RE: Spotted: TWR Jaguar XJ-S V12

[bobfrance]

I had a 1991 facelift Jaguarsport XJR-S with the 6.0l V12 and all the fancy bits. It was a superb car and totally reliable. I then went mad and wasted lots of money on Porsches and Mercs for a few years. I have now regained my sanity and managed to find myself a 1992, one owner 4.0l (straight six), manual gearbox, XJS with only 40K on the clock and I have to say that it is a much better drivers car than the XJR-S was. So much lighter at the nose and isn't hampered by that awful auto box which sapped so much of the engine's power. It really feels 'sporting'. It's a mystery to me why all the TWR and Jaguarsport models weren't manual in the first place.

[soad]

Spanna said:

3-Speed Auto!?

Old school car.

I'd want a Lister Jaguar - bigger engine, more power.

[Searider]

22mpg combined?

Really?

[bobfrance]

Searider said:

22mpg combined?

Really?

Never. I got 15-17mpg combined out of mine and it was a later model.

[vdubbin]

To me, the XJS is a car that looks older than it is. It gives off the image of being older than it actually is. I spotted one for the first time in ages over the weekend, and was surprised to see it wearing a '97 plate. I would have been less surprised if had been '77.

It's still a great looking bus though.

[Twincam16]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

quite like that actually.

did i read somewhere that the flying buttresses at the back were because the car was originally designed to be mid engined?

James May mentioned it on Top Gear but I haven't seen or read any reference to it anywhere else.

Judging by the concepts and design models that led up to it, it looks like it had an E-type-style hatchback that disappeared at some point in the design process, but the fastback side profile didn't, leading to the recessed boot and rear window:

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/concepts/concepts-...

[garypotter]

great car, my fiend owns a TWR XJ-S which has a 5 spedd manual dogleg gearbox, straight through exhaust pipes, just fitted his own cold feed insuction kit and I await for it to be abck on the road for the crazy side ways action on rounabouts,

ps the car sounds awesome!!!

he has also asked me for my injection system when my car goes to the scrap yard in the sky (he will have to buy a 2nd one) as he wants to fuel inject the V12!!!!

[Maldini35]

Ugly, thirsty, heavy, unreliable, cramped and totally impractical.
God I want one.

This Lister variant is taking up far too much of my brainspace at the moment.

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

[Loplop]

Got a soft spot for any XJS, Dad had a standard 3.6 Auto and it was one of those cars that just felt 'planted' and 'capable'. We're both tall so it was a pain getting in and out of, but a massively comfortable place to be in once sat down.

[J4CKO]

I do love them but they are a bit of a dollop really, I drove a couple when working in the trade expenting rocket ship performance and was a bit nonplussed, a Porsche 928 made it feel slow, old and totally outclassed, still love them though, had a lovely burgundy model one as a kid.

[rutthenut]

Like the XJS, although not so keen on that paint and bodykit. Given that the underlying stuff was changed too, would be churlish to not to overlook that.

See a workshop near me, in Greenham Common, that has rows of XJS outside - think he must be kept busy fettling old ones. Have avoided going there during the day time as a chat with the proprietor could possibly result in a rash decision :-o

[After_Shock]

Theirs one dumped that I know of, used as a storage box and its rather rusty, no idea if it runs or not!

[Drakey52]

A tidy one still makes me hum the theme tune.....

http://www.saint.org/images/ogilvy-with-jaguar-128...

However the wheels, skirts, spoilers and colour schemes of TWR's and the ilk ruin it for me. It's like the rubber bumpers on an MGB or the endless "facelifts" of the Pantera.

[rumple]

DonkeyApple said:

It only shocked stuffy idiots and most of them are only shocked because magazines have briefed them to be.

The numbers show a slightly different story as no one wanted E-Types by the mid 70s. They were fat, ugly, dated and for chavs.

The XJS sold in twice the numbers the E-Type ever did and was a better car.

100% agree.

[Amirhussain]

Spanna said:

3-Speed Auto!?

Was thinking the same thing.

[anonymous-user]

That driver's seat looks a bit worse for wear considering the low mileage listed.

[rgw2012]

Had three V12 XJS's and apart from one which, even though it had a full main dealer history, needed 8 out of the 12 plugs helicoiling at vast expense, they were fantastic motors. The last one I owned was a '93 XJR-S (facelifted version). It was a great car, period. I always regret selling it but I guess you have to move on

[infradig]

My favourite thing on these is the hole in the spoiler for the aerial to go through. Wonder how many aerial masts were snapped by people opening the boot with the radio on?

[MycroftWard]

Love these, fancy one at some point. I'd have to de-two tone that one though I think, I love retro motors but I've never been able to get myself into it.

[Tanguero]

There is a switch that retracts the aerial when you open the boot. Unfortunately the aerial takes several seconds longer to retract than it does to fling the boot open!