Hi Ruben. I know Soren really missed this car and that great interior. He told me to NEVER sell my 550 because he missed it so much, it was hard to live without it. Later on, he got a 575, and I sold him a perfect 550 interior in the same Couio like yours. Believe it or not, he installed the 550 interior in his 575! Pretty impressive as many things are different. It is not plug and play!
Very cool Erik! I don’t know Soren, but it seems the last 2 prior owners of my 550 also have huge remorse of letting it go... I’ve learned my lesson vicariously: this unicorn is not leaving my stable, no way, no how. It is truly the most amazing 550 I’ve ever seen (I might be a bit biased!). I should also say, I love your 550 spec. I always look forward to your fantastic pics around Southern Europe. If you ever find yourself in CA (SF Bay Area), let me know, we’ll go for a drive and grab a beer. Ruben
Interesting thread, wish I'd found that one before. I stretched the dash leather for my car in much the same way, reinventing the wheel in the process. This forum is so helpful!
It is good to hear Ruben!! Some things are not for sale regardless of the price. Everyone wants a 250 GTO...... i have been to California only once. As I were going to work in Florida for about 1/2 a year, I was pretty tired of rental cars after the immigration que at Ft. Lauderdale Int’l airport. So I decided to get a US based classic car. First looked at XJSs which I have always had a sweet spot for, but the XK8 seemed to be more reliable. Went to all the US car sites to find them... Then I found a Sapphire dark blue metallic 2002 XK8 Convertible with Ivory white leather at a decent price... I said «that is my car!». Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the car was in Sacramento. I knew it was a once in a life time opportunity!! End of discussion, we went shortly thereafter on a big Dreamliner in Stockholm, a buddy and myself. About a hefty long 16 houre flight later, we arrived in Oakland, San Francisco. With no experience of the west coast. After a couple of houres of train transport, we arrived what I would call a rather «interesting» car car dealership with all kinds of forgotten luxury cars. «Ahmed» showed us around and finally the car which was not exactly what I expected, but it did run pretty well... We was invited to go for lunch at a local diner with him. Ahmed said: «Hey you guys looks like two Swedish party animals. I have a proposal for you guys...». Oh this sound interesting I thought. Back at the office which smelled exceptinally «weed» to do the paperwork, we got a rather unusal offer. To pay 500 dollars extra for the car, and in «reward» we would get a bunch of weed. He told me he had sold a car and got the weed as a full payment!! I thought to myself, this is really not good! My friend was a bit tempted, but I said thank you for the offer, but let’s stick to the initial plan. I had no interest in his offer, and we managed to drive from Sacramento with his dealer plate and an insurance document.... That was it. No service history and no tonneau cover. When driving southbound and into Texas and Arizona, this same weed smell was pretty intense in short periods of time. WHAT am I doing I thought to myself. Is the car some bogus **** or what...? The smell came several times as we cruised through America. The last thing I wanted was to get caught by some hard core Sherrif in Texas for transporting illegal substances. I was wondering if they somehow had forgot to empty some hidden areas of the car...... The Jag cruised flawlessly for about five days at a steady 85 mph. on the cruise control for about 10 h a day. We went to the carnival at New Orleans which was super cool. After we arrived Florida, we understood the weed smell was just weed along the route that was cut down and waited to be picked up!! No worries. No problems thankfully. We made a good day of cruise to Orlando and down I-95 south and took off the highway at Miami and ou to South Beach and parked outside Prime One Twelve steak house (1112 N Ocean Drive) on South Beach for a real steak after the trip of a lifetime! Will never forget that trip!!! Still have the car. Now on Norwegian plates. But with US side marker lights (not on euro versions) and a sticker from Florida Powerboat Club on the rear end!!
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thank Y Soren , marevelous page in dead. I'm about to help my fried with some of the Ferraris in his fleet , and this comes handy. Have some time over now after my latest three year project ..Tot. overhaul of my Lenham-Hurst GTR Best regards from Sweden Image Unavailable, Please Login
