If you have ever read some of the British classic car magazines, you’ll no doubt have noticed the dealer ads showing remarkably preserved examples of middle-of-the-road (by local standards) cars for pretty short money. Of course the relative strength of the pound makes them seem even cheaper, but it seems pretty unusual to find equivalent cars here in North America. Every now and again, though, something interesting comes up, like this 1976 Subaru DL Wagon for sale for $3500 in Seattle, WA.
In the 1970s and 1980s, many Jaguars succumbed to the Chevrolet 350 “upgrade”. And while the 350 and its small block brethren are excellent engines for some purposes, the XK inline six cylinder engine was far from fragile itself. It was most often the components around it that failed, leading to it cooking itself. Or, once the engine was worn out, cared for or not, slipping an easily available V8 was a cost-effective way of getting back on the road without sacrificing power or durability. So it’s not so easy to find an early chrome-bumper Jaguar XJ6 sporting its original engine, and in drivable condition to boot – a quick recent survey of west coast listings shows that, among the few available XJ6s, around a third to half retain their inline sixes, and of these, a fair proportion are non-running project cars. So let’s take a look at this 1973 Jaguar XJ6 for sale for $3800 in Port Townsend, WA.
If you’re looking for that classic European GT experience at an affordable price of entry, without facing the complexity of say, a Jaguar V12, there aren’t many choices out there. Contemporaries of the C107 Mercedes coupes included the E9 BMW coupes, Jaguar XJ-S and XJ6C, Citroen SM, Alfa Romeo Montreal, Rolls Royce Silver Shadow Coupe, or Maserati Indy, but none are as accessible as the Mercedes. What’s more is, thanks to the 8-year run of the C107 and the epic 16-year run of the R107, many parts are plentiful, even in junkyards if you are persistent. That said, don’t kid yourself into thinking this will be cheap, but that’s not reason enough to disregard this 1973 Mercedes 450 SLC for sale for $2000 in Lynnwood, WA.
Rusty But Trusty 