Comments by "Harry \x22Nic\x22 Nicholas" (@HarryNicNicholas) on "High Peak Autos" channel.

i did 130 in an ordinary XJ once, a bit scary to be honest, they are built strictly for straight lines so the one i had (suspension much differ with age) was a bit wallowy. i took one for a track day at brands hatch too, embarrassing really, i kept being lapped by a rusty old rover, not really designed for cornering. still, best 20 minutes i think i ever spent clothed.
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i think jaguar designers are pretty clever really, i remember when the XJ-S appeared and everyone threw up and wondered how you could go from the e-type to design that looked like - well there's no way really to describe the design of the s-type. but here we are and now it doesn't get compared to the e-type anymore it's actually a lovely car, and unique instead of ugly. and they did it here and with the XF, they design a car everyone hates, for ten years - then it becomes another modern classic. my only beef is the roof line, it's sort of can't make it's mind up if it's a "shooting brake" or a coupe.
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i had one of these for a while, not in the best condition, but, it was like driving in a video game, i didn't realise you could do accidental burnouts in an automatic. ridiculously lovely car, electric everything, fast and silent, and mine cost £1500 - a 70k car. talking of gearboxes - you're right, there is no way to know what gear you're in cos the changes are silk, no exaggeration. i've had 3 (or 4?) xj's, an s-type, and an x-type and all of them have had electrical issues, especially during hot weather, doors opening or not , batteries going flat if you don't run every week, switch gear not working or alarms going off. the only real drawback is they are useless in the snow, last time i had an "ordinary" xj i had to leave it cos it couldn't handle the slightest incline.
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it's odd that this was the ugliest car money could buy when it came out, it was so obviously not an e-type and - at the time - not like anything else around. but now, in the 21st century, and especially since now we don't compare it to the e-type, it's actually quite a looker, and it has a feel of being a cross between something very british (aston? jensen?) and something very continental (maserati? alfa?) all-in-all it's become a desirable swan, not remained an ugly duckling.
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when it comes to manual i always say it's like sailing a trireme and pulling the oars yourself. that's the devil of a good price.
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when we were married my wife wanted an s-type which i really didn't like (the look of) until i realised it was the v8 and did 0-60 in 5 seconds. i've always had XJ's until we divorced then i down-sized to an x-type, equally good car and people still thought it was an xj, so that was cool.
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my first car was a 1973 BMW 2002, which i loved, but i spent more time behind the AA van than under my own power. a friend of mine had an "arthur daley" series III JX and forced me to drive it, and i was immediately sold on it and traded the beamer for one of my own. it eventually fell apart, more mushrooms growing on the backseat than mechanical failure and i bought an XJ 300 style, i forget why they went but it was replaced by another. that one i wrote off (a rear tyre blew up and it did a 360 spin, took out six other cars and landed on top of someone's front garen wall - i have a letter from the police stating it wasn't my fault) and i then bought an XJR 300 series, which was like driving in a video game, i didn't know you could do burnouts in an automatic. i sold that when i noticed the front springs were rusted almost to nothing, and then i got my first x-type. all of them were trouble free, except for electrical gremlins (for some reason jags hate summertime and the doors either won't open or won't close, which was another reason for getting rid of the XJR, my ex wife thought she was going to fall out of the car at every corner - she bought a s-series though) but my argument for jags is that they are generally looked after, as long as the tyres and battery are new (ish) and the service history has no blank spaces, you get a £70,000 car for £1500, covers the cost of petrol. and, electric everything, people seem to think they are special, and not only are they easy to drive but quiet and pokey. seven minutes in and it looks like a nice car, although i'd go for the estate version these days, i hear they drive better in snowy conditions which after abandoning my XJ's in the snow more than once, i think might be an important feature. and manual - no way, i'm lazy.
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i love jags. it sounded far worse from your description than it was, the damage isn't that bad. i thought the whole side would be hanging off with that kind of discount. i guess they only did this in the AM but it beats me why people don't do a good clean up, i buy and sell guitars and the number of bargains i've picked up cos folks let strings rust and goop and dust build up, and i resell at a profit amazes me, same with cars, all that grubbiness (looks) cosmetic and a good hoover and air freshener would add a lot of pound notes i think. i've had XJ's and my favourite was the XJR, and my wife had an S-type at one point, when we used to do the school run parents used to get in the car and say "how do you keep it so clean" - it's WORK to make it dirty. also i used to chauffeur a multi millionaire around in a rolls phantom, £450,000 - he would leave crisp packets and juice bottles on the floor in the back. people eh?
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i joke that a manual is like owning a trireme and pulling the oars yourself.
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i haven't had that many cars, but over the years i've bought and sold about 60 guitars, and it never ceases to amaze me how many people waste money by selling dusty, rusted, greasy finger-marked guitars when a polish and a set of strings would double the price, especially on auction, i've picked up some bargains this way.
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