That is a somewhat tempermental car, extensively modified by a formerly esteemed coachbuilder who went out of business soon after this escapade. Many examples suffered premature corrosion problems in the rear floor areas. H&E fabricated their own upper and lower fuel tank setup which was prone to leakage, fuel starvation, and sending unit problems.

I worked on these cars when they were new, and some of them smelled like gas in the boot when they rolled off the transporter. I always thought the rear window was too small, and the lack of chassis rigidity gave these cars alot of cowl shake.

Even the 1989 factory convertible is a far better car in all of these aspects.The continuing efforts byJaguar to improve torsional rigidity eventually gave the XJS convertible a very solid feel. Additionally,H&E cars predated ABS braking systems ('88 1/2 on) and driver's airbag ('90on).

Comparatively few H&E choppers are still around. I haven't had to source any specific H&E parts for quite a while, and I suspect there are some items that can't be purchased new.

Other than that, they're great cars. Good hunting.

Andrew Bernstein
British Auto Care

 

Is the car a convertible or is it a coupe that reads "HE" at the rear emblems?

 

If it's truly a Hess car, RUN! Or, open your wallet.

 

HMMM I feel that can be said of most XJS's and not exclusive to the H&E Vert. I have currently low mileage V12 88 Vert and a regular V12 89 coupe. I really like them both but the 88 does have a definite different feel... I had a 1991 Vert that I really loved v12, Sucked a valve and well that was that. Really appreciated that tilt wheel in the 91. I dont know I think these cars are expensive to run and expensive to keep up. So as long as I have a good mechanic within reach I love the cars!

 

i have an 89 V12 convertible. no H&E troubles, no Ford vanilla and most of the Lucas issues had been addressed by the manufacturer by 89. if the other forum people generally agree with these statements then you may be interested in mine. white with doeskin interior and brown top. 16" Dayton wires give it a really nice stance. honest survivor.

 

I found one of these in a barn 3 years ago and I would do it again in an instant. There were only 838 of these made and are the rarest of the factory authorized convertibles. As to rigidity problems, I have no idea what some others are talking about as the H&E was extensively reinforced and is very rigid. As to other problems with this "cat", they are all simple maintenance problems and are no big deal. I compare the Hess with my 91 and 92 convertibles and the Hess is very rigid compared to the 91 and only sightly more so than the 92. If the Hess you are looking at (probably gotten by now) is in decent shape, jump on it , you will not regret it and you will have a very, very rare "cat". At club events my Hess gets the looks that others do not due to its rarity and smooth looks.
Schoe

 

I can speak from personal experience that everything you read about these cars is true. They may have converted on 800 or so cars but how many were bought back & crushed. The cowl shake was a real issue as were gas tanks leaking. The added weight used to give a rumble on acceleration, the old fix was sedan shocks & springs. Paint was also an issue as these cars were repainted & sometimes not the right color. The H&E cars were & still are a black eye in Jaguars history.

 

I see the original post is from 2008, it looks like the OP either got scared off or bought the car and never came back, probably the former.
I own a 1988 Hess & Eisenhardt and have had it for 12 years, although admittedly it is my weekend car and I've only put about 3000 miles on it in that time.
I've heard all the horror stories, mainly about the fuel tank system leak and poor chasis strength due to it being 'chopped'. There is a modification that adds cross braces to improve rigidity, but I can't speak for the validity of that as I've never seen one that has had this 'improvement'.
The most recent Jaguar mechanic I took it to advised me to sell it while it's running/warned me of possible explosions if rear ended/Jaguar had taken most back to be crushed/was the worst Jaguar ever built ( which is some claim in itself LOL)/ parts are impossible to find etc. I jokingly retorted that I'm 'playing the long game' and these cars would someday be rare as only about 2000 were built.
I also came across this guys site some time ago and bookmarked it, he seems to have a lot of hands on experience of these cars, although he is a self-confessed 'rocket scientist'.

Hess and Eisenhardt xjs jaguar

Jaguar Fuel Problems

I'm holding on to mine for now as I've had her so long and drive her so little. I probably would have thought twice had I known before I bought her, although the main advantage seems to be that the top sits lower down for a 'cleaner look' than the factory convertible..................

 

I have heard that the Hess & Eisenhardt Jags were prone to flexing due to the tops being cut off. I just did a major rebuild on my H & E and it is a very stiff "cat". There are steel beams inserted into the rocker areas that are bolted to the vehicle, there is cross bracing in the area under where the back seat would go that is very strong. As to the gas tank leaks, that is a caused by plugged venting tubes which can happen on any Jag. The tubes are there to allow pressure to bleed off to the charcol container. The major terror is getting parts for the convertible top. This can easily be done by taking the old broken part off and going to a machine shop where they will gladly make a new part. The parts for the top are not difficult to make. These cars are all Jag sans the roof and tank. My paint is Black laquer and the car is an eye catcher wherever it is, plus it has those Hess & Eisenhardt badges on the fenders which sets this "cat" apart. As an owner of one of these I am speaking from first hand experience and not from hearsay. There is nothing wrong with these cars...mostly, but every Jag has its "burps".

 

The other issue is that there are 2 fuel tanks, rather than being gravity fed, Jaguar chose to use 2 fuel pumps. One pump feeds from the bottom tank to the top tank and then there's another fuel pump in the top tank. Not sure about availability of the fuel pumps and how difficult a job it is if one of the pumps fail, especially the lower fuel pump?