I think Roland pointed out in a recent thread that F.A. Porsche (Butzi?) drove a Jag and a Range Rover. When Porsche was offered a chance to do the redesign on the 3-series XJ, he reputedly turned it down, saying there wasn't anything that could be done to make it look better. Pininfarina got the job instead, and proved him wrong as they produced the best looking (in this series-3 owner's opinion) XJ6 of the bunch.
Another argument in favor of the earlier Jags (go for 85 or later) is that they can be had for a song, now. There value is probably as low as it's ever going to be.
I believe that there is a 5 or 6 speed manual tranny that's aftermarket, and will cost you quite a bit more than the car you put it in.
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Jack Olsen
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[This message has been edited by JackOlsen (edited 06-28-2001).]