A spot of detailing by Hugh

I dropped the Jaguar off for number 2 son Hugh, to do his excellent detailing work, which he did very well.

"You know what I have gone and done? I have put the genuine brake pads in!"

My eldest son Dave reminded me of this classic line from a great Australian film for car lovers, especially Jaguar owners,

The Big Steal with Steve Bisley as a hilarious car sales man, Gordon Farkas. Enjoy the clip click here.

I explored Carsales.com.au and also on Gumtree.com. This is where I found my new lovely old car at Mile End. I located a 1990 XJ40 Jaguar Sovereign being sold by Nick on behalf of his mature age mother, the proverbial little old lady, or so it seemed. (It was!!). Kalliope and her family were nice to deal with. Thanks for a good deal and nice car I took a look on a Saturday morning, heard it running and I was happy. I made an offer on the price, and they were happy. I gave myself some time to think about it and sent my son Hugh to take a look to see what he thought. His call came back, buy it. I spent the Sunday afternoon chasing comprehensive insurance quotes. Gave Shannon's a miss as their quote was about 7 times dearer than SGIC Classic Vehicle insurance for my agreed value. Their quote was predicated on my having it garaged, so I was praying that the extra length of the saloon over my Toyota Camry. This insurance rate is available for vehicles over 15 years of age used as weekend drives etc. Here is how it looked pre purchase:

My first Jaguar! But not this one!!

I had been looking at cars during my summer break and visited a local slightly down market car yard and saw an elderly 1979 XJ6 Series 3, took it for a test drive with a mature age salesperson, Ken. I enjoyed the test drive, but not the car. Ken was enthusiastic and he said he also owned a Jaguar. However it was $5,000 and to me a little tired, but I was hooked! So the search began...