Jaguar 420G

I have now owned my 420G for about a year and a half, when I got it I thought it was a good deal less smooth than the 20 year old Daimler I was used to because it was a much older car and that this was to be expected. Apart from a bit of vibration it drove fine for about 10,000 miles until, due to personal circumstances I became a pedestrian again and it began to stand which went on for about 10 months. Then when I arranged for a service I found that there was quite a bit wrong, whether because of standing idle or whether that just made it a bit worse I don't know but one of the valves (No.6 Exhaust I think) was sticking open. That was corrected with a shim and a "new" split diff was put on the back axle. Replacing the diff had been highly recommended by 2 experienced Jaguar specialists and has made a significant difference mainly making that car much faster at lower revs. The garage that did that work charged me for 2 hours labour "setting up" the triple SU carburettors while the invoice also included a note saying that the carbs needed a re-build and that the prop shaft needed replacing. The carbs very quickly went all to hell so that the car was labouring like a pig in lower revs and stalling at junctions unless I kept one foot on the accelerator while the other was on the brake. The car then went to a different garage where they set up the carbs (ahem, properly), they also dismissed the notion of a re-build saying that it was out of the question as the carbs were far too good to need that, they'd just needed setting up properly. Also they said it was not necessary to throw away and replace the prop shaft as simply putting a mounting on it to stabilise it would eliminate the vibration on start up and pulling away, adding that it was the kind of thing they did all the time, especially with the older saloons which tend to need it. Much quicker and less costly than replacing the prop shaft too.

Not driving the car for 10 months had been very hard and then getting it back with some work done but the carbs making the performance poor to the point of being embarrassing and making it a chore to drive was a real trial, getting it back with the carbs sorted so it would come to a halt at a junction and just purr was wonderful. There is still that bit of vibration and the mounting on the prop is the next job I shall look to the same garage to do, hopefully within the next month or two but meanwhile the car is still going fine and now a real pleasure to drive.

I'd just like to add that I do drive the car virtually every day, my, ahem, other Jaguar is currently off the road so this 420G is my daily commute etc car which I firmly believe is just as it should be. It's only my opinion of course and different people naturally hold different views but in my own view keeping a beautiful classic auto locked up in a garage only exercising it one Sunday afternoon a month is wrong and it's cruel to the car. The car doesn't want to spend its time in a garage it wants to be driven on the road at least every other day. I have never ever seen a 420G on the road apart from my own and I would urge all classic car owners, who do, to stop treating their car like a museum, get rid of the dull sensible every day car and just drive the classic whether it's a Jag or a Daimler or whatever, just drive it. It's what it was built for.

Thanks for reading. I will try to add a photo before too long.