The XJS is, in some circles, considered something of a Jaguar "odd duck" and
is not one of the more revered Jaguar models. However, it has its own
special charm and is a superb cruiser.

The V12 versions are the best performers, but pre-89 V12s are notorious oil
leakers and very expensive to repair. '89 and beyond V12s  received a
modern, one-piece rear main seal in place of the old-fashioned split rope
seal which eliminated the most  egregious leaks.

Nearly all XJS's imported to the USA were automatics, with the exception of
a very small number of AJ6-equipped cars imported as a market test in
1985-86, and a very small number of AJ16 6 cylinder cars imported in '94.
The car for most of its life was equipped with a very stout 3 speed GM400
trans, which gave way to a GM 4 speed in '93 (I may be wrong on the year
here.)

XJS early on were absolute maintenance & repair hogs, numerous problems from
bumper to bumper. It received a major facelift in '92 and gradually became
quite relaible by the time of its replacement by the XK8 in '96 for '97 m.y.

My personal favorite XJS Story: in the mid-80s, in response to market
pressure for a convertible XJS, Jaguar management negotiated a consulting
agreement with the outstanding German cachbuilder, Karmann. Karmann was
supplied with a set of plans for the XJS, and a complete set of body
tooling. Karmann came back to Jaguar and reported that the vehicle was 1"
longer on one side vs. the other! (When XJS was designed it was under
BL-ownership and no one had ever bothered to check the specs.) This was
rationalized at great expense with the advent of the factory convertible in
'89.

Other funny XJS facts, bodies were welded up on five individual "turntable"
jigs at the Castle Bromwich body plant. As part of their imposition of Ford
build quality standards within Jaguar, Ford manufacturing engineers
discovered that all five jigs were set at different specs! Therefore, one
could determine through panel fit issues which of the five jigs it had been
welded up on. NONE of the jigs were set to the actual specs, which is why
XJS had so many bad panel fits, particularly the doors and rear trunk lid
seams.

While the convertible was in development, Jaguar made an interesting
"Cabriolet" model in the mid-80's, with removeable "t-top" roof panels and a
plastic rear screen that could be dropped. (Later fitted with a removeable
glass top section). All of these were covered with a sub-standard fabric,
which faded rapidly in sunlight. Jaguars "fix" was to "paint" it with a
colored dye substance, which looked awful and did not stop it from
completely deteriorating within a year or so of prolonged UV exposure. Most
have been recoverd by custom top shops by now. Regardless, this is a very
cool looking XJS, and quite rare.

One last bit of Jaguar trivia, due to infighting between the factory and the
USA management team over the need for a convertible, in 1985 Mike Dale (then
US VP Sales & Marketing) decided to take matters into his own hands and
contracted with a  Cincinnati, Ohio USA coachbuiler, Hess & Eisenhardt, to
convert XJS coupes into convertibles. The resulting vehicle was a complete
disaster, massive body flex, weird fuel tank arrangement that leaked fuel
into the passenger compartment, the list goes on. The project banrupkted
Hess & Eisenhardt and led to a very costly out-of-court settlement. To the
amazement of many, Mike Dale BS'ed his way out responsibility for the mess a
nd became President of Jaguar under Ford. Most of these cars ended up being
either bought back by Jaguar and crushed or junked by the marketplace. No
parts availabiluity exists for the special conversion stuff, top bows,
tanks, etc. are only available by scrounging. (If you see one of these DO
NOT BUY IT, RUN, do not walk away!)

Lastly, a nmber of these were converted along the way to Chevrolet V8 power.
If the conversion was done by a reputable installer the vehicles run well
and are much cheaper to maintain. However, they have very little if any
value and should be avoided.