack, at $15k it’s a methmobile of the finest order.
Thank you,tinbox. I was starting to wonder about my fellow bf,ers,saying a couple gallons of Bondo and paint,it,d be a nice ride. I,ve had frames break in half while I drove them.No fun at all . I think new price brought them back to their senses.
Yes, the salty slush finding its way into every crevice of the body always resulted in “Game Over.”
Maybe that’s why they switched to aluminum?
In regards to older leather seats that are not ripped, just faded; try this and you will be surprised at the outcome. About 25 years ago, a good friend and British car nut had a Jag that had faded seats. He bought a quart of a ‘leather restorer’ (color coded) for about $65. He used it on the seats and they came out very nice (and it lasted). He and I were both home remodelers so we are familiar with repair products and paint. He approached me after the seat re-coat and said; “ Joe, it looks like latex paint, smells like latex paint and applies like latex paint!”
I said to him; “Maybe It is latex paint!”
So I got the idea. I went to a big box store and got a quart of the best rubberized semi-gloss latex paint, color matched to the seats I wanted to experiment on. I had an older e30 BMW that had leather seats that were faded. I had nothing to lose. The cost was about $6 at the time. I cleaned and applied the paint on the seats with a foam roller. They looked great! Now the test on wearability. I drove the car for six months and the re-coat held up! There was no chipping or flaking, just some wear of the finish that could (and was) easily touched up. You would think the finish would crack but it didn’t. I have done it few more times on other leather seats (and vinyls too) with same outcome. Obviously if you have a car of real value, I would go the new seat route, but if you just want to clean up a driver, this is a way to go. Please don’t take my word for it. Try it yourself and you be the judge. Have fun doing it! Remember to buy the best paint quality available. it has the most rubber (latex) in it!!