Junkyard Find: 1987 Jaguar XJ6

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin
junkyard find 1987 jaguar xj6

Jaguar built the Series III Jaguar XJ for the 1979 through 1992 model years, and so I’ve been seeing these cars in the big self-service vehicle graveyards since, well, the middle 1980s. They still show up in such yards to this day, as long-neglected project cars get swept up in yard- and driveway-clearance projects, but I’ll only document those that are particularly interesting.

A very clean British Racing Green XJ6 from the last model year for the Series III’s straight-six engine certainly qualifies, so here we go!

As we can see from the tags on the sliced-off California license plate (I found this car in a San Francisco Bay Area yard), Barry’s ’87 Jag was a driver not so long ago. My first guess for the junkyardization of Barry’s Jag is that something expensive failed in the electrical system and Barry decided to cut his losses. My second guess: Barry couldn’t get the car to pass California’s draconian emissions testing (probably due to the aforementioned electrical system causing some sensor or solenoid to behave erratically) and he decided to cut his losses. Third guess is just an accumulation of unpaid parking tickets and the visit from a tow truck not summoned by Barry.

You could still buy a Series III XJ after the 1987 model year, but only with a V12 engine. Jaguar put plenty of sixes in the subsequent XJs, of course.

This interior is damn near perfect, aside from a bit of lacquer cracking on the wood paneling. I hope some Bay Area XJ owner grabbed the seats and door panels out of this car prior to its date with the cold steel jaws of The Crusher.

Not many miles on it. Barry really babied his ’87.

Great deals on used Jags!

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  • Peeryog Peeryog on Jan 27, 2020

    This is a piker's car. If you really wanted understated class, you bought a Rover P5B

  • ToolGuy ToolGuy on Jan 28, 2020

    Grab this now and set it aside for an EV conversion several years from now.

  • Vatchy "Will easily dust a 16yo Accord"No, it won't. Did you miss the part about it not running?
  • Cprescott Odd pairing since Cadihack builds breadboxes on wheels and no one cares about their cramped and overpriced cars.
  • MrIcky I'm not bashing iphone, I'm pretty cell phone agnostic but the iphone 15 has had a really rocky start, particularly the titanium back plate model (the aluminum is much better apparently). The titanium back plate model has a number of reports about getting extraordinarily hot with wireless charging and has caused issues beyond just in a BMW. It's also been fracturing under fairly low bending pressure. Apparently the aluminum case model is sturdy enough just like the i14, but the high zoot titanium model has a super thin titanium plate for the rear and sides and it isn't close to as rigid because it's so thin. They think the thinness and titaniums properties are part of the heat issues. Maybe hired some Ford materials engineers? Haaay-yooooo
  • RealTalk Keep up the good fight. I’d wager that none of the corporate bootlicker commenters here have ever worked in automotive manufacturing. As such, their understanding of the conflict is tainted and their opinions are wildly out of touch.
  • EBFlex Absolutely useless truck. Ford trying to make this pile of garbage seem more appealing because they can't sell them.Funny that they announce this a day or two after they cancel dealer stock orders due to quality issues. This company is a ship without a rudder
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