BUYING AFFORDABLECONVERTIBLES
30 |JaguarWorld/July 2019
B
ytheearlyEighties,Jaguar
wasinneedofanopen
versionoftheXJ-S.Notonly
wouldsuchacarextendthe
company’slimitedrange,it
wouldalsogiveitsomemuchneeded
headline-grabbingglamour,somethingthat
hadbeenmissingsincethedemiseofthe
E-typeSeries3,in 19 75.Duetoproposed
(butultimatelyunrealised)American
legislation,whichwouldhavekilledoffall
convertibles,sinceits 1975 launchtheXJ-S
hadonlybeenavailableasacoupe.
Withlittlecashtodevelopanew
convertible,Jaguar’sengineerslookedfora
cheapandeasysolution.Sotheanswerwas
tosimplyloptheroofoffpart-finishedXJ-S
coupebodies,thenaddarollhooptoretain
rigidity.Thecompanychairmanatthetime,
SirJohnEgan,explainedtousina2 012
interview,“Therewasn’tahugeamount
oftoolingcostsandtherewasn’tahuge
amountofengineering.”
Theconversionfromcoupetocabriolet
wasn’tcarriedoutatJaguar’sCastle
BromwichorBrownsLaneplants,but
ratherbyanoutsourcedcoachbuilder,Park
SheetMetalofCoventry.UnfinishedXJ-S
bodies–minustheirroofandrearheader
assemblies–weretransportedtoPSMto
havetheirbuttressescutawayandreplaced
bynewwingtops.Asteelsaddlepanelwas
thenaddedinfrontofthebootlid,while
theT-baroverthecockpitincorporated
tubularsteelstrengtheningtofurther
supportthecar’srigidity.Theunderside
wasalsostrengthenedbyatransmissionXJ-S Cabriolet 5. 3
JJJaaaggguuuaaarrr’sss fffiiirrrssstttcccooonnnvvveeerrrtttiiibbbllleeeiiinnnaaa dddeeecccaaadddeeewwwaaasssuuunnndddeeerrrrrraaattteeeddd
tunnel-stiffeningpanel,plusarearcross
framethatwasboltedontothebodyand
suspensioncage.
Theshellsweretransportedbackto
CastleBromwichtobepainted,then
toBrownsLaneforthedrivetrainand
electrics.Althoughbasictrimmingwas
alsocarriedoutthere,thecarswereagain
moved,thistimetoTickford,inBedford,
fortