Welcome to FiBoy's Jaguar Home! Fib Oy is a Ltd company in
Finland
that is not active in automotive business
but the owner is a passionate inventor and a fanatic Jagnut. These Homepages try to tell the story what comes out of that mixture! This car enthusiast website is devoted to British Classic Cars, especially Vintage Saloons and customised restorations of Classic Jaguars. The site contains about 400 Jag photographs so please take your time and enjoy. This homepage was last updated on
27-Jul-2012.
A
tip: Click on the thumbs to get a larger picture or
possibly another view!
"Past and present British Classic Cars"
My cousin's -52 XK 120 needed a mechanic in the sixties and having worked with it until boredom I wanted a Jag of my own! I had fallen in love with the wonderful sound of that amazing 3.4L XK straight six power unit. However, opportunity to that did not come until the end of seventies. This bronze colored hot oldtimer had earlier had a career in competition, amongst other a class win in 1953 of the “Rally of the Thousand Lakes” . See some antique racing pics and memories of the XK120 on my XK120 Renovation Pages.
Although the sleek lines of the thoroughbred XK120 sports car - one of the world's greatest roadsters - were sensational and exotic in the end of forties my preference has always been the
Jaguar Vintage Saloons because of their impeccable styling and old-school design. Jaguar classics indeed provoke passion and emotion. Jaguar is a different breed of an animal!
Before I got the real thing I was using as daily transport a truly magnificent small luxurysaloon, - 67 Triumph 1300 TC,
which was a front wheel driven rather rare vehicle. This Michelotti designed motorcar was launched 1965 and became instant success due to the exemplary road manners and high quality fixtures and fittings. I was very pleased with the auto and the only technical problem I had was the front rotoflex couplings, which had rather short service interval. I had two spares reserve cars and I thought of restoring it to mint condition but that never happened.
The picture shows my younger son Mikko, who helped with setting up the Linux server originally used to run this website. Also this picture is taken in Helsinki where we used to live.
A Triumph 1300 reconditioning story is found here.
The other cool automobile marque used in our household was another noble and desirable British classic car, -67 Rover 2200 TC with all wanted aftermarket extras like spare tyre on
boot lid, wooden steering wheel etc. The P6 was rather brisk although it's no lightweight, 11.5 seconds 0-60 MPH. The Rover 2200 TC is the collectable motorcar I miss! The reason being so strongly infected by the English disease is revealed here; family's
Auntie & my Mom (to the right) in
-57. I am dreaming inside...
Although my father consumed several P4Rover saloons, his first auto was a -28 Buick . The last automobile he had was a Range Rover that he bought in the age of 80. He enjoyed it very much as the snow-drifts in Helsinki in the winter time are high - I mean getting the car parked and again out almost necessitates a 4wd truck. That is why the present day yuppies want a SUV.
Then finally the -53 3.4 L Jaguar Mark VII Saloon was found. Total renovation was started in -78 and I started to learn dear lessons. It took three years to finalize this MKVII project. As a young
lad I did not yet know that the
Jaguar heritage fever
never cures, you'll desire more...
Although Jaguars are still rare in Finland - currently close to 2000 registered cars - the Mark 7 got rather popular in the fifties when finally import licenses were permitted. British cars had slight preference because the forest industry exported well to Britain. As much as 93 Mark Sevens were imported as new. About 15 are still alive!
See the whole Mark7 story on my Mark VII Restoration Pages.
Soon after the finalization of the Jaguar Mk7 project, we moved to
Sweden, where I bought a nice
-71 Jaguar XJ6 Saloon. It had a rare specification; being a short wheelbase 4.2 L
manual with overdrive, had A/C and Sundym glasses, chassis number IL-62515 DN. Power output of the legendary XK engine was quoted by Jaguar as 245bhp @ 5500rpm and maximum speed was around 200 km/h. 0-60 MPH was reached within 9,8 seconds. The Series I XJ restoration took place many years later in Finland and it was a practical one; the car got a paint job and the engine renewed. The visual impact was also changed by switching the grille to a better looking XJ V12 item and I acquired the correct Lucas fog lights.
The Jaguar XJ6, as launched in 1968 was such a huge leap in terms of refinement, performance and style over its contemporaries that it became popular also in Finland. Roughly 100 XJ 6/12 Series 1/2/3 sedan cars were imported including one or two XJ6C models but not a single XJ12 5.3 L Coupe.
As motorcars were cheaper in Sweden I bought another classic Jaguar, a -67 4.2LJaguar 420, which was introduced in
1966
as a stop-gap between the 3.8 L Mk II / S-Type and the new XJ6 that would arrive in
1968
. Property wise it was very alike the XJ and could do 0-60 MPH in 9.4 s. with a top speed of 123 MPH. My plan was to turn this wreck into a slightly upgraded classic Jaguar Saloon like described here.
This 420 was in almost beyond salvage condition and actually I never had the time to repair/restore it. Hectic daily work in the development center of my
employer disturbed this hobby. After a three years' stay we moved back to Finland without the Jaguar 420, except
the leaping mascot, which I reserved for future
service. I am fond of this underrated model -
especially the interior is just right! From that I got
the cockpit idea to my forthcoming Mk1 conversion project.
Our home had meanwhile generated a leak and renovation started. The newly acquired - 86
Range Rover was as great working
horse as touring machine with extraordinary visibility. This is not a Finnish version of mobile home - I am bringing home a playhouse for the children!
The Range Rover has an extraordinary presence and most people fall in love with it instantly. While being the exemplar to classy, modern gentleman four wheel driven vehicles, it was a pity that factory was unable to utilize the market position and develop the concept further - BMW and Mercedes had time to conquer the market before the talented Solihull boys realized the becoming SUV mega-trend! Range Rover history in short.
Ten harsh winters later, time had taken it's toll on the XJ 6 and in came the Rover SD1. It was a low slung automatic Vitesse
with 3.5 L sweet RoverV-8, which yielded 0-60 MPH in 8,4 s. It proved out to be difficult to drive in winter time because of the combination of the following options: powerful engine in the front, inherent very light rear end combined with automatic gearbox and Torsen limited slip differential. In this sense the Rover 2200 was much better as it had the DeDion rear suspension giving superb levels of ride and sporting roadholding. However, the last British Rover SD1 was indeed stylish and boasted a genuinely timeless design like the P6 - a real collector car. The SD1 was a candidate for an extensive repair and upgrade (better rear axle, modern ZF 4HP22 transmission etc) but at that time I did not have any chance for such an undertaking.
I needed a cheap reliable automobile for everyday usage and hence I switched to a modern manual Rover fastback. A front wheel driven -91 820
SI was well equipped with useful accessories and safer to drive. This motorcar was a rather good compromise between the partners; Honda and Rover. The newer grille taken from -92 facelift model was my own tuning as I could not bear the original design. The 2.0 L engine did 0-60 MPH in 11 seconds, which was typical family car class but not good enough after the SD1. In addition, it lacked the cat's grace, space and pace!
That's why the Rovers gave space to a -87 3.6L Jaguar XJ6 Sovereign (XJ 40).
This was a nice reliable Jag to spend those 60 km every day to work and back. It was fast enough and the overtaking was easy with 0-60 MPH acceleration of 7.4 seconds. I
liked the sweet and 225 BHP strong virtually indestructible XJ40 AJ6 3.6 L engine so much that I started dreaming of new
usages for it. The body, however, was nothing to be fond of. Prone to rust and a bit clumsy compared to XJ series 1/2/3.
A modern Jag, like the XJ40 and newer, is an
excellent winter car with good stability and no starting problems. The vehicle had an electrical block heater connected to the radiator hose, but soon I learned that starting was actually easier with the totally cold engine. The Sovereign was fine but somehow it lacked the intimacy of the S1 XJ6/12 Sedan. That maybe caused my thoughts to play around with building a Jaguar to my own liking with traditional good looks (I hated the XJ40's Tokyo by Night dials!) but equipped with reliable new technology - or is that a paradox? A Jaguar Sovereign XJ40 reconditioning story here.
My son commented that "Have you gone nuts?" when he saw what kind of a
Hermelin had appeared amongst the Cats. Yes, the -89
TVR 400 SE was fiercely fast and sexy but it was not my style in the end and had to go when I had heeled from
my 50's fever. With a 3.8 L tuned Rover V8 giving 285 HP this small car weighing just 1040 kg was a real
Porsche killer; 0-60 MPH took only 5.1 seconds. Principally it was a keeper; the GRP body won't corrode and the Rover technology safe-guarded availability of reasonably priced reserve parts. The biggest problem was the availability of right size tyres matching the small BBS wheels. I took it once to the Autobahn in Germany and open air driving at 230 km/h was a pleasure. The absolutely best feature of this model is
the sound! The exhaust pipe (with a diameter close to 80mm) delivered the most masculine roar ever available in the auto market. However, it brought problems too; I did not dare to start the TVR 400 SE in the mornings because of the neighbors!
