Ian Callum Mark 2 Jaguar

I can't see beyond those hideous bumpers.
It's like that Jensen - all very clever, but I'd prefer one that still looks original. And with a budget that big, an original one could be a thing of absolute wonder.
 
Spot on Bill!
Though the carbon fibre propshaft seems to be going a bit far, and I could do without the iPod dock and associated junk.
 
Didn't Vicarage do a series of mechanically updated but original looking Jags rebuilt to a high standard? I certainly remember their glossy ads in the magazines.

Also anyone know what happened to the Vintrim Rovers (http://www.ruediger-wicke.de/TestGB/Vintrim_V8_1992.htm)

I think that might have been a flyer here in the UK too but the P6 is probably too old and not revered enough today. Might work with the P5: EFi V8, ZF autobox, reworked suspension, better PAS, aircon, improved seals and soundproofing while keeping the original look and feel.
 
Willy Eckerslyke said:
I can't see beyond those hideous bumpers.
It's like that Jensen - all very clever, but I'd prefer one that still looks original. And with a budget that big, an original one could be a thing of absolute wonder.
Click to expand...

Think the Jensen worked better. It has a more generic coupe shape. The Jag is totally idiosyncratic so changing the design details is always going to really stick out.
 
Also anyone know what happened to the Vintrim Rovers
Click to expand...
They were an interesting idea that never took off. I believe the red car in the article is still around though it has been locked up in someone's garage for many years. Apparently suffered from a lot of teething troubles. I think Vintrim did a few conversions on customer's cars but nothing as complete as the original idea. The only two i'm aware of are a series 2 V8 auto in dark green with tan interior and SD1 alloys; Vintrim did a rebuild and paintjob and a slightly plusher interior. It is still in excellent condition and was offered for sale a couple of years back for about $19000. :shock: Not sure if it sold.
The other one I'm aware of is a series 1 2000TC, also dark green with tan interior. This was fitted with a tweaked motor, wire wheels, a Toyota 5 spd, 7" spotlights on top of the front bumper, and supposedly a flasher interior though this was missing when the current owners found it. It has a tan pinstripe along the side that ends in a small Vintrim logo. This car is in pretty scruffy condition and hasn't run for a few years now. :(
 
billoddie said:
Not quite sure about the rear wheel arch treatment...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da6YFvi ... e=youtu.be

Wish someone with deep deep pockets would do a similar thing to a P6 3500S
Click to expand...

Nip and tuck on the bumpers, lose the overriders and any other unnecessary junk from the outside. Clean up the wing to valance joins front and rear and modern style headlights with a tidied up grille. Full bespoke leather interior, centre console integrated into the dashboard and deep carpets with plenty of sound proofing. Powerplant would be ideally an LS, definitely on efi with 5/6 speed manual, with appropriately uprated axle and brakes. Basic suspension geometry just needs some minor tweaking and all round custom springs/dampers, maybe high grade aluminium rear suspension arms and elbows for weight reduction. Paint would be a metallic, with some tight fitting 15" or 16" wheels.

Not the deepest pockets needed, but dedication and vision to do it 8)
 
Credit where its due though you can see where the money went on both the MKII and the Jensen. Custom cars are not my cup of tea TBH but I admire the craftsmanship in both. It's clearly far more difficult to pull this off than it is to do even a very high standard original restoration. Also they need the courage of their conviction as an overall design statement and be consistent all over the car, not just a detail here and there.

Many people here have done the sensible thing and stopped at Vitesse alloys, mild engine mods, dampers etc.

As soon as we start swapping a few trim items this just tends to be the first thing you notice and distracts you from the rest of the car, in fact you tend to think it was because it was needed as a spare and nothing else was available rather than a deliberate choice by the owner. If it were to go further may I suggest the very subtle and elegant work done on the MG RV8 as a reference?

Trouble is you can already buy what looks like a 21st century spin on a P6. Its called a Rover 75.
 
With regards to 'customising' cars, have a look at early concept sketches and models before the final 'productionised' car is defined, then ask yourself, is the production model an accurate representation of the original designers vision, or has it been priced and engineered to suit the market?

I have a Rover 75 that I've owned for around 5 years, knocked up 90k miles on it and I still prefer my P6, the way it handles, holds the road and looks. The 75 is a modern take on an older style, but with tonnes of modern legislative crap thrown at it :wink:
 
Interesting angle Sowen. All the more amazing when you think of those 40 years. Perhaps if BMW put a bit more BMW into the 75, it might have a better case as a new P6. I'm thinking rear drive (like the V8) but keep the tall tyres and softish springing. Again you hit packaging issues here. I'd be impossible to market a car with the rear passenger space and a boot the size of a P6s in its segment today.

