I was 17 in ‘97 and around that time, British rock group Oasis once ruled the world of Rock n Roll from their tiny island in the North Atlantic. They had just released their 3rd studio album “Be Here “Now” with the hit track ”Don’t Go Away”.
This was a follow up to mega-smash hits off earlier albums such as “Don’t Look Back In Anger”, “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova”, which have been staples on Modern Rock radio for the past 25+ years. The band also famously broke up after founding brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher got into their final, band-ending sibling spat during a concert in France in 2009.
Sadly “Be Here Now” did not live up to the band’s expectations and Noel Gallagher summed the album up as “the sound of a bunch of guys, on coke, in the studio, not giving a f***”. The album featured a white Rolls-Royce sunken into a pool on the cover.
Ten years before that, I was 7 and another British group by the name of Whitesnake was ripping up the radio waves. This was, understandably, before my time, yet “Here I Go Again” has been heard by my ears hundreds of times in the 36 succeeding years.
The video for that song was just about as popular as the track itself, with a Ms. Tawny Kitaen shooting to stardom whilst dancing upon lead singer David Coverdale’s personal car – a Jaguar XJ6.
Interestingly enough, both of those above cars are for sale this week in my hometown! Let’s put those two rides into the Showdown today and see which is the better ride to purchase from The Port City of Wilmington, NC!
Note: I’d ask our line British staff member (Goth Uncle Adrian from “Adrian’s Auction Anarchy” fame) to chime in here, but I believe that I can safely assume that he’s not exactly the biggest Oasis or Whitesnake fan.
Let’s See Which Car Won Yesterday, Shall We?
Well, it looks like the BMW won by 107 votes, which very reluctantly included mine, since there was no option for “neither”. I share my colleague’s admiration for V12 engines, yet will note that I believe there there are none that make any sense to own (the 2 shown above plus the Jag V12).
I’m currently helping my same friend and neighbor that owns the Exploder featured here fix the myriad of issues he has with his ’07 Passat (bad wiring insulation and electrical shorts, bad fuel pump module, bad/clogged moonroof drains, soaked carpets, etc.). Due to this, I have a first-hand disdain for VW cars of this ilk and BMWs also don’t exactly have the shiniest reputations either. You couldn’t pay me enough not to sprint in the opposite direction of those 2 cars as fast as my 43yr old ass can move these days.
This is also what makes The Autopian writing staff so great: we all have a widely varying taste in cars! As a 25+yr consumer of auto media, having a staff that all likes the same Porsches, BMWs, Corvettes, Hondas, Subarus, Camaros Mustangs and the rest of the usual suspects gets old.
Anyways, the 34yr old BMW beats out the Piech-era VW, which is a pretty low threshold to beat. Both of these cars have limited miles and limited years ahead of them with massive repair costs around the corner in this guy’s opinion. Go get yourself a $220 Stratus Coupe instead of these two labyrinths of dysfunction and live the good life, like me, your buddy SWG.
Today’s First Contender: 1969 Rolls Royce Shadow $2500
Engine/Drivetrain: 172 hp 6.2 L V8
Location: The Cape Fear, Wilmington, NC
Odometer reading: 44,000 miles
Runs/drives? No sir or madam. This ad was found via a Gossin Motors Backyard Shitbox Rescue search.
When I came across this car I couldn’t believe that the car that was sunk into the pool on the album cover for “Be Here Now” was for sale locally! Same color and all. Though, that car was a ’72 and was purchased for £1,200 without an engine (but with a fresh re-spray!) for the album photo shoot.
Hat-tip to both The Bishop and my good buddy Nick Chinn for the Oasis car-background details assist. Another zany Oasis car story regarding a Mark II Jag can be found here.
Here’s what the seller has to say about this Shadow:
Seller’s Description (verbatim):
PEASE READ. To many scams on last add This is a complete 1969 shadow. Does not run. What it needs: Wiring Carbs rebuilt Probably a fuel pump Hynautic system rebuilt Interior wood refinished Column repairs Window actuators repaired Paint This is a good restoration project with a cost of around 20,000 for genuine RR parts and depending on your skill set. Could’ve a fun conversion.
Ok, so if your take on these cars is similar to mine then a Rolls-Royce is super cool as long as it’s Churchill-era old or within-the-past-25 years-new. Everything in between those two bookends is fine, I guess?
This car just screams for an EV conversion or an LS swap to me. Keeping it OEM and pristine will only go so far. The value for running versions shows to be around $20K, which is affordable to the great scores of The Unwashed. That’s not what a Rolls owner wants now, is it? They crave something a cut above and a late-1960s to 1980s Rolls-Royce does not seem to portray Old Money for The Grey Poupon crowd. Your genearationally wealthy contemporaries at the Country Club would never risk any association with the lesser bourgeoisie, so why take a chance with a lesser, age-and-time-diminished Rolls such as this?
Instead it seems like the kind of car your zany high school or college friend buys (while drunk) to piss off his wife and to be able to claim to the other guys in the bar that he has a Rolls-Royce. Aspirational, in a certain sense, still.
The interior looks to be in top shape and all the trim is there, so just cleaning up those carbs, grabbing a set of steel coil springs and doing a little wiring work to utilize the existing hardware could also be a solid-ass option. I mean dude, it’s a frickin Rolls-Royce and there aren’t exactly a ton of them out there!
Also, morbid fact: Charles Rolls was the first Briton to die in a powered aircraft accident when he crashed at Southbourne on July 12, 1910.
It’s not exactly a car you see for sale everyday.
Note: This car sold in-between the time it was first found by Gossin Motors Backyard Shitbox Auto Rescue and the time this piece was published – bummer! Here’s the ad link regardless, here.
1984 Jaguar(e) XJ6: $2,000 “OBO”
Engine/Drivetrain: Chevy 350 Small block!
Location: The Cape Fear, Wilmington, NC
Odometer reading: 64,656 miles
Runs/drives? Hard nope. No sir. This ad was found via a Gossin Motors Backyard Shitbox Rescue search.
Ok, as the only Jag owner here in the Autopian Writing Crew (actually I have 2!), I will say that newer Jags are far cooler to me than the Ye Olde English Jags of Yore. All that wood and leather is great in the traditional British fashion, but you can only eat so many potted pies with warm beer before yearning for something else. Something a bit less Revolutionary War era.
I’ve been trying to get David to approve an article on my Jag XK8 now for over 3 years, and I’m still trying. Don’t let his amiable demeanor, trove of kittens, electric car fleet, and general LA-nice-guy persona throw you off as the dude is tough-as-nails. He also doesn’t seem to have much of an interest in broken Jags…yet! I’m here to change that though, so keep you eyes peeled, as I think we may have a breakthrough in ’24.
Ok, back to the matter at hand! Like I was saying, old Jags aren’t as cool as say, my XK or a new-ish F-type, but they have both of those cars beat in 2 areas: price and wrench-ability. You can get them for wicked cheap and also pull crazy moves such as installing a Chevy truck motor with ease!
Try doing that on an F-type.
Here;s what the seller says (verbatim) in the ad which is linked here:
Restoration special. 84 XJ6 with 90’s 350 Rebuilt Chevy truck engine. Ran until a month ago. Something is wrong with the wiring.
Has clean title and car cover. light rust around the front and back window. 65,000 miles on rebuilt engine.
Ran great just needs some minor repairs to get it going again and you can cruz in a cool Vintage Antique classic .
2000.00 or best offer.
I don’t know about you, but 90s Chevy 350 wiring is about as easy as engine wiring gets. Pick up a Power Probe, dust off your voltmeter, flex some serious patience and give it the ‘ol college try!
Generally you’re going to be looking at alternator voltage, PCM, grounds, cam/crank, TPS, coolant sensor, ignition, O2 and the rest of their merry band of electrical malfeasants.
Old Jag parts aren’t that easy to get and when you can find them, they’re usually stupid expensive, so chopping up these cars to have a little fun with what’s there/what’s left makes perfect sense. They will not grow in value with time, so concerns about messing up a future classic aren’t present.
I look at a car like this the same way that I look at my sweet-ass Supercharged Buick: they aren’t worth much and will never be, so go wild and have fun.
Hey, it’s been a blast sitting in for Mark Tucker (who seems to be having a wild time on vacation from the photos he’s shared) and I sincerely hope you liked the guest appearances of Thomas Hundal, Mercedes Streeter, The Bishop and a little SWG flavor today on The Showdown this week. Cheers homies!
So, my fellow friends and Autopians, which will it be? The immobile album-cover car from Oasis’ 3rd album, or the dance-pad Jag with a Chevy heart that Tawny Kitaen likes to bust a move upon? You choose!
So, let’s see…
Try to fix the wiring on someone’s poorly-swapped SBC XJ6…that was REBUILT. I’d lay down one crisp Abe Lincoln that that’s not the only thing keeping it running. Thing is, an XJ6 (XJ8?) isn’t that special and I say that as someone who’s owned one. It was just, hmm…too reliable.
On the flipside, we have a Rolls with actual provenance (my wife loves Oasis) from one of their classiest eras? For only $500 more?
Shut-up-and-take-my-money.gif
I might actually have a shot at getting bona fide wife approval on this buy. And that’s something you can’t quantify. SWG is right on the money with this one, an EV swap would be perfect. Instead of trying to fix $20,000 worth of Rolls Royce OEM systems, just swap in your own. It’s probably still easier than fixing the previously bodged wiring harness in that SBC XJ6.
EDIT: Never mind, I asked my wife about this and she’s actually not as big of an Oasis fan as I first assumed. There goes my shot at being a Rolls owner…
I’d go with the Rolls, like others have said it would be a perfect EV candidate if the original engine decides it would prefer life as a boat anchor or paperweight.
I know the engine swap on the Jag is likely straightforward and hard to royally fuck up, but I really don’t like the idea of dealing with someone else’s project.
But both cars have “wiring issues” which always makes me nervous. Mechanical gremlins are one thing, but wiring/electrical problems are another level of infuriating.
Ugh. I fucking HATE Oasis with the passion of a thousand burning suns. I hated them then and I hate them now. Like a bad fungal rash they were EVERYWHERE in the mid-nineties, when us cool alt kids were listening to Alice in Chains, Machine Head, NIN and the like. I went to a Whitesnake gig once and people in the audience kept heckling Coverdale to sing Deep Purple songs, which he got annoyed at and I thought was fucking hilarious.
Out of these two? Jaguar obviously so I can drive around to a moody synth pop soundtrack late at night living out my Equalizer fantasies.
A cheap Rolls just screams disgraced paedo seventies TV presenter.
I’m not going to say I base the entirety of my taste on what Uncle Adrian says but I will say that I feel validated when I agree with him. Oasis sucks. I also have no idea why they got as big as they did, especially when there was so much amazing music being made by their contemporaries that dwarfed what they put out so…well, obviously.
Like I said in my earlier comment…to me they sound like a bunch of stoned college students trying to sound like The Beatles with about .05% of the talent and songwriting ability.
“Fucking in the bushes” was a banger, and…
That is all.
QOTD…even if it comes from a staff member.
Holy hell, Adrian has Equalizer fantasies to. Does Midge Ure’s “No Regrets” count as moody synthpop? Ah hell, just get Stewart Copeland’s “The Equalizer Busy Equalizing” and drive around.
I voted for the Rolls because why not?
Oasis can eat my farts…
My first instinct was the Jag—neither one is my style as such, but pulling off a Rolls seems impossible—but the more that I look at the RR, the more I like its design. No, it’s not old-time swoopy like a classic Silver Ghost, but it’s got subtle fins, small taillights with separate reverse lamps… I dig it. Also, the Jag is freaking champagne, and I’m scarred by 20 years of Camrys and Accords in that shade. I don’t think I’d take a ’76 911 turbo in that color.
I think the ideal would be fixing the carbs and a few other minor things, running it as an original for a few years, then doing an EV swap. Easier said than done, but it’s all pretend here on Shitbox Showdown.
I voted Jag, but I kinda regret it now.
Years back, there was a Rolls for sale near me that I would try and replicate. It was an 80’s model. Four doors with the top cut off, painted a metal flake purple that would do a bass boat proud, and an awesome retro flame job.
In addition to that, I’d LS swap it, bolt on a Rootes blower with a bird catcher through the hood, and some Cragars for rolling stock.
Any other suggestions?
Side pipes. Big, honkin, chrome side pipes.
YES! You get me!
Old fashioned Cibie driving lights (big chrome housings!), a chrome spotlight, massive CB antenna with the retro 70s booster thingy on it.
-and blue dot tailight inserts for the cognoscenti to nod knowingly about.
big semi air horns should definitely be considered —but might just be a bit over-the-top
Yeah, that’s the part that would take it over the top.
If you’ve got a purple metal flaked, flamed, roofless Roll-Royce, I don’t think “over the top” exists for you anymore.
Just remembered a must-have: the somewhat creepy stuffed kitty whose eyes glow with the brake lights. Murilee Martin did a how-to write up at the old site on it.
-and the reason the air horns might be over the top is; where ya gonna mount them ? 😉
You mount them on the hood. Just aft of the steer horns.
