One of the classiest rides you can find for under $20,000 is the two-door Jaguar XJ12C, a pillar-less coupe that combines the best features of the XJ6 design with limited production and V12 power. It’s one of those rare moments when a variant of a mass production vehicle reveals it looks significantly better as a coupe, and today, it’s not the easiest vintage Jaguar model to find. The car shown here on craigslist seems like it may have been a prior owner’s restoration project at one point, and comes with a variety of parts that will help the next owner finish that work. The asking price is $5,900, and thanks goes to Barn Finds reader Curvette for the tip.
Some will say the later XJ-S is the predominant Jaguar coupe, but that’s likely only because of sheer production numbers. You still see the XJ-S out in the wild, whereas the XJ12C is rarity in any form. A few years ago, I spotted one at an old car museum on Cape Cod that had sadly succumbed to the salty ocean air and was rusting to pieces. One of the primary culprits of rust on these coupes was the vinyl roof that came installed from the factory, which thankfully, has been removed from this example. That’s due to it having been previously repainted, which sadly, began coming off in sheets when hit with a pressure washer.
But again, on the upside – no rust, at least according to the seller. The interior shows signs of the in-progress restoration in the form of a restored driver’s seat. While the rest of the interior hasn’t been updated, it’s at least encouraging to see what it could look like. If I were listing one of these, I’d also show the rear quarters windows rolled down so you could peer in the backseat. That’s the view that drives home just how beautiful these cars are. Under the hood is a 5.3L V12 engine paired to a 3-speed automatic, good for approximately 244 horsepower and 269 lb.-ft. of torque.
The dual exhaust provides a clue that this Jaguar is equipped with the V12, while the big safety bumpers remind you that this is a U.S. model. The clean, new door panels and what looks like a variety of other interior components represent some additional value that the seller is including for the reasonable asking price. He notes that the engine runs well but that the idle is fast, and while it starts, stops, and goes into gear, he can’t offer more insight than that into its mechanical health. It would be difficult to find a car with this much style and V12 power for the same money, and being rust-free is a huge selling point.
The vinyl roof was standard because the pillarless body flexed enough to crack the paint on the roof. Modern paint systems make the vinyl unnecessary today.
What?
I should have been more specific. I don’t know where you got this from, but it makes no sense. There are innumerable American hardtops that have been built without vinyl tops and many of them unibody construction. None of them suffered from body flexing causing the paint to deteriorate. And the newer paints in 80s and 90s were a disaster given the number of vehicles driving around looking like they have leprosy (I actually own a couple of them). I can’t believe you got 4 recs on this incorrect claim.
That’s an urban legend. The geniuses of British Leyland thought vinyl was more “sporting.” All it was good for was retaining moisture
A city bus. Mercedes 0309, Saab, Tesla plus this Jag. Wow.
The V12 had the LSD that the 6 didn’t.
Never having had to pay for service/repairs, I can only say these are wonderful cars. They are elegant — especially when the vinyl roof goes away — comfortable, and the silky V12 gives them decent performance.
Not sure what the values are — I would never use BaT auctions as a guide — but at the ask, doing a proper paint job and sprucing up the interior seems worthwhile. It’s possible the idle issue is relatively minor, especially since the car hasn’t seen much recent use. Even with new tires and brakes factored in, it still would result in a terrific long-distance cruiser.
Don’t know if Jaguar ever offered a manual-transmission with the V12 (I’ve never seen one in the USA), but I’d consider that, too. Icing on the cake.
Yet another car I should have kept was a 75 Jaguar XJ6C. I’ve seen asking prices for well over $35,000 for really nice ones (6 and 12s), but don’t know if they actually sold or it was just wishful thinking on somebody’s part. Jaguar’s reputation for engine issues didn’t apply to my car, the only thing being that it was easy to flood when trying to start it. And I recall it also had factory dual exhaust. Looks like a great deal to me.
One of the prettiest coupes ever designed. Refurbish the paint, interior and mechanicals and you have quite the classy cruiser. None of that will be cheap. I’d also try to put the European bumpers on.
To me, there’s something right about British green, tan leather, wire wheels, rear-end trim, etc. There’s got to be a way, though, to redo the bumpers and toss many pounds of stupid rubber. This model is a forever classic in my eyes!
Going on anecdotal evidence (experiences from a couple of friends who owned this era Jags) the automatic transmission was trash – especially when it came ot the cheap gear shifter. It was best to get your hands on euro-spec manual transmission.
The coupes are really sharp. Put a stick shift in it and I would really like it!!
A four door body was pulled from the line and cut down to make the two door which required sectioning the roof. It was quicker to cover it than smooth out the roof. They were hand built after all.
No, the roof was a different piece. The rear pillar is different from the 4 door. The chassis was from the early S1 short wheel base 4 door. The only cut and shut was the outer door skin on early production cars.
XJ6 and XJ12 both had dual exhaust tips- not a tell tale for V12. 12 cylinder models had a chrome spear on the body feature which is missing here. The vinyl roof was not to hide a seam, but rather to hide cracking paint in the C pillars due to body twist in early prototypes.
Oh yeah and the comment about the crappy transmission only applies to XJ6 – that was a Borg Warner ancient 3 speed auto. Ask me how I know they are garbage. The V12 used GM Turbo 400.
My ‘76 12C was the BW. It put the Slush in slushbox. A friend had an XJS with the GM, totally different experience.
Later XJS’s with V12s used the TH400 – but the coupe is an earlier car. It used a BW Model 12. I own an XJ12C. These are nice cars when maintained. As to the vinyl roof, I hadn’t heard rigidity was the issue – although it could be. I heard it was difficulty in the roof build. My XJ12C was repainted about 10 years ago, and it had a lot of lead filler in the roof panel. It had lived most of it’s life in CA, and was rust free – so I don’t believe this was repair lead.
The listing has been removed, Bummer