To me the heart of the P6 is the ride/handling and then the fact nearly every design detail is unique and "different". Almost as if every other car was a PC clone no matter how well executed but the P6 was an Apple. It's different, not Citroen DS weird, but rather as if a group of clever chaps rethought what a car should be at the time - which is of course exactly what a P6 is.

It took some getting used to after not driving one since 1989 but few cars ride as well and you soon learn that leaning into a corner won't equal instant death - your passengers need to learn too! :D

I've never driven a P6 with modified suspension but I'm guessing you could easily actually "improve" it in terms of performance but at the same time ruin what makes it so effective.

Has anyone successfully added any anti-roll at the rear I'm wondering? It doesn't look easily doable. To me it lacks only a little more damping and roll control for today and of course you'd use better wheels and tyres but again not too low in profile.
 
If BMW had in fact put more BMW into the 75, they would not be lasting as well as they are, the breakdowns and running issues I've had on mine are mostly associated with the cheap rubbish BMW supplied to MGRover.

The P6 was a modern car at the time, the series one 2000 has some nice clean lines that would lend themselves to a modern high quality paint finish, and the simple lines of the interior enhanced with nicer materials, but not over-cluttered. Elegant quality :)

The suspension design of the 2000 is brilliant, but it's all down to personal preference as what most people want from them. The majority are content with them being factory standard, with a few wanting to simply reduce the roll. On mine I've lowered and stiffened the standard setup, with a couple of changes to the basic geometry and it does hold the road very well, can be thrown into roundabouts with minimal lean like a modern car. It isn't too harsh when hitting potholes, no worse than a regular modern car, mostly I think down to how the springs aren't directly acting on the wheels but are further in giving a better ride.

I'd like to replace or cover some of the plastic trim with padded leather on mine, and the front seat squabs need re-upholstering into semi-bucket style as I have slid out whilst playing with roundabouts :LOL:
 
The one thing that always gets my goat with "modernised" older cars as distinct from retro style moderns is that no one removes the rain gutters around the windows.

Though effective at draining water they were/are noise generating and unsightly in the main, so manufacturers trimmed them with slathers of chrome to disguise their horrible ugliness.

Cars do not have them nowadays because designers - Ian Callum among them- have developed better, more aerodynamic ways of doing the job. So why, given the skills of the people who converted the Jag, did they not get the angle grinder and welder to work and produce a smooth profile?

Fade out to sounds of hobbyhorse being ridden into the distance . . .
 
smokin1942 said:
The one thing that always gets my goat with "modernised" older cars as distinct from retro style moderns is that no one removes the rain gutters around the windows.
Click to expand...

Agreed. And its something that is done regularly on race cars, so its eminently achievable and would really make an enormous difference to wind noise and cabin ambiance.
I think its a real shame that no one (seemingly) in the automotive world has seen fit to do to the P6 what Callum, and many others have done to the Mark 2 and a myriad of other cars over the years.
If I had an enormous lotto win, it would be my first "just for fun" project to do. :)
 
I like what they've done with it, although I don't have enough enthusiasm for Mk II Jags to want one.

In terms of modernising a P6 I'm very much in love with the look of them in Monza Red and British Racing Green with a set of Vitesse alloys.
There's a slightly perverted part of me thinks that the wheels in white with some wide arches has some appeal, but the style has lasted as well as other David Bach styled cars.

I suspect there are other colours that would work on them, although I'm of the opinion that they suit flat colours with a gloss finish better than metallics, saying that I'm willing to be proved wrong..
 
PeterZRH said:
Has anyone successfully added any anti-roll at the rear I'm wondering? It doesn't look easily doable. To me it lacks only a little more damping and roll control for today and of course you'd use better wheels and tyres but again not too low in profile.
Click to expand...


Yes they have and very well documented to however unfortunately I have lost the link to the articles due to a hard drive failure..... Kiwi Rover Al undoubtably has the link that I am referring to and can provide it ( please I need it again :LOL: )


Graeme
 
That's testing my memory a bit Graeme. Can you recall anything about it? I may be able to find something. Was it that green Kiwi car you're thinking of?
 
yes, from memory he evaluated the rear anti roll bar and decided it was a lot of effort for small return. I think I have a printed version somewhere but as to where..... temporarily lost in my house shift.

Graeme
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top