"Daimler XJR" - really stupid thing to do?

[blackflash]

So here's a thing. I keep an eye on cars coming onto the market - supercharged X308s only, of course - and I love the inside of the Daimler Super V8 with picnic tables in the rear.

But I much prefer the sportier exterior of the XJR I currently drive. I like the lack of chrome on the grill, windows and rear "spoiler" and the stock Daimler wheels make the car look much more staid and old-fashioned than the XJR's Penta alloys or even better Milan alloys.

So in some ways my perfect car would be an XJR on the outside with a Daimler setup on the inside. I hardly have the money right now to put screenwash in the car but that doesn't stop me fantasising now and again....

If I were to "de-chrome" a Daimler Super V8 and give it some proper wheels (that should have Joe spluttering into his keyboard!) or put a Daimler interior into my gorgeous XJR exterior, would I be thrown out of the club for (a) a complete lack of taste and (b) vandalism?

Before someone says "it's up to you, taste is personla, each to their own, it's your money" etc, I know all that, what I'm interested in is whether other X308ers would think me bonkers.

Break it to me gently.

Nice to have the bulletin board back by the way - thanks to the troopers for their tenacity.

[bmc123]

I can only say what I have said before - It's your car do what you like to it. In my case I would also like the more luxurious interior offered by those models and would swap over in a heartbeat but I can't afford it so its not going to happen. Anything I have done to my car (minor stuff like head unit upgrade, mesh grille and walnut gear knob) can be put back to "factory" at any time if I was to sell it

[joejag308]

Blackflash.......so you think the old Daimler would look better as an XKR do you.......my Super v8...was on the forum at this years Southern Day Sunday the 14th......and i had a queue of interested people most of the day. Very knowledgable they were too....never mentioned this XKR thing you are on about.....they seemed to be stuck on the class,the looks, and the presentation of the vehicle.......now if you took off the Daimler trim it would be a mere Jaguar 308 to look at.....but the interior would remain a Daimler.
if you took off the chrome of an XKR it would be a 308 Jaguar, with Jaguar trim inside...... ........i have my ideas you have yours good luck to you in your endeavours......i respect your judgement........but prefer mine
Joe

[Brakebuster]

i would have no ' issues ' with you carrying out this ' modification '

each to his own , and its your car etc etc

but there would be a small issue of ' fit '

this is only an assumption on my part , but wernt ALL Daimler X308's long wheel base, and all the XJR X308's standard wheel base ?

now this isn't important in many ways, apart from the back doors.........the interior and exterior trim wouldn't swap from one to the other, so door cards , and ' chrome/black-chrome ' trim wouldn't swap ,

one observation i have made is that ' black-chrome ' is simply that, painted up chrome trim , albeit very well done....

your major obstacle would be to find matching SWB door cards to match the daimler interior ,

luxury wise , yes the daimler interior is the best you can get , special all leather surfaces in a special design with bespoke wooden trim , ( back door wood trims would be an issue ) , so it might be a case of buying a non running donor car , and making up you own special mix ??

as for originality , what does it matter if your happy with the car, and you tell any buyer what you have done, then its up to them , personally i would think it as a bonus to buy an XJR with a fully tricked out Daimler interior........

dont forget , in the USA , the Daimler is known as the Van-den-Plas ,

just my thoughts

BB
( who has done multiple upgrades to his interior to ' enhance ' it a little.....)

[joejag308]

ITS just my sense of humour, if you really wanted to go to the lengths of changing car set ups then by all means do just that....its your vehicle...i possibly only have eyes for my own vehicle.....i do try to keep it as standard as i can......i do however fancy a change of brake pad after i change the brake fluid.....i have been reccomended to use "green stuff" pads....anyone got any thoughts on using the pads??

[robv12]

as everyone says "your car your choice", we have some wonderfully modified/upgraded cars in the JEC, it is each to his own

now the XJR/Super V8 combination CAN be done, DSV8 production was 2443 in total of which 76 of these were short wheel base cars, so find one of these and away you go!!!, btw I have only ever seen one SWB car in the UK

[SV8Predator]

Interesting discussion.

Personally I like the chrome. My ideal would an XJR with the chrome and Daimler interior! Or perhaps a Daimler Super V8 badged as a Jaguar would do.

The wheels make a lot of difference. Here's a pic of my Sovereign with 18" wheels fitted:

[robv12]

agreed and here's one of my DSV8 with 18 inch pentas fitted

[SV8Predator]

Nice colour!

[robv12]

Westminster Blue, with Nimbus Grey leather

[joejag308]

Its funny how different colours make cars look longer or shorter....
My Super v8 in a lighter colour looks different to the two previous dark blue cars.......

[steveandtina]

leave as is, these cars dont need mucking about with.my xjr is a pig to drive on these crater full english roads.what with hard suspension and tyres that give it a mind of its own.but wouldnt swap it for the world notice i said english roads.everywhere else in uk no problem.and to you joe i got yellow stuff pads in and find them far better than the brembo ones (and less than half price)

[blackflash]

Thanks everyone - as contentious as I expected it to be!

Firstly, on the outside I guess I'm more of Jaguar badge guy than a Daimler badge guy. Difficult to pin down why, but perhaps the Jaguar image is generally more sporty than the Daimler. And I think the de-chromed XJR has a completely different look and feel to it from the rest of the XJ8 range, and one I love.

I'm not a fan of the Daimler wheels either -though Joe's car did indeed look gorgeous when I saw it at the Northern Day last year and "got away" with those fairly slab-like wheels. I like both sets of wheels on Rob's car but the Pentas are the business for me; the only other wheels I like are the BBS Milans which are even more sporty.

On the inside, I'm generally very happy with the Jaguar XJR interior including the Jaguar veneer (no inlay) and headrests (no embossed D logo). The leather isn's as luxurious as the Daimler but that's being picky. So I should stick with what I've got.

The niggle is that, despite the fact that I rarely carry rear passengers, I absolutely love the look of the picnic tables in the Daimler. Must be some long lost memory of something or other...

So I guess if I had the money to tweak, the only thing I'd really change is to see if anyone could fit the picnic tables from a scrap Daimler onto the back of the XJR seats! Which would be a weird blend of sporting and luxury but hey ho...

I suppose my wonderings might have been stimulated by some of the supercharged cars I've seen coming to market recently. Robert Hughes had a couple of low mileage Daimlers on the books until recently, and both were very appealing in terms of mileage, service history, colour scheme and all round condition. So I wondered if I could bring myself to swap from XJR to Super V8 but didn't quite manage to convince myself the exterior changes I didn't really want would be worth the sumptuous interior.

All completely irrelevant in the real world of course as I have no money!

Thanks again for your reflections, pictures, info on the feasibility of the "project" etc - all v much appreciated. It's good to have the bulletin board back.

Blackflash