Description
Bought as a car I'd wanted since they were launched. This became available when the previous owner sadly passed away after owning the car for 19yrs. I don't feel the need to tell you about the car and the model history etc - if you are looking at this advert, you may know the history or have done some research.
I bought it having not viewed it in person, based off the photographs the seller provided, showing that there were some areas that needed to be addressed and had it transported to me in the Scottish Borders (from Lancs for £260 - coincidence or what - via shiply and provided here for a guide should you wish to have it transported to you from mine).
Upon arrival I found - The expected bodywork issues I'd seen in the images - dent in front passenger door, all alloys requiring refurbishment, badges faded, roof requiring paint, rear window trim perished, front windscreen seal perished, head lining dropped.
Then I found -
A/ C had been removed.
IPK display has lines missing.
Coolant leak. (Resolved)
Electric mirrors didn't work. (Fixed)
Stereo/ CD changer didn't work. (Replaced and upgraded)
Glove box broken. (Fixed)
Needed a service. (Done)
No pollen filter. (Replaced)
Bulb fault on rear reg plate. (Repaired by rubbing down the contacts)
Bobbly alcantara seats and rip in driver seat. (Rubbed down/ patched)
I set about sorting it out.
New badges.
Rubbed down the seats restoring the alcantara look, so they are now far more acceptable, and patched the rip in the driver bolster.
Used a headlining repair kit (and some glue) to pin the headlining back up.
Fitted a BT Pioneer head unit. (Factory fit Kenwood will come with the car, and supplied with CD changer which is still fitted in the boot).
Repaired the faulty electric wing mirrors using a forum "How to" guide.
Got the scuttle panel off, cleaned it and used some Autoglym trim restorer to get it back to black which allowed me to fit a new cabin/ pollen filter and replace the windscreen seal.
Replaced the wiper blades.
Fitted some SS exhaust tips.
Professional refurb of the wheels. Tyres are all good Avons.
Refurbed the centres myself.
Replaced the rear window trim.
Replaced both rear lights as lenses cracked.
Freshly retrimmed steering wheel (Royal Steering Wheels) - fatter, thumb grips added, alcantara top and bottom, perforated leather at the sides and a BRG 12 o'clock stripe.
Local garage sourced the coolant leak to the water pump which was replaced but they then found that it also needed a thermostat so they replaced that too. They changed the spark plugs and air filter that I sourced from DMGRs. I also have an oil filter to go with her and 2 new drop links which were MOT advisories before the one I've just had done. The other historic MOT advisory was for corrosion on the springs which has been the same for the last few years.
The engine as far as I can see appears to be standard, but is fitted with an Accufab throttle body.
She goes really well. 4th gear pretty much does everything. She sounds great. Standard exhaust fitted. Sounds understated and nice until you accelerate hard and it really goes and sounds very nice indeed.
It's a non SE car, so manual windows in the back, no sunroof, single DIN, manual black alcantara non heated seats.
I changed the standard gear knob to a TF one, but the original is in good condition and can come with it.
Paint code is HFF, so it is British Racing Green pearlescent.
What's left to be done? It's done 112k + miles, and is 22 years old having spent 19 of them parked on the road. Cosmetics that are over and above expectations of a car this old with this mileage - in my opinion -
The dent in the passenger front door. Paint-less dent repair guy told me £180 plus VAT.
The roof - has some lacquer issues as photos.
Few areas that you may want to touch up. Tiny bottle of touch up paint included.
Mechanics.
It doesn't have A/ C - this was removed by the previous keeper - I don't know why, but it has freed up considerable space to allow for a better cold air feed if you wanted to investigate that as an option.
The springs front and rear have been a historic MOT advisory for a while now - but the current MOT is advisory free.
No vibration or pulling on the steering, but a slight - and I mean slight - vibration under very heavy braking from speed.
Why sell it...? Good question. So I've just done a 500 round trip in my wife's new Volvo XC40 and it was just nice, cumfy, quiet and so easy to drive. I'm 55, getting lazy, and I've decided to get into a new car as my daily and so have just placed a lease order on a new Golf GTi DSG. I've really enjoyed "saving" this 260, and having a tinker with it but it's time for me to get a newer auto car. Simple as that really, and I feel it needs to go to a new owner who knows what it is, rather than traded in to a main dealer for peanuts.
This car is not a show car - I need to make that clear. It is a good, usable running project car if you want it to be.
I have a lot of bills including the pre-reg bill of sale to the first private owner from 22 years ago.
You will love that you don't see many about, and it has a V8 badge on the dash and on the back.
It sold on here 2 months ago now at £5, 500 without the MOT pass, but then the guy went to a show, saw, fell for, and bought a BMW 320 instead - no hard feelings, but his loss. Since listing it here last time, my 260 now has a no advisory MOT until Sept 2027, a retrimmed steering wheel done professionally by Royals, a good rear window trim (off a 75) and replacement lenses at the rear, but I'm not after any more money despite all that.
Known as #98 due to the chassis number, my V8 is one of only six ZT 260 saloons that were non-SE spec. 2 were exported meaning this is one of only 4 BRG saloons made for the UK market making it a rare version of an already rare car.
Price.
There is one 260 that is cheaper that I can find advertised for sale, but it hasn't been on the road for a very long time, has been for sale for ages, is covered in decals and has non-standard wheels. No judgement - it could be a very nice car for someone. Then mine. Then there are other cars , but they are a lot more money which makes my car - in my opinion - great value at this price point.
The private plate will come off and it'll go back onto an "04" plate. As such it is the lower road tax - so £39 a month and I paid £200 fully comp without any NCB as it's being used on my other car.
No swaps or px. Bank transfer upon collection only. Happy to do a walk around video or answer any questions.