I invested my time into a -57 Jaguar 2.4 litre Sedan, later called MK1 when MK2 was launched, that needed a ground up restoration. The former owner
is a good friend of us and he had decided that the poor restorer of the MKI should be me! He had saved this Mark I, Jaguar Two-Point-Four, from destruction and started the renovation but subsequently lost interest. I realized that this was my opportunity to a tailor made Jag. The rebuild was to take 2,5 years but happily enough I did not know it before hand! And as always, the appetite grows while eating. Eventually the modernisation and rebuild of this gorgeous wire wheeled Mark One was finalized and it became a perfect stable mate to the other masterpiece of British craftsmanship and unparalleled beauty - the MarkVII. Mark 1 is currently my daily transportation - the company car in my way!
Read how the rebuilt MK1 got fuel injection, strengthened coachwork, modern automatic transmission powertrain, upgraded front suspension and XJ40 rack and pinion steering, independent rear suspension, ABS brakes and new trim; the whole Mk 1conversion story on my Mk I Re-manufacture Pages.
After the Mark I project the -75 Series II Jaguar XJ 12 C entered our garage. While the Mark 7 had been a conventional nuts & bolts restoration I decided that the V12 XJ Coupe would follow the Mk I in the series of "What might have been". In this case too, I had first planned a reasonable upgrade but soon I gathered that it would have been wrong - the car deserved more!
Daimler/Jaguar coupes are rarities in Finland as well. There are some 5 Jaguar XJC6 and six XJC12 cars around (including two Daimler Double Six Coupes), all being later imported, just like my XJ5.3C.
Sunroof, new upholstery and wheel arches, sill reinforcement to yield stiff chassis, modified IRS to eliminate tram, tuned 6 L motor with 4L80E transmission and improved cooling, which put and end to heat soak, are the most important modifications, which changed the personality of this fine custom classic XJ 12C into a cool cat. See the whole remanufactured vinyl roof story on my XJ12 C Rebuild Pages.
The old Range Rover, which served the family for 14 years and 330.000 km had to go. Better
drivability of the -2000 Land Rover Discovery and diesel power (2.5 L), accompanied with related economy, pleases my wife - and the children follow in their blue baby Rovers, all different variations of
the 200 theme. The Rover 200 series offers nice looks and astonishingly good drivability at low cost. Apparently the whole family continues to be
Rover friends too.
Now that the morally bankrupt Phoenix Four have driven the dignified Rover saloon cars company into a wreckage, question arises whether these excellent hatchbacks will raise in collectibility?
I used the Mark One a couple of years for commuting
between home and job even in wintertime but then I started to think why
not buy a modern Jag for this purpose. All my friends kept on saying that
X300 XJ6 is the best of all Jaguars and that is why I chose it. Now I
agree to this claim; the cars has been extremely reliable and
comfortable too. The Pioneer Avic navigator
fits perfectly to the central console. When not in use it folds into the dvd
player!
As the X300 surprised me so positively i decided to check
the XJR as well. It had very good handling too and was fast and
enjoyable. However, as it was not faster than my -75 Coupe I sold it
further but kept the Sovereign.
Next summer I fell in love again. This time in Range
Rover Sport. The colour, the presence and the roadholding this
magnificent car boasts is luring. Somehow it resembles the early Range
Rovers but does not overdo the styling as perhaps in the bigger Vogue
model. And my wife, the owner of the car, loves it too! The only
design failure in the car is related to the clumsy electrical outlet in
the rear. When needed you have to bend to your knees, use a screw driver
to remove the lid and then try to find the correct position of the plug
just by feeling - ridiculous! A simple JJ-mod was to move the contact
box slightly backwards and open a matching hole to the lid.
Now the looks is both
pleasing and functional.
"Major recent happenings"
The favorite sports in Finland is playing the Moose Roulette. Every year thousands of accidents take place and many get killed -
there are simply too many elks here!. But nothing is done due to the strong lobby from hunters associations
- without enough game they would suffer from starvation! I took my chances in September 2003 and
succeeded in getting a huge >1000 lbs bull with
minor scratches to the wagon. Our family survived
thanks to the robust construction of Land Rover. Maybe the wiring in the heated windscreen helped a little in preventing the glass from falling in. Having good ABS disc brakes does not help - in worst case the available reaction time to avoid the collision is below 1 second.
The obvious safety assets of the Land Rover play an important image role; the Discovery is very popular by female drivers too.
After 30 months of hard work on the Jaguar XJC12 project the mighty high-performance Jaguar V12 6 litre Coupe is ready. My humble dream was to accomplish
the best looking coupe in the world! The changes made are subtle and I think the result is a tribute to Sir Lyons, the original divine contours of Jaguar XJC V12
have not lost a bit of their charm dating 30 years back. Well, did I succeed - that is up to your
decision. Comments are welcome! The day for first outing of the XJ12C was a gloomy one and hence the metallic Sherwood
Green paint reflects similar hues - but the winter in Finland will soon be over and we will see the sun again
hopefully in January!
