Ah, summer days on the coast line, gentle summer breezes whipping your hair while the salt spray threatens vulnerable electrical components and sensitive body panels – what could be better? All negativity aside, the thought of running around a place like Boothbay Harbor in Maine with a gorgeous Jaguar XJS convertible in quite possibly the best color combination ever is a tempting thought. This 1990 model listed here on Facebook Marketplace looks like it has truly been enjoyed, and the seller is asking $13,500 for a car with well under 100,000 original miles.
The Maine coastline is a treasure if you’ve never experienced it first-hand, although I would recommend waiting until the warmer months. Of course, then you’ll be there with most of the Northeast, which is a pain, so a shoulder season – think pre-Memorial Day, and just after Labor Day – is the best time to make plans for a weekend getaway. And perhaps you can even convince this seller to park the Jaguar for a few months for you to fly in and drive home once things thaw out a bit. The Jaguar looks terrific with lustrous paint and handsome chrome bumpers, and the Brits deserve credit for figuring out a fairly stylish way to hide the ugly U.S.-mandated safety bumpers.
The interior features biscuit-colored leather with handsome woodgrain trim, all of which appears to be in excellent condition. This XJS is obviously on the later end of the production line as the airbag steering wheel denotes; despite being a top-down cruiser, there’s no rampant evidence of sun damage inside. The automatic transmission was practically standard but you do come across rare manual transmission examples every now and again. The slushbox has the guts of a GM unit so if it fails, a cheap rebuild is never too far away. The same cannot be said for the V12, although ones that have been looked after are generally fine motors.
The 5.3L V12 made around 260 horsepower, a respectable number for the time. When speaking with folks who have driven these cars, they either love the laid-back driving experience or will report that the lazy transmission kills off any enjoyment that could be found putting your foot down. I’ve never driven one, so this is all secondhand information; feel free to chime in with your experiences below. This is a handsome cruiser that will make for a great summertime companion, and the seller is including the factory workshop manuals with the sale. Thanks to Barn Finds reader RichardinMaine for the find.
Classic color combo, rippling V12, what more can I ask for? Those electrical systems though, a little scary. Wish I just had thirteen grand to blow. This would be in my garage.
Here’s mine. The asking price is great but unlikely. I paid almost $10K less for mine 10 years ago with 70K miles (it has 78K now). It’s a delight to drive and feels like 60 when you’re doing 90, even with the top down. I don’t know what the complaint is about the 3 speed GM automatic because when you get into it, the car accelerates with lots of pep at any speed. So it won’t beat a C8 Vette or a souped GTO? I’ll bet it’ll handle an MB 350/450SL, which is a better comparative vehicle. Usual electrical gremlins to manage and you’d be well-advised to know how to wrench because $120-$150 shop hours can be painful (I’m adept at wrenching myself). There’s always the critical comments and suggestions to replace the 12 with a SBC or LS, but these are truly great engines if you care for them and a lot simpler than you might think in reality. The tranny is bullet-proof. The switches and relays are the things that usually need attention and the HVAC system is pretty much a nightmare to remediate (Delanaire MkIII). The Teves III braking system.is perhaps too smart by half, but when working correctly hauls down the car efficiently. Inboard rear calipers on an IRS are neat but a pain to remediate without removing the IRS (ask me how I know). All that and it’s still a real head-turner and a treat to drive at any speed.
My XJS was the most unreliable mechanical device I ever owned. Replaced the radiator and alternator several times, plus other ongoing issues. Local dealer (Imperial Motors) refused to honor warranty. The day after I sold it, the new owner called and said he was having problems with the car.
Depends upon the year. Earlier ones were more problematic.
I owned a ’76. The only problem it had was the ignition system – the “state-of-the-art” at the time OPUS unit. It was installed in “the valley” in ’76 but moved forward of the radiator in later cars. It still would overheat and cut out. Nowadays, modern optical units are cheap and available to replace it. Back in 1989, when I owned mine, you had to source used replacements – a temporary fix! Wonderful road car though. Would do 140 on the freeway – as smooth and quiet as 55.
One of the bargains in the car world. And, you don’t get much sun damage in Maine. Either it is raining, or snowing, or, the leaves are on the trees, and you are mostly in the shade. Yes, you could get a sunburn with the top down on I-95, but otherwise, most of the roads have trees on both sides and except near noon, you don’t need sunblock. And yes, Maine has beaches, but the water is pretty cold, and the parking, if you can find any, might be shady, too. So, if not driven in the winter when road salt and water rot the undersides, this may great car!
I drove a V-12 XKE from Youngstown Ohio to Seattle Washington ,it was an absolute blast. I do agree with most of the pros and cons. Especially about the Prince of darkness “Lucas”.
I have rnjoyed owning douzens of Jaguars. Including a couple XJS’s. They are fantastic road cars. A true GT, so smooth and quite. What most people do not respect, is these are now 30+ year old cars. And as they have been very inexpensive for a long time now. So lots of people have bought them, and not the money to do any maintenece of any kind. As they are a complex car. And also the car when launched, had lots of very new tech cutting edge stuff. That had not been used before. The fuel injection system, and ignition system. Were really before their time. And also the compression on theses motors was anywhere from 11 to 1 up to 12.5 to 1 pn pump gas.
So the fact that any of them run after 30+ years sitting outside is a miracle
Had a 90 red one just like it with 32k mi. Like others have said, if you maintain them they are great. Was hood up at nighttime once and could see the spark plug wires arcing to ground. Plugs, dizzy, and wires all in the center valley with fuel injection plumbing just above. Needles to say replaced wires. Still scary!
Jeff Lavery, I’ve owned several of these XJ-S beauties, and the later models tended to be sluggish off the line. Rear end ratio of 2:88 if my memory serves correctly, to meet EPA requirements. The late 70s and early 80s XJ-S had a 3: something rear end. I did a rear-end swap with one of those on my ’86. Probably wouldn’t do that conversion again as the motor was really spinning around 60-70mph!
Here’s a picture from a few years back when I had 3 convertibles in the stable….