Well, I am a recent acquirer of a British Leyland era
Jaguar XJ6, and feel, for once, semi-qualified to make some comments!
It is a pretty low milage (90k miles) 1978 model. The 6 cylinder, not the 12. Almost all of the electrics work (which I am surprised about!). What doesn't? The rear demister (but neither does the one on my 911), the map light, and one of the gauge lights (which is about 4 gauge lights less than don't work on my 911).
So no electrical problems (excepting the small underbonnet fire on the weekend after I overzealously washed the engine - source of fire - a Lucas fuse - hahahaha its all true).
Not much rust - probably less than my 911 had. BTW the 911 is a 1975, and both cars came from England to NZ some time in the mid 1980s.
Yes, the Jag leaks oil, but not that serious. And it performs just fine for a 2 tonne car. Even the handling is ok. Fuel economy sucks though. BIG TIME. 12-13 mpg...
Basically my take on the situation is that build quality is fine now that a bunch of niggles have been sorted by the POs. The car is well maintained and should offer me a number of years of service. Given that a transmission or engine rebuild costs less than HALF what a 911 one does, that is something to smile about.
Put simply, I really like it. It is my daily driver, has given me pretty much no trouble and should be considered the same as any other 20+ year old car. Porsches are just particularly well engineered, but I don't think you can criticise the Jaguar too much.
Some of the other awful British Leyland products however...Austin Princess anyone? Or as another example of typical English cars - my friends Lotus Elan - is just too fragile for daily driving. Lucas electronics, rebuild every 60k miles engine...but it is barely a step past kit car too.
And a lot of fun too. And MUCH cheaper than a 911.
Aw, British cars aren't that bad. Compare a 1968 Series 1 Jaguar XJ6 against a 1968 Cadillac or Mercedes for performance, handling and style and I personally think the Jag would win hands down every time. It really would have been a revolutionary car when it came out.
-end of pro Jaguar rant-
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Cameron Baudinet
1975 911S
[This message has been edited by CamB (edited 06-06-2001).]