This Classic Jaguar Build Is My Crazy Idea Of The Day.

I love old cars, I love old Jaguars, however, I also love reliability.  This leads to my worst idea of the day.  I have worst ideas all the time, for the most part, each new one is worse than the last.  This one is so tempting though.

If I actually had money to spare, that is.  This wouldn’t necessarily be a cheap project!  I want to get an old Jaguar XJ, specifically a Series 3, from 1979 to 1992.  I am just drawn to this body and interior, but I am repelled by the reliability of this era of British cars.  This gave me the idea for a different type of project.

Now, what makes this build idea different from every other build idea I’ve had?

Make it reliable, to beat Jaguars reputation.

That’s the secret to this idea.  Modernize the car and transform it into a a reliable, fuel efficient, daily driver.  It doesn’t have to be fast (in fact, I prefer it not be).  The aim of this car is to have a daily that starts, runs and gets me reliably to work every single day.

How would I do it?  I am by no means an expert in restoring cars or anything even close to this so

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some things I am about to spew are probably not smart or maybe not even possible…please don’t rain on my parade, though!

First, I would want to do an engine swap.  But I want to drop a supercharged motor from a rear-ended NC Miata, Japanese reliability and pretty alright fuel consumption.  As an homage to the Jaguar, I would also throw a supercharger on there just to give it a little extra bump and to get the relatively heavy car moving at a decent enough pace.

With the motor from the Miata, I would also probably carry over the manual transmission as well just for ease.  This would require some modification to the center console of the Jaguar but that’s alright.

From there, I would just update most of the rest of the car so it doesn’t break constantly.  Brakes and lines would get modern updates and so would the AC and cooling.

But why?

Because I can.  That’s why! There is no other reason. I like the car and don’t track them often enough to justify a crazy build.  I want something classic that will still get me from A to B daily.  And, who cares what it is, as long as I like it, that is all that matters.

If anyone wants to donate to the cause, just let me know.  I’ll happily take your money.