Posh trade puts XJ V12 luxo-barges back in fashion

There was a time when the bigdrinking, big-rusting V12 XJ was a hard sell. But that seems to be changing. The posh London trade is now pushing prices of fine low-milers up to £20k and soaking up the ready supply of Japanese imports.

Exclusive Classic Cars in Burton upon Trent has a 1990 Daimler Double-six in Westminster Blue, 24,000 miles with history for £16,995 while Seymour Pope in Herts has a perfect ’91 import in Solent Grey with just 10,000 miles for £19,940. Look hard and you can still find tempting price abnormalities like the 47,000-mile Dorchester Grey ’88 with Mccarthy Cars in Croydon for £7995 or the ’92 23,000-miler with The Car Warehouse in Cleveland for £9999. Both very fair money for what’s fast becoming a very desirable Jag. The silky 12-pot, gorgeous cabin and handsome Pininfarina-tweaked lines (best in darker colours) make this the most refined XJ of all, good for 147mph and 60mph in 7.5 seconds. I’m not usually a fan of Jap imports but in this instance their salt-free roads means repatriated cars are less rust-prone than UK versions. Corrosion round the screens can be expensive, headliners always sag and head gaskets can fail. Double-sixes are slightly more desirable than Sovereign V12s but it’s all about condition. As a luxo-classic for the weekends that can also cope with brisk stints on motorways these slinky 5.3 saloons take some beating. Many years ago I could have bought Margaret Thatcher’s official Sovereign V12 from a BCA sale for just £4000. And there was I thinking it was too expensive.

VALUE 2012 £7500 VALUE NOW £10.5k