A Mostly British Obsession
This was possibly the nicest classic car I’ve owned, as far as appearance and condition go. The fixed-head coupe E-Type is perhaps the lovliest car ever made, and this was a very nice example by the time I was done with it. What else to do, then, than sell it?
Well, a nice guy named Bryan took the XJR off my hands tonight for $7200. I think he got a good deal, and while I’m sad to see the car go, I’m now going to be able to bring Reggie, the ’63 MGB roadster up here.
Well, it looks like both the GT and XJR have sold. I’ve only lost about a billion dollars between the two of them, but fortunately they both seem to be going to good homes.
The easiest way to fix up a house or a car is to sell it. All those little jobs you put off for months and months suddenly get fixed, and you wonder why you didn’t do it ages ago. Am I the only one who does this?
Case in point: The driver’s seat of the XJR has one motor that makes noise but doesn’t do anything. It is supposed to raise and lower the front of the seat base…and now it does. It took all of five minutes to fix, too. I’ve been living with it inoperative since I bought the car…
It’s funny how cars once ubiquitous disappear almost overnight. My second car, a 1977 Toyota Corolla liftback, used to be seen in their many thousands, but I haven’t seen a mid-seventies Toyota of any stripe recently–and it’s been years since I’ve seen a liftback.
I sold the MGB-GT today (or so it seems, transaction won’t close for a few). I don’t what it is, I had no action on the car for what seemed like forever, and then today I get five people who want to look at it. Weird. In any case, someone who knew what they were looking for and looking at bought it within fifteen minutes of seeing it…I lost my shirt but that’s the way these things usually go. I don’t think I’ve made money on a car in fifteen years!
I bought this car in 1989, when I was 22. It was a rattly, smokey, tired old car–I loved it anyway. I went through 17 cases of oil in the year I owned it; about half went out the tailpipe and half went onto the ground. Environmentally sound it was not.
I have the GT back on craigslist. No replies this time, I have probably worn out my welcome (ie, the people who were likely to respond have already seen it). If I can’t move it before the end of July, I’ll take it over to the All British Field Meet and put it in the “cars for sale” section.
I took the XJR across on the ferry today to show a potential purchaser. All went well, but the minute he went on his way, the idler pulley for the supercharger seized and immediately went to pieces. How’s that for timing?
This was my first “vintage” truck, and it wasn’t a bad one. I bought it from a Navy guy just down the street from our rental in Whidbey’s armpit, Oak Harbor.
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