1977 Jaguar V12 Xjs Coupe Rare First Version 28,000 Mles One Owner on 2040-cars
Limestone, Tennessee, United States
1977 JAGUAR XJ-S
GRAND-TOURING COUPE (VERY FIRST VERSION
OF THE XJ-S) This is a gorgeous, magnificent, regency-red motor car, with
a 5.3-litre, V-12 engine with only 27,796 actual miles on the clock as of today’s
writing (03DEC13). According to Steve Kennedy’s
wonderful Jaguar book, “Jaguar, The Classic Marque,” only 1,269 12-cylinder,
left-hand-drive first-versions of the XJ-S were built. So, this is quite a rare car. One of the Jaguar technicians who has done
maintenance work on this car told me he rarely sees an XJ-S of this early
vintage any more and it is the cleanest one he’s ever seen. The car has been serviced by John Nance, the
British Motor Specialist in Kingsport, Tennessee, and by Dick Maury at Coventry
West near Atlanta. Both of these gentlemen
are intimately familiar with the car and can give their opinions regarding it
if asked. It has the GM Turbo Hydramatic 400 automatic transmission
which replaces the earlier Borg-Warner model 12 automatic transmission. It is one of the earliest XJ-Ss to be so
equipped. As a Jaguar-club member, I had
already seen the factory bulletin that announced the change to the GM
gearbox. So, when I bought the car, in
early 1978, I asked the salesman at the Jaguar dealer if this car had the new
GM Hydramatic transmission. He looked at
the car’s VIN, which ends in “BW,” and told me, “No, it has the Borg-Warner
transmission.” But, when I examined the
documents that came with the car, I found that it did have the GM Turbo
Hydramatic 400 automatic transmission. Its date of manufacture is September 22, 1977, and it was
dispatched from the factory on November 14, 1977, to British Leyland, Los Angeles. I bought the car new from the Jaguar dealer
in Santa Maria, California on March 7, 1978.
It is therefore a one-owner car, having been owned since new by myself
and never having been sold to anyone else since its original purchase. Mechanically the car is in excellent condition with no
problems that I’m aware of. It drives
like a dream; the low-mileage engine runs like a smooth turbine. It has been meticulously maintained throughout its lifetime. All original documents, service records and
the heritage certificate are available.
It is just about the “best-driving” car I have ever driven. The body has minor damage from burglars or vandals breaking
into our garage in Santa Maria, California, where the car was stored for six
years while we were in medical mission service on the island of Guam from 1985
to 1991. The body damage is of such
minor nature that I haven’t felt it to be worthwhile to spend a lot of money to
repair it. The roof of the car has some
minor ripples but they are noticeable only if examined closely. There are a couple of other minor dents in
one door and on the top of one fender. The burglars also removed and stole all four of the Kent
road wheels off the car. The car was
stored on blocks which made it easy to remove the wheels. When we returned from our six-year tour of
mission service on Guam, all I could find to replace them were used
wheels. So, I purchased 4 used wheels of
the same type and cleaned them up and had 4 tubeless Michelin X Steel-Belted
Radial tires of the original correct size mounted on them. For some reason, even though the boot lid was
not locked, the thieves did not remove the spare wheel and tire and they are
still present and original with little or no use since new. The damage to the roof also caused damage to
the headliner inside the car. There is a
new red, vinyl headliner in the car, which gives it a very nice, neat and new
appearance. The rest of the black interior is still present and in good
condition. The black leather seats are
still the original items that came with the car. The black carpets are still original and in
very good condition. The car still has
that “new” smell. The interior of the
boot is very clean and looks new. The
Die-Hard battery has probably been replaced a time or two. It is constantly connected to the “Battery
Tender Plus” which is computerized and keeps it charged up but not overcharged. The XJ-S comes with a beautiful $200 “BLOCK IT DUSTOP” car
cover made by Covercraft and sold by the Big Sky Car Cover outlet in Montana. The reason for finally arriving at the painful decision to
sell this magnificent car is that I am 85 years old and I am becoming less and
less able to take care of this car and several other Jaguars that we own. It is time to reduce the number of our “fleet.” |
Jaguar XJS for Sale
- 1990 jaguar xjs convertible v12 - 83k original miles - *no rust* *no reserve*
- 1991 jaguar xjs convertable v-12 rebuilder interior fire great deal!!(US $1,900.00)
- Beautiful candy apple red xjsh v12, newer repaint, original interior,
- Jaguar xjs (low mileage)(US $10,000.00)
- 1998 jaguar xj sedan(US $4,995.00)
- 1992 jaguar xjs base coupe 2-door 5.3l v12(US $4,000.00)
Auto Services in Tennessee
Veterans Auto Services ★★★★★
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Auto blog
2013 Jaguar XF Sportbrake
Thu, 28 Feb 2013Editor's Note: Our reporter was anxious to get some time behind the wheel of the XF Sportbrake, even though Jaguar only had a very small window available for us to drive it. As a result, we weren't able to capture our usual original images to go with the Quick Spin story. Please accept our regrets, and Jag's lovely stock photography, instead.