I didn’t mention the chromed skull & horns because I figured that was definitively over the top
now, a classic Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament would be the perfect cherry on top
Trunk spoiler and parachute.
“Any other suggestions?”
Faux Jaguar fur interior.
Rolls. I’ve had a daydream of LS-swapping a Rolls or Bentley for a long time, and this one seems like a good candidate.
In an oddly opposite thought, the Jag would be my pick if it still had the six. Those Jag sixes are smooth, if not overly powerful. I’m okay with a SBC-swap of the Jag twelves, though.
Prefer the Jag, but I hate SBC conversions. I guess I’d have to restomod it with a new(er) fuel injected Jaguar4.0l Inline-6. Jag it is.
EV swap the Rolls. I don’t care if it’s one of the least desirable Rolls Royces, it’s still a Rolls and I will always love them. Luxobarges are the perfect candidates for electrification. These are meant to be quiet, ridiculously comfortable, classy cruisers. As much as I appreciate an LS I don’t necessarily think it would be the best move for this application.
EV convert this and you’ll have an amazing cruiser that won’t have the countless maintenance and reliability concerns that an old English V12 will. It’ll also be a conversation starter at Cars and Coffee and you can probably find your way into local parades and such. It’ll be cool as hell. I mean I guess LS-ing it could net similar results and would also receive my enthusiastic approval, but to me this screams for a silent, torquey electric powertrain. It just feel classier to me.
Exactly, I’m dreaming of gliding around town in that thing, a little oomph when you need it, but mostly ailing at all the people gawking at the thing.
And seriously, as built I’m not sure it gets double digit gas mileage in the city.
I’ve voted the Jag if it were me, but if it were for the purposes of one of Stephen’s articles getting the Roller er Rolling sounds like a more interesting read.
As and aside David needs to stop denying us broken Jaguar stories, not all Autopian readers are interested in broken Jeeps.
Chose Rolls. I love an XJ6, but would want the original inline 6. Its the lucas nonsense that kills them. Replace with a more modern fuel injection and ignition setup and that’s what i’d want. The Rolls would be more of a plaything to bastardize for me.
RoadKill the Rolls, because the Jag has already been RoadKill
Jaaag, please.
Yes, the engine has been swapped. I probably wouldn’t do that, but what’s done is done. From what we can see from the potatocam pics, the interior looks pretty good and the body is straight. “Light rust”? To be expected, I think.
The pics of the Rolls, however, are sus: they were taken in an open carport and the shots of the interior were taken through the windows. Why wouldn’t the legitimate owner/seller, you know, open the car to take pictures?
Two minor notes: the titles of each section are generally the links to the original advertisements; we don’t have that today so we can’t see the full ads, but maybe you can append the links. If one is describing something that happens daily, as we see here, “every day” should be two words.
Both ads are hyperlinked within the piece:
Rolls: “Note: This car sold in-between the time it was first found by Gossin Motors Backyard Shitbox Auto Rescue and the time this piece was published – bummer! Here’s the ad link regardless, here.“
Jag: “Here;s what the seller says (verbatim) in the ad which is linked here:”
Thanks for the grammar lesson also; I blame the 2nd glass of red wine as I was typing this at 11pm last night.
I’m a big dope and missed the links. 🙂 Thanks!
On the red wine front, may I recommend a Brunello di Montalcino – wonderful, wonderful stuff.
You’re right though with the section headlines – that was a guest-hosting oversight. ‘Tis being fixed now, my dude.
Thanks for reading and for the eagle-eye!
Thank you for writing!
I had to go Jag because the Rolls needs a swap, butbthe Jag already has it.
Also, I prefer Whitesnake to Oasis, though that was not a factor in my decision.
I personally have never understood the veneration Oasis gets. Their sound has never been all that original to me and many of their lyrics are nonsensical. To me they just kind of sound like a bunch of stoners trying to sound like The Beatles in someone’s dorm room. I’m sure I’ll get flak for this but I said it and I mean it. I’ve always gravitated more towards their contemporaries like Radiohead, Blur, the Stone Roses, etc.
Whitesnake has lots of bangers. Some of Coverdale’s lyrics are a little too on the nose for my liking (I don’t mind songs about sex in general but when they get sophomoric they kind of lose me) but Marsden’s guitar playing absolutely rips. I’ll never skip Slow An Easy or Still Of The Night when they come on. That key and tempo change in the middle of Slow An Easy for the guitar solo is absolutely masterful.
