Hi, All just purchased a 1987 Jaguar xjsc Targa top.. never seen one the seller said that it was rare { aren't they all lol} .. I heard they were only 3500 made ...can anybody tell me the history of the targa top Jaguar..Thank you for your time..

 

It was made by Jaguar when it looked like the USA was going to ban open top convertibles and hence they did not want to invest the resources into engineering an open top convertible when their largest market for such a car might be closing soon. Instead, they came out with the xj-sc, a car that would still meet US federal rollover standards even if they banned open top convertibles as it did have a solid roof structure, while simultaneously contracting Hess & Eisenhart in the US to convert imported coupes to open top convertibles. This was their strategy to wait out legislatures.

When it became clear that convertibles wouldn't be banned, Jaguar dropped the xj-sc, and they began producing their own convertible for the 1989 model year.

According to their own production numbers they produced 5,013 cabriolets. Perhaps 3500 of those were for the US market.


The last day of production for the xj-s.

 

Would think it would be more of a solemn day for them.

 

Thanks all... So I guess it sorta rare with only 5k built ...Thank you for your time

 

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HI, pix of my 1978 XJS converted by Aston Martin around 1980/82 as a prototype! a ONE OFF car!
pic shows what they did , but folding top mechanisim never worked properly,i took it off, and front of cockpit was canvas,snapped to front cross beam ,no actual hard top!

yes it probably was RARE but i made it into a open top roadster, i like it and get many GOOD remarks at shows!




ron