The last wagon attempt from Jaguar was the X-Type, built between 2003 and that model line's unceremonious end in 2009. That X-Type and its legacy represent a real dog of a chapter for Jaguar, and for the Halewood factory where the barker was built. It was the final joke told prior to the brand's proper rebirth phase - a phase we're enjoying the heck out of today.
Current magnanimous Jaguar owner Tata can be thanked for this new wagon, the XF Sportbrake. Like all newness coming from Jag these days, this new wagon also feels lightyears more serious an offering, ready to compete squarely with established premium wagon makers across Europe. A Jaguar wagon in America is a far-off priority for the company, frankly. Still we deserve to know what we're missing for the time being from this (sometimes overly) cherished British firm.
Jaguar buys world's largest collection of British cars
Mon, 28 Jul 2014Whether you're looking at Bertone going bankrupt or Spyker facing (and subsequently resolving) a large tax bill, it's saddening to see an automaker having to sell off its factory collection. That's why we're glad to report that there are still some acquiring historic vehicles from their pasts. Like Jaguar, which has just bought the largest private collection of classic British cars in the world.
The collection of 543 cars was painstakingly assembled by one James Hull, a British dentist with some 50 dental clinics to his name across the UK and who was keen to find the right buyer to take possession of his life's work and preserve it for years to come.
Of those 543 cars, the majority are of British origin, including over 130 Jaguars. The collection includes seven XK120s, several C- and D-Types, a rare XKSS, eight E-Types, thirty Mark-series Jaguar sedans, nineteen XJS coupes and convertibles, some twenty XJ sedans as well as some pre-war SS models and Swallow sidecars and coachbuilt specials from the company's early days. Among the many noteworthy examples are a rare SS100, an alloy-bodied XK120 and an MK X owned by company founder Sir William Lyons himself, as well as Winston Churchill's Austin, Elton John's Bentley, and racing driver and motorcycle rider Mike Hailwood's E-Type.
Jaguar rolls out 2014 XJ updates
Tue, 20 Aug 2013It may be an uphill battle with Mercedes-Benz having rolled out its all-new S-Class, but in an effort to entice more customers towards its flagship sedan, Jaguar has announced a series of enhancements for the XJ.
A number of upgrades aim to make the long-wheelbase model that much more accommodating, with new airline-style rear seats that recline, massage and optimize the headroom in the back. The rear suspension has also been recalibrated for comfort, and there's a new optional Meridian sound system with a Conversation Assist feature that uses microphones in the headliner to pick up occupants' voices and pipe them through the speakers to support the art of conversation in motion.
The engine range carries over unchanged, but each engine is now mated to an eight-speed automatic with an available stop/start system which Jaguar says takes less time to restart the engine than it takes for the driver to move his or her right foot from brake to gas. Full details in the press release below.