1996 Jaguar XJ6 3.2

We have a twenty year old 1.6 Ford Fiesta. It's practical, fairly economical and suits our needs. But, being a bit of a petrolhead, I often fancy something with a bit more poke. Which is why I occasionally wander off into the Leboncoin site (French website for buying and selling all sorts of stuff) and dribble over cars for sale at under €10k (about £9.5k). Current fave is a one owner 1996 Jaaag XJ6 3.2 with just 85000kms (about 50000miles) for €7900 (about £7250). The '94-'97 XJ6 3.2 models are widely regarded as being 'top notch' as they were produced just after Ford invested £millions into Jaguar which dramatically improved quality. However, très magnifique that it is, it's not exactly practical - too thirsty, too big, too difficult to park in little local streets, etc., but it'd be great on the open roads around these here parts! Ahem, other tasty morsels I spotted include a bright red Alfa 159 3.2 v6, a bright red Alfa 166 with a glorious 2.5 v6 Busso engine, and a 'hewn from granite' 1994 Mercedes E200 2.0 produced when the Stuttgart company was ruled by proper engineers, just before the penny-pinching economists took over and quality inevitably suffered. Ah well, think I'll stick with the Fiesta.

 

Nicked

Must have been around '84 when I was working in Covent Garden. I bought a brand new Yamaha RD350LC YPVS. Rode it to work, parked in a quiet alley, clicked the headlock on and went to work. Finished grafting, grabbed helmet and jacket, pottered back to the bike. Wasn't there. Nicked. This was in the days before bike nicking became rampant. Bit pissed off, to say the least. Luckily the insurance paid up, not full value but enough to think about buying another Yam. Returned to the Guildford Yamaha dealership (Portman?). Told 'em about having my lovely, brand spanking new Yam nicked and asked about buying another RD350. Interestingly, they said they were about to get a couple of the new RD500 models. Would I like to order one and pay a deposit? Would I?!! Collected the bike a couple of weeks later and rode it back to Southfields, keeping the revs low (running in). Parked it in the hallway with a chain lock. Didn't ride it to work, just at week-ends. Fab bike. Brilliant! Was sort of marketed as a road-going version of Kenny Roberts' V4 racer. Hero. I was there at Silverstone in '79 and saw that epic Roberts/Sheene race. Couldn't see who won 'cos I was in the stand at Stow, miles away from the finish line. Vids of the race are on YouTube. Well worth a look.