Subaru vs. Jaguar

[Vegablade]

there is a guy running around concrete with a black jag which he has changed to all chevy engine and running gear and WIRING i dont know how hard it would be but my great grandpa did the same thing to a caddilac because a head light cost $20 but a old chevy one was only a couple.

[Skip]

Just a quick note from a 15+ Blokemobile owner

incl. 57 TR 3 (small mouth, my first car, have owned for almost 40 years!!),

 

2 "Frogeye" Sprites you may know them as "Bugeye",

 

multiple "Spridgets",

XJ 6 series III,

Triumph Trident (3 cyl 750 mc, still own),

+ many others.

 

Charter member of the club responsible for the "British Car Day"

at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix

 

 

The Whitworth (I call Twit worthless) sized bolts ect. are use mainly in plumbing parts, (fuel system for example)

 

It is said of driving a British Sports Car,

" you will spend more time under the bonnet,

than behind the wheel", too true

 

pass me the spanner it's in the boot

 

 

good luck and don't buy a fridge made by the P of D

unless you like warm ale

[MorganM]

I'll make it realy easy just like in the New Gen forum debate over Legacy GT vs. Mustang...

 

Subaru = the win

 

Jaguaur = the loose

 

Make your choices accordingly

[Foveator]

My 1980 TR7 ragtop has been "resting" in my garage for the past 5 years. It's got 47,000 original miles and if I ever get the time to replace everything that has leaked and failed, I'll drive it again. The leaking eventually stopped <BG>. The "eyeballs" would wink endlessly until the microswitch caught. Nothing like flashing your lights to alert about an upcoming accident or cop. The oncoming driver would probably cause an accident by laughing so hard.

 

Brits DO drink their beer warm. Lucas strikes again!

 

(Never had ANY of the TR problems with ANY of my 4 Subies.)

[ogiesdad]

A few years ago I made a quick $20 when a neighbor wanted the oil in her XJ 6 changed and her boyfriend couldn't find the drain plug. About the same time I got a job doing somebody else's hobby for them, rebuilding a TR3. No English cars for me, thanks.

[zyewdall]

Don't know about Jags, but I do have a '61 landrover. Only thing I've ever seen that easier to work on than a subaru. The manual says that you might consider pulling the engine if doing a bottom end rebuild, although pretty much everything else can be accomplished in place. If the battery is dead, you can crank start it (I did last winter, and it kicked right over on a 25 degree day after a month of sitting).

 

But it is a complete PITA to get parts for, and the frame is rusting. At least the body is aluminum so that won't rust away....

[casm]

Jaguars are good cars. Get one that has been taken care of all its life, and it should give you minimal problems. When it does start acting up (and it will), FIX the problem. Don't try to bodge it or work around it, just fix it the first time and it should stay fixed. A lot of the supposed unreliability of these vehicles comes from mechanics trying to cut corners, or not bothering to follow the correct maintenance procedures.

 

The straight-six is a very robust engine when looked after properly, and you'll only ruin the car's balance by putting in a Yank V8. Transmissions... Well, I've never been a fan of the 3-speed auto, but they do last - again, if they're treated properly. Service them when they say they need it and they should last more or less indefinitely.

 

Electrics: there's some truth to the 'Lucas = Prince of Darkness' jokes, but, again, in a properly-maintained vehicle this shouldn't be an issue. I've owned British cars on both sides of the Atlantic before, and have had absolutely nowhere near the nightmares with electrics everyone claims they do. This is on Jaguars, Land-Rovers, Rovers, Morgans, and MGs. The one problem child: an Austin Maestro (one of the worst cars ever made, period) whose wipers, lights, and heater all packed up at the same time at 2am in pouring rain in the middle of nowhere, Wales. However, that was another car that had been seriously screwed-with over the course of its life.

 

Whatever you do, buy the best one you can find and take care of it. Cheap Jags are always trouble, and will be money pits. Not that better Jags won't be, but at least you'll be minimising the profile.

[xoomer]

What about the Citroen Masarati, or the Pewgot 604... (I know I spelled it wrong on purpose)

 

or a Jensen Intercepter, all cars that me and my dad were looking at getting over the weekend,

[Foveator]

Is Jensen Interceptor still in production? I haven't seen one in many years.

 

 

Jeff

[casm]

What about the Citroen Masarati, or the Pewgot 604... (I know I spelled it wrong on purpose)

 

The Citroen SM is an excellent car, but suffers from poor timing gear design. Expect to do the timing chains every 25000-30000 miles without fail, or have SM World debug yours. If you're not familiar with Citroen's hydropneumatic system, I would strongly recommend having someone else work on that aspect of it - and it's a little different between the SM and DS (likely the only other Citroen you'll see in the US with it, though some CXs and XMs did make it in).

 

The Peugeot 604, what can I say... I'm a French car fan and have owned several Peugeots (still have my 405 Mi16), and wouldn't touch a 604. They were great cars on paper, but the problem is that every stereotypical French build quality joke applies to them. They're heavy and the emissions-strangled PRV V6 engine has a hard time lugging them around, which is why they had the dubious distinction of getting the worst EPA fuel economy of any vehicle sold in the US when new. The turbodiesels weren't any better, and parts interchangeability with the 505 and 504 was virtually nil.

 

or a Jensen Intercepter, all cars that me and my dad were looking at getting over the weekend,

 

Also a good car; my dad had one (Series II) when I was a kid. From what I remember nothing ever really went wrong with it, but servicing it was a pain due to the engine being partially under the windscreen - you couldn't reach things like the two rear spark plugs. I know it had some minor issues, but don't really remember what they were. Just beware of Jensen's spotty build quality and, again, owners trying to do things their own way...