Bug-in-amber Jaguar XJS for sale
Unregistered and entirely unblemished cabriolet is a history page in three dimensions...
The XJS’s position in Jaguar’s long history has sometimes been described as curious. Mostly because it didn’t really live up to the job of being an E-Type successor (how could it, really) but also because it was eventually succeeded by a car - the XK8 - that was hugely prettier than it could ever claim to be. And nicer to drive.
But to dismiss it now as a mere curio is to forget just how long it was around for (two turbulent Jaguar decades is like an ice age in a German car company) and the extent to which it helped define its maker’s image in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Also, lest we forget, under Ford’s watchful gaze, it definitely did get better. Not least to look at in its later Celebration guise that functioned as a run-out model.
This is not quite that, though it features many of the same styling and interior enhancements. No, what it is, rather gloriously, is not just a very well-preserved example of Jaguar's grand tourer, but effectively a factory-fresh time capsule with just 311 miles recorded on its clock. According to the vendor, it has never been registered, having spent the vast majority of its life as a reference model for its maker’s engineering division.
Said dealer provides a lengthy explanation of why they went out of their way to acquire the car from Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust, though it hardly needs justifying on these pages: as ever, it is enough to marvel at the pictures of a 31-year-old modern classic that has seldom ever been sat in, let alone driven up the road. More often than not, there’s a trigger’s broom vibe to even very well-kept XJSs - but not this one. It is, very obviously, just as it left the factory in 1994.
This spectacle might be reduced to the status of mere novelty, were it not for the spec, which is said to be unique. For one thing, you get stately black with Nimbus grey leather, making the most of its cleaner lines; for another, you get the rarely-seen manual gearbox, and (we’re assuming), the later AJ16 variant of Jaguar’s 4.0-litre straight six. Whether or not this is the variant best preserved for posterity is open to question - but it’s the view the heritage trust took, anyway.
Now, it can be yours. That you will be asked to part with nearly £40k more than the next most expensive XJS convertible is hardly surprising, though it will obviously give even the most hardy collector pause for thought. That is as it should be: the car presents as neither transport nor investment. Like all such time machines, it is more museum artefact, one made all the more poignant by Jaguar’s decision to regard much of its past as unnecessary baggage. Probably very few people qualify as worthy custodians of such a car - let’s just hope it finds one of them.
I don't 88-grand-like-it......but I like it.
My dad had a V12 hard top back in the day. Would be cool to do a restomod one (not this one, obviously)
There were plenty of people 10 years ago laughing at the price of Fast Fords, for example......they're not laughing now.
The SL Shop has got hold of a 1988 R107 500 SL with 42 miles on it. Another car destined never to be driven for fear of devaluing it .
I just find these museum pieces a cross between an ornament and a missed opportunity.
I don't 88-grand-like-it......but I like it.
My dad had a V12 hard top back in the day. Would be cool to do a restomod one (not this one, obviously)
There were plenty of people 10 years ago laughing at the price of Fast Fords, for example......they're not laughing now.
"JDHT recently decided to dispose of some of their vehicles and this example being the oldest stock car was released, leaving only 2 more XJS examples in the collection."
I guess they thought seeing as someone was showing interest that the getting was good, and the other two stock examples being 1996 cars meant they sat better as a pair.
Things like manual swapping a V12, upgrading electrics, making subframes less floppy, making the V12 breath properly...it all adds up.
It's a cool find and I love the XJS. Being picky with my £80k though I think i'd want it to be a V12.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff