1994 Jaguar XJR 6

First registered in early December 1994, this XJR6 is a rare factory manual car (believed to be one of only around 100 manual RHD XJR6s) and whilst six of its former owners have driven the car up to around 179,000 miles, the last two (from 2013 and then 2017) have barely added any.

The latest owner - in the motor trade - bought the XJR6 in his own name back in June 2017 intending to restore it himself, but time and other work meant that it has remained largely untouched.

The vendor reports that the engine starts and runs and the car has moved around the yard under its own steam with no problem, other than the clutch needing a bit of pumping and a blow from the exhaust. Most of the electrics are reportedly working - although it’s not had a comprehensive test - certainly the sunroof and windows operate as expected.

The exterior of this XJR6 is painted in a colour that Jaguar called, simply, Black. There are clearly colours that demand more poetic, evocative naming but for black, it is what it is. The bodywork and paint finish though have certainly seen better days.

Take a look at the detailed photos to make your own assessment but there are a multitude of issues that would doubtless demand a strip back, repair and repaint. For example there is only paint-flake around the door handles, no evidence of rust or bubbling. The nearside A-pillar, roof panel, rear deck by the fuel filler, boot lid panel (plus extensive lacquer damage), are sowing some signs of bubbling. The only sill area that appears to actually have any holes is in front of the offside rear wheel, shown in the second close-up photo of these areas

Some of the window trims and guttering is damaged and/or detached, the nearside mirror casing is broken and the offside mirror cap has peeling lacquer. Most of the indicator lenses are discoloured and the rear light clusters are either cracked or have flaking paint on the surrounding trim.

Unusually for an XJR6, the grille and surround and the boot trim all have a chrome finish, rather than body-coloured. Maybe with everything black it would have looked too “gangsta”, or maybe they were later additions, like the Jaguar leaper on the bonnet that was only a factory-fit for markets outside Europe. That said, the cat isn’t so much leaping now as on its knees praying for salvation, having become unsprung.

In terms of good news, the original 17-inch 5-spoke sport alloy wheels look in reasonably good order with just a touch of roughness here and there and they even have matching Pirelli PZero tyres fitted dating from 2007.

We usually interpret quality matching rubber as a sign of diligent ownership, and prior to around 2013 that may well have been the case, but over the last 8-9 years the car has done very few miles and the sidewalls have started to crack and perish from lack of use.

Whilst the exterior is desperately in need of some attention, the interior has fared somewhat better. Yes the leather gear knob is a bit scruffy (think of how many gear changes get you to 179k miles) and the front seat side bolsters are a little creased and worn as you’d expect, but the rest of the interior has held up remarkably well.

The interior trim is mostly Warm Charcoal leather (dark grey), with perforated leather seat facings and a wood veneer trim to the dash, control panels and doors. On the door veneers, the varnish has started to crack and on the driver’s door the whole trim has come detached at the bottom corner.

The steering wheel is part wood, part leather and appears in good order. The webbing on the seatbelts is brown which is a rather unusual choice but we imagine it was intended to complement the wood.

In the centre console is what looks like the car’s original stereo, with radio, cassette player and CD through the changer unit mounted in the boot. As previously mentioned, the vendor believes that the electrics are all fine but they haven’t all been tested.

With the doors open, there are signs of bubbling on the OSR door shut, all others appear to be free from rust in the paint around some of the door shuts. The carpets look clean and intact throughout but overhead the lining appears a little soiled and is sagging above the rear seats.

Under the bonnet, the engine bay looks generally ok, if a little neglected. There is surface rust on a lot of the fixings and some of the ancillaries and the silver paint on the cam covers is starting to crack and peel.

The edges of the bonnet lid itself are rusting and there is also rust appearing across the front bonnet-hinge panel. The original Jaguar XJ tool kit mounted in the plastic inner wing moulding looks complete - save for the odd bulb or fuse - but the spanners are also becoming speckled with rust.

Underneath the car, the sills appear corroded around both forward jacking points and there is further rust in the extremities of the sills where they meet the front wheel arches.

In the boot, the carpets are intact but a little discoloured and they conceal a temporary-use spare wheel with a Pirelli tyre fitted. There is some rust on the boot’s metal floor, especially around the battery compartment. The Harman/Kardon amplifier and CD changer unit for the stereo are mounted under the rear deck of the boot.

The car’s last MOT expired in November 2018, having barely turned a wheel for several years before and it hasn’t been driven or inspected since. The car’s odometer is now showing approximately 179,000 miles.

The car comes with two keys but there is very little paperwork with the car, aside from its V5C and the odd MOT report.

The Jaguar XJR is desirable, practical and affordable, with good ones even achieving figures in the teens. The vast majority though have automatic transmissions, better suiting the needs of the “fat cat” company directors who first bought them, so to find an XJR6 with a factory-fit 5-speed manual gearbox (as opposed to a later conversion) is pretty rare.

That said, this one is a high-miler and a project - albeit a manageable one. We understand that mechanically it would need a light recommissioning and a full service, a new headlining and of course a fair amount of bodywork repair and repaint.

But there is a market for hard-to-find cars like this, and those who know will think that our estimated £4,000 to £8,000 selling price will still allow them to add value or make a margin by fixing it up and returning it to a more presentable (and roadworthy) condition.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the vendor in Colston Bassett, Nottinghamshire; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.