I’ve never really understood why Whitesnake gets thrown in with glam/hair metal. Here I Go Again was more or less in that style but their overall body of work is more or less just hard rock/classic metal. The same goes for Def Leppard but now I’m getting off track…
As a Brit who was a teenager during the Britpop era, it’s always kinda weird to me that Oasis are so much more widely known internationally than Blur.
Blur tended to be more successful than Oasis in the uk, put out more albums, and the various members also had/have widely known side projects (eg Gorillaz).
I might be biased though. If you start following a band as a teenager, it’s hard to ever be objective about them.
Blur is an exponentially better band in every way, although I’ll admit that The Gorillaz are my favorite project that Albarn has ever been involved with. That self titled-Demon Days-Plastic Beach album run is untouchable.
Hey all, this is a car site. Let’s stick to cars.
/s
So these are both engine swap candidates in my book. I’ll take the less “common”, more stately Rolls.
I think the Rolls is awesome but I voted for the Jag because I love the XJ6 and it makes a great V8 swap. That said, can you trust the judgement of the owner who can’t make a Chevy 350 run?
Tough one for me today. The Jag seems more ready to go, but the SBC kills it for me. If it had the original six, it would have gotten my vote. I have nothing against that era of Rolls and it gets my vote today.
With the amount of effort it would likely take to get either of these running (I don’t really believe what anyone says about anything “running great” until it just needed “minor repairs”), putting a new drivetrain in a Rolls just seems a lot cooler to me.
That said, if it is just some unknown wiring issue in the Jag, that’s gonna be a LOT cheaper and easier to get running.
I voted Rolls, because it’s gonna be cooler when it’s done.
I was looking for this: if it’s just a ‘minor repair’, why not fix the freakin’ thing? -much easier to sell a vehicle that can drive. I suspect there are other underlying issues
Yep, and you see it all the time. It’s the car that he could totally get running, if he just had the time, but he’ll eat the loss so someone can enjoy it. Or the person who’ll throw in the parts that will definitely fix the problem. Or the “it’s just a sensor I haven’t replaced” folks.
It must work to get rid of things, because people do it a LOT.
The Jag. It just looks soooo nice. Plus the heavy lifting has been done.
A presentable classic Rolls-Royce for $2500? I’ll take it. I have no delusions I have the ability to fix it, but I don’t care. I just want to look at it. Or maybe sit in the back seat while drinking tea and periodically yelling unreasonable demands at my imaginary driver. I often derisively refer to interesting but non-running cars as garage ornaments, but in this case, the Rolls would be a garage ornament in a good way.
David.
For the record, I would love to read SWG writing about his XK8 (or really anything, for that matter!)
Hear! Hear! Motion seconded!
Third’d!!
Yeah, David! One XK8 article. As a treat.
As a fellow Jag owner I would looooove to see some SWG content on the subject.
LS swap the Rolls
The Jag will absolutely be easier to get rolling again, but then you’d be rolling in a chevy-powered, mid-80’s Jag. If you’re going to be rolling in something (likely) repowered anyway, you might as well make it worth the trip. I’d be tempted to give it the full “Judge Smales” treatment with a gold respray.
Judge: I’m no slouch myself, you know.
Ty: Don’t sell yourself short, Judge. You’re a tremendous slouch
I saw a similar Rolls for sale in the AJC classifieds back when I was looking for a first car. they wanted $10k for it back in ’99, and my dad said nope, you get my old Honda Accord. He was probably right to stick me with the Honda, as it was reliable and blended in with the rest of the cars on the road.
Was all for the Jaaag until I read its SBC swapped. That shit is so boring to me. So Rolls it would’ve been. But I would slam it and go full VIP. Too stodgy otherwise.
This is a hard one today.
The Rolls features a pupper in one photo which would usually seal the deal and get my vote, but I just never really liked Oasis. First it was just a band I didn’t care for but the more their arguments went public I began to detest them more than their music. And that bullshit about being “the Beatles of the 90s”, no, no they weren’t. They got some radio play but they were not any Beatles.
Now on the Jag. The SBC is a nice touch, electrical doesn’t scare me but “a little rust” gave me a moment’s pause. No doggos in the ad which is a minus. But in the end my distaste for Oasis won out and though I’m not the biggest Whitesnake fan (the Led Zeppelin of the 80s) I did have their tape and enjoy an occasional listen.
So, in the end, I let my musical tastes take over and voted Jaaaaaaaaag.