Jaguar XJ TDVI (X350) | Barn of the week

Go ahead then, what would you pay for this XJ Sov with (Shed thinks) one owner from new, a service history and a non-threatening MOT record? There will be many who will say ‘nowt’, that a diesel engine in a Jaguar is about as capable as a fox in a hen house, and that no barge is long enough not to touch it, but Shed will have none of that. Always a fan of anti-fashion, he happily paid a penny for an S-Type with the same twin-turbo diesel engine, and loved every minute of it.

Speaking of minutes, some will say that the likely lifespan of a cheap old Jag should be measured in minutes rather than the more usual years, but again, Shed will reassure you on that front, especially if he’s trying to sell you a diesel X350 like this. Yes, the crankshaft can explode, but surely the fun of driving the XJ more than compensates for that risk? Okay, the air suspension compressor may fail, but that just gives you more time to admire the beauty of nature while you wait for the recovery people. Yes, the electronics, including the navigation system, may not always function perfectly, but isn’t it time we relearn some of our old skills like map reading? And okay, the particulate filter could catch fire if you didn’t have the software recall performed, but surely that extra warmth would be a blessing now that winter is just around the corner?

The bodies of these XJs were made of aluminum. Many think that aluminum does not rust, but all PH-ers know that this is the case. It just does it in its own special way, aided by rivets made of steel that don’t get along well with aluminum. In the case of this specific car, there is no corrosion either visually or in the MOT history. As ever, the blurriness of Shed’s Amstrad screen doesn’t help him, but the paucity of scratches on any corner and the condition of the wheels (Shed’s never really been a wheel nut, but he’s as certain as a shady old guy can be that these come from an XJR) suggests that this owner actually knew the width of the car and the environments he was driving through.

The great thing about aluminum is of course that it is light. Even with a heavy old V6 diesel engine under the hood, this TDVi weighed only 1,650 kg. With 204bhp at 4,000rpm, but more importantly 300Nm at 1,900rpm, a diesel XJ cruises the highways and byways with relaxed yet deceptively fast ease. 0-60mph should happen in seven and a few seconds, top speed should be 140mph and combined fuel economy should be 35mpg, giving it a range of over 600 miles with a nearly 19-gallon tank. Britain’s annual vehicle tax of £430 is also refreshingly manageable at a time when cars that are no faster in the real world and probably less fuel efficient than this Jaguar have to pay almost double that.

The mileage of our XJ may seem high at 187,000, but over the past five years it has only been twenty thousand. As previously mentioned, we are told there is a service history. Not how much, just that it has something. Looking at the car, Shed would be surprised if it wasn’t full. The MOT expires at the end of January with a considerable list of recommendations at the last inspection, but none of it was worrying.

On a side note, have you seen the prices for first year (1968) Mk 1 XJs lately? No, neither does Shed, for they are now as rare as Mrs. Shed’s smile. That’s because most of them have been scrapped and scrapped for scrap long ago. A reasonable looking but almost certainly rotting steel 4.2 from the early 1970s will cost at least £15,000. One without rust, well, who knows how much that would be. You’d do well to find one outside a museum.

Interesting parking space in front of our shed, next to a skinny fence. Whenever Shed sees a car next to something about to fall over, it takes him back to a time many years ago when a friend borrowed his 3.0 Mk1 Capri for a few days. At least that was the plan. Unfortunately, it turned into a permanent loan of sorts when the tree his partner parked it under decided it fancied a rest from all the standing up that trees normally have to do. Shed often wonders how much Capri would have been worth today. Thirty thousand easy, he estimates. Sure, you would have had to spend $40,000 to get it to that value, but that’s not the point with old Fords, is it?