Nice ride: ’87 Jaguar XJS
The XJS is no XKE. Now you might think that is a shot but it isn’t entirely. The XJS is the last of the Lyon’s Era Jaguars. Introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1975, the XJS received a tepid response. Subsequently, sales of the new Jaguar during its lifespan were erratic. But that was not totally the fault of the XJS and more so fuel shortages and an erratic economy. Sound familiar? We think the sweet spot for the XJS is the mid to late ‘80s. Mostly because of an engineer by the name of Michael May. He designed a new, high-compression head with a fireball combustion chamber that increased power and fuel economy. Now throw in a redesigned dash with burl wood, updated bumpers and mirrors and you have resurgence in sales. The V12 is a wonderful engine and can be very reliable if given attention and proper care. Primarily you need to keep it cool. If you do, it will reward you with Chevrolet levels of reliability. Today’s find is a fairly low mileage car at 49,000 so we know it has had some reasonable exercise in its life to date. The seller tells us it is all original and from that we can assume there is no paint work or accident damage. The interior looks like new attesting to a charmed life. You can snag this V12 for $16,000 and that is a lot of car for the money assuming everything works as it should. If not, then $16,000 is just the beginning. We are wearing our optimistic glasses for this one. Click here for the listing.