With that sort of Mileage, She does look a bit of a Bargain Clarke, so what are you waiting for!

 

I'm probably the last person to make any constructive comment on Green Issues, I drive a V12 without any Cats and as such do not consider myself environmentally friendly.

 

You're not alone... I now run a V8 as a daily driver... But the cats on a super-XJS would be need es for tax and driving regulations here. The cylinder cat off because I do think economically...

 

Minus 1200lb and 18 inches. Plus 200hp and 200ftlb torque and 2000rpm.
That would be fun.

 

If I had Two Million quid in the Bank, economy would be the very last thing on my mind!

 

Something else I would like to do, is to have the Soft Top modified like the Hess and Einhart Convertible, so that it folds completely flat right down out of the way.

Instead of being bunched up under the Tonneau.

 

I love these threads Excuse me if some of my technical knowledge is lacking, but I have a damn good idea of what I'd like.

- find the perfect body (pre facelift of course)
- strip it to bare metal and have it treated for corrosion resistance
- apply as much sound deadening material as possible
- paint it the blackest black you can find
- refresh the interior as needed
- punch the displacement up to 7 liters and add twin turbos - like that outfit in Australia
- all new and modern electronics / engine management, etc.
- modern transmission (don't mind if it's an auto)
- heated and cooled seats!!!!!
- tastefully built in sat nav, bluetooth, etc.
- whatever suspension upgrades are appropriate to maintain the GT character
- tasteful wheel / braking upgrades - maybe a fat 17-18" size max.
- all LED interior lighting
- exterior lighting upgrades as well
- light tint all the way around

It would look and act essentially stock till you get on it. Yeah, that's about right.

 

I visited KWE in 2010 and I must say the couple that owns the place are the nicest and most hospitable people you will ever meet.

While in London on business I took a train all the way to Thatcham and got the full tour. I went for a ride in the same xjs that James May tested in his clip about KWE on Top Gear a few Series ago and it was bar none the BEST handling, driving, and comfortable car I have ever been in. And the power from that rebuilt V12 OMG.. I also got to see several other xjs's in various stages of restoration.

Top notch does not begin to describe their work. The attention to detail is unbelievable and what comes out of that shop is the closest thing to a brand new xjs anyone will ever see except so much better. They even drove me back to the train station in a fully rebuilt Jet black xj6.

I also visited the plant on Browns Lane in Coventry where the xjs was built. Had to hit up all the sights considering I had come all the way from California!

Anyway, If I ever have $100k laying around, KWE is where my Jag is headed!

 

Ditto! But I'm not a big fan of the Turbo, as even my Standard Stock V12 could blow most cars away.

The one thing that needs altering if anything is the inlets and the Exhaust.

Take a look at how many flat bends you can find on a standard one, which is making no sense to me on a performance car.

But the one thing I'm lusting after, is the Engine that 'Ronbros' has got in his Car, as even apart from the power it puts out, if you take a look at the photos,

it is really a work of art, in its own right.

 

They must be one of the finest XJS rebuilders on the Planet, all of their restorations have to be seen to be believed but I very much doubt if you would need to spend as much as $100,000.

Providing you had a fairly nice Car in the first place.

 

THAT would change my opinion of a convert! The Hess and Eisenhart (Iron-hard when translated from German to English ) looked stunning. But still had some rag on top. If there were a way to really make it disappear totally with a nice metal topping/cover like modern converts have, would be great. But at the same time, the car should have a nice and solid rigidity with some more sophisticated methods of protecting the passengers (say like an older Merc with the pop up rear headrests or bars to gain head space in case the car flips).

 

with money no object;HMM.

all aluminum body and platform etc. light weight, widebody.

all subframes and brackets , fabricated Stainless Steel,strong and no rust!

forged and machined Magnisium wheels. 18/10 frt, 18/11 rear.

and of course my favorite engine an AUDI V12 DIESEL ,factory twin turbo,direct injection,

transmission a GM 8 speed automatic, carbon fiber drivshaft, rear axle and diff, ether A GM Camaro IDS, or the Ford IDS from Mustang.

a very simple interior, just a good modern gage system, comfortable seats(i'm getting along in yrs), it would not be a track car, it would be a great street cruiser. what a great show car and conversation piece.

thats it for now,so when do i get my money? hehe,HMM.

 

A 'Trick Roof' like on the Merc SL, We can only dream.

 

As soon as I Win the Lottery Ron, I'll be over!

 

Mine would be as close as possible to a Group 44 XJS replica, powered by a rebuild of the Lister 7.0 I saw on Ebay recently with a $1999 buy-it-now price.
As an aside, I saw on this thread that a poster has a Jag-engined '40 Chevy pickup. I'd love to see pics of it (and would love to see 'em posted on every SBC-engined XJS thread).

 

Bodywise the XJS is extremely hard to improve on, though I would opt for a slight body lift to allow for larger rims/wheels as an option. Rear underbody spoilers and cover the underbody with an undertray, add front vents on either side of the lower section under the bumper like an F-type, and duct them into the air intake or auxillary cooling accessories like seperate trans cooler etc.

Some interesting side vents on this XJS to consider


More functional dash layout.


Interior I dislike the stock dash and console somewhat. The gauges are ok it feels like a cockpit but the center trip computer area is a stacked mess. I would pay a design team to implement a new facelift taking ideas from the Volvo SUV which shares some basic shapes and dimensions but is much better thought out.


As far as the engine I feel like the amount of work required to really squeeze a fairly perfect engine isn't justified. Recently I got a quote for ignition and ECU conversion. New MoTec v12 ecu with coil-on-plug setup and tuning would run over 7000USD.

I'd rather see the engine converted to run diesel with twin compound turbos. The stock compression ratio on the HE is close enough as it is. Plus diesel is just better.

 

I'd actually rather like to install the first style of XK8 dash. That massive slab of wood with those round dials looks cool. Failing that, a Daimler Double Six (XJ6 SIII) style dash, old-school. In both cases, there's more wood than the couple of inches we get in the XJS. No fancy touchscreens, please. Just somewhere to slot a tablet instead, so I can update it and carry it around as needed.
And cupholders instead of ashtrays.
Externally, the design is almost perfect, though I'd like to connect the engine bay to the cowl grille (wipers area) to extract heat from there, and perhaps enlarge the entire car an inch or two in all directions (to maintain its proportions) so it's easier to get in and out of, and my hair isn't brushing the roof liner if I let it get too long....

 

I thought about that to when I realized cutting in hood vents would be a) ugly as **** and b) expensive as ****. In the summer I remove the rubber drain tubes as it never rains anyway, would not be hard to cut out a large opening if your very careful with a cordless grinder and put something behind on the other side, even a 10x5" vent would do wonders.

 

Indeed. The main issue is probably whether the stuff on the engine bay side would block most of the airflow anyway. Probably more engine noise, too. If people are actually worried about that, of course. Ideally, have a way to close the vent when it's not hot weather....

 

If you've ever stuck your head under the car while idling there is quite a force of hot air even through all that crap, at slight speed I could see a top end vend like that being quite useful, I mean heat rises and any Jag on the track must have the hood jacked an inch to vent the engine bay it makes sense to put a vent as high as possible.