MakeDaimler
ModelSovereign 4.2 Litres série I SWB
Year1971
ColorBrown & Sand
InteriorTan leather
EngineJaguar 4.2-liter inline six cylinder engine
TimingTwin overhead camshafts
Fuel supplyTwo S.U. carburettors
Transmission3-speed automatic gearbox
Power245hp
Weight1400 kg
Price10,000€
Other information The Jaguar XJ6 serie I is still, in my experienced eyes, the most beautiful sedan of the 60s. Just as it was the most beautiful sedan of my childhood, just as the 230 SL or the Dino 246 GT were the most beautiful of their kind. In the course of my life, I've been lucky enough to own all these cars, and although the Pagoda has always disappointed me, I've had three of them! Go figure!
The Dino was great, very pleasant, but twenty-five years ago I thought it lacked power, compared to my Morgan +8. The Dino was already worth a lot of money, and I've only had one. I regret it, however, because it would be perfectly sufficient for me today...
The Jag XJ, both in six and twelve cylinders, has always baffled me and exceeded my expectations. I've had no less than four!
Yes, exceeded my expectations, because this car offers a chassis and road behaviour of the highest order, and I've always found it weird not find more enthusiasts who shared my point of view, apart from Olivier G. I must say. One day, during an "après-manger" at the Cercle Prud'hommien, an influential philosophical circle working tirelessly on a recurring theme: "our poor lives in the face of our beloved automobiles", and not an "après-boire" because the twisties around la Bédoule wouldn't tolerate it, I shared my nostalgia for this exceptional car with my dear Olivier.
He was kind enough to point me to this one: a Daimler Sovereign. Much rarer, so much kitschier, much cheaper, it was begging for a restoration after many years of loving ownership. Agonizing to see it, I headed to Savoie and the rest is history. A few years have passed and it's now my turn to restore it...
But I can't resist telling you about the first time the XJ6 really blew me away. The year was 1980 and I was at the wheel of my very first Jaguar, an automatic XJ6 4.2 serie II LWB in sand over tan leather, which was almost new. We were on the road from Carcasonne to Mazamet via the Col des Martys, a nice bit of ribbon that stretches over 45 kms, the second half of which is a succession of bends. My beloved grandmother was in the back seat, the centre armrest holding her in place, while my mother was comfortably seated in the marvelous small front seats. I knew every turn and tried to take them smoothly to see how far my passengers would hold up without balking, to the point where I felt the rear axle gently give way at least once and to my great surprise. As there was no roll, and we were all so very well seated as only a British car knows how to do, as the steering was so smooth, and as the ride was so quiet and cosseting, my passengers, who were not inclined to share my taste for speed, never realized anything. On arrival, my grandmother even had a kind word for the Jaguar, which she much preferred to my previous car (a Maserati Mistral), the smell and color of the leather reminding her, quite rightly, of the 404 Super Luxe my grandfather had owned... A testament to the car's refined and effortless luxury...
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