Junkyard Find: 1992 Jaguar XJ6 Vanden Plas Majestic

February 7th, 2019 10:55 AM

Jaguar XJ40s are so plentiful in U-Wrench-It yards that I don’t even notice them as I wander around searching for the elusive Suzuki Equator (no luck there, yet). In fact, none of the Jags I’ve photographed prior to today’s Junkyard Find have been XJ40s, but we’ve got a one-of-121-built super-rarity here in Denver: a genuine Vanden Plas Majestic!

I must admit that I’d never heard of the Majestic before spotting this car, and my first thought that that I was looking at aftermarket badges sold by Manny, Moe, and/or Jack.

However, the MAJESTIC badging is everywhere in this car, so I realized I had a factory-built special edition car in front of me. The stretched wheelbase was a clue, too.

Determining the cause of junkyardization proved easy enough. It’s a shame for a car like this to end its career in some depressingly everyday crash with, I dunno, a Chrysler Cirrus.

The El Cheapo window-film job indicates that the final owner may not have been quite as wealthy as the car’s original purchaser.

The list price of the ’92 Majestic came to $59,500, or just over $108,000 in 2019 dollars. The 1992 Lexus LS400 went for $42,200, but didn’t have quite as swanky an interior.

The 4.0-liter straight-six made 223 horsepower, which resulted in leisurely acceleration for this two-tonner. Not that anyone bought this car for fast driving, of course.

This must have been one of the last American-market car ads to emphasize the ashtray.

If you like these junkyard posts, you can reach all 1600+ right here at the Junkyard Home of the Murilee Martin Lifestyle Brand!

#1990s #1992 #1992JaguarXJ6 #BritishCar #BritishCars #Colorado #Denver #Depreciation #DownOnTheJunkyard #Jaguar #VandenPlas #Junkyard #JunkyardFind #LuxuryCar #LuxurySedans #LuxurySedan #JaguarXJ6

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5 of 46 comments

EGSE on Feb 04, 2019

A close-up of the pod to the right of the steering wheel would've been interesting to see what all those buttons are for. Murilee's junkyard series is one of my favorite reads on TTAC.

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- Jagboi on Feb 04, 2019
  
  Trip computer and cruise control. The switch on the vertical panel is for cruise on/off and resume. The buttons on the sloping panel are trip computer functions.
  
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- Lie2me on Feb 04, 2019
  
  @Jagboi Bet none of them worked
  
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- Jagboi on Feb 04, 2019
  
  @Lie2me Cruise was made by Hella, it seemed pretty durable.
  
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Superdessucke on Feb 05, 2019

That half shaft holding up the hood of the Majestic is so undignified!

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Tane94 are both eligible for federal tax credits? That's the big $7,500 question.
Jkross22 Toenail says what?
MaintenanceCosts This sounds like old-school GM drama!
SCE to AUX It's not really a total re-badge since some of the body parts are unique, and the interiors are quite different.As I mentioned the other day, the Tonale has a terrible name and a dim future.As for the Alfa team - guess what, this is how corporate ownership works. You are part of Stellantis partly because you're not viable as a standalone business, and then your overlords decide what's shared among the products.By the way: That Uconnect infotainment system found in Alfas was originally a Chrysler product... you're welcome.
Kurkosdr Someone should tell the Alfa Romeo people that they are a badge owned by a French company now.The main reason PSA bought FiatChrysler is that PSA has the technology to enter the luxury market but customers don't want a French luxury car for psychological/mindshare reasons. FiatChrysler has the opposite problem: they have lots of still-respected brands but not always the technology to make good cars. Not to say that if FCA has a good platform, it won't be used in a PSA car.In other words, if those Alfa Romeo buds think that they will remain a silo with their own bespoke platforms and exclusive sheet metal, they are in for a shock. This is just the start.