Once again the old Lady MK VII has been on duty. My wife's niece Ilona got married with Mika on a sunny summer day (not too many
this year!) and the restored MK 7 Saloon was almost as beautiful as the bride. Such a wide wedding-dress will fit with
style only to a motor car having really roomy backseat - and so does the Mark Seven - it is magnificently proportioned! In these big Mk 7/8/9 Sedans you will sit on the sofa, not down to the bench as in the low built XJ Saloons. No wonder that old big cats are
increasing their popularity as wedding cars.
The 2nd Big Jag Baltic meeting in Neustadt, Germany 2004 was an easygoing,
good meeting for the big vintage saloons and many other British classic cars. Very many restored and original condition Mark X and other concours big cats were present as well as other
noblesse, see how
Sir Dog
arrives! Good DVD available from the organizer.
The Jaguar Mk 10 seems to be a rather popular carriage here. And admittedly it fits to the Autobahns very well! You almost feel thirsty immediately when you see the large
picnic tables of these cars.
The almost 3000 km long trip from Finland to north of Germany was a pleasure in Jaguar Mark 7 thanks to the original Grace, Pace and Space. Long distance motorway cruising cracked one modification idea; how about lower gearing in the differential?
Three cool cats posing at Vesijärvi lake.
Big luxurious vintage sedan, sporty compact saloon and a fast Jaguar Advanced Heavyweight Coupe in a family portrait. The customized classic Jaguar XJ12C really looks, sounds and feels like an ultimate sport-tuned hot driving machine is supposed to.
The summers are short in Finland, meaning that the time cars are subjected to salted roads is long. Happily
enough, adequate corrosion protection has long roots here. This doesn't mean, however, that Jaguars would
not rust. They do. On the other hand, cars are due to taxation (over 100%) very expensive, which means that
quite a few Jaguars have been scrapped. This because there used to be very skilful panel beaters around. In contemporary Finland restoring old Jags is becoming a scarcity - it is easier to import used cars from
Germany, where pre owned big hairless kitties are much cheaper.
Raisa is driving the modernized Jaguar XJ 5.3C to the first meeting of
a new club "HJK - Hollolan Jaguar Klubi", which was
founded to serve Jaguar owners in the
Päijät-Häme district in Finland. The site is worth visiting, all postwar Jaguar models with their leapers, the hood ornament, are
presented with good pictures. The Jaguars in arts survey is quite interesting and unusual too.
The address to Finland's Jaguar Forum is: Kissakulma.
(Main language is Finnish).
Finally the day came when my eldest daughter got married.
After a long wait - 25 years - the Mark 7 got the possibility to give a
soft ride to my own daughter from Hollola church to the restaurant. As
always, the MK7 was a good contestant in the beauty competition. The
weather was not optimal for the purpose nor for the
big cat due
to exceptionally long winter but this did not fade the smile from young
loving faces.
- Jaguar 3.4 litre Mk7 had the same 10 foot long (120 inch) wheelbase as the Jaguar 3.8 litre Mk10 and the weight was substantially the same. This in relation to the track width gives a clue for their excellent and civilized ride qualities. This wheelbase was popular in many Bentleys too, like Mark VI. Jaguars are getting wider and lower.
- XJ6L is a logical evolution both via MK7 (Mk8/9) and MkX route as well as from MK1 (MKII, S type) via 420 end!
- The Jaguar X-type is close to Mk 1 dimensioning, probably closer than the new S-type to the old one from the sixties!
- The Jaguar 5.3 litre XJ-C is heavier than the XJ-S at about the same length! Their sporting qualities are close to each other
- Due to the final drive ratio and the 6 litre engine the Jaguar XJ40 V-12 is a real bargain super car but surprisingly the X type with 3 litre V-6 is comparing favorably! Light body combined with a high performance motor was the secret of Mark 1 too.
- The XJ81 is the most heavyweight representative of the Jaguar brand and quite clearly the aluminum bodied X 350 was a clever move. X300 V-12 is not included in this comparison as it is measure wise substantially identical to XJ81. However, the V12 X300 Jaguar is sure get a collector's car status being the best of the 6 litre cars - an exclusive and exotic high-performance supercar at affordable cost!
- * The SAE horsepower figures were converted to DIN with a factor of 0.746
Searching for something else? Be sure to check the Linksto other websites. Web's largest Jaguar link collection!
Contact Information
FAX +358 3 7806451
Postal address: Tapiontie 4, 15870 Hollola,
Finland
The word 'FiBoy' is a registered trademark belonging to Fib
Oy, Finland.
The word 'Jaguar' and the leaping cat device, whether used
separately or in combination, are registered trademarks and
are the property of Jaguar Cars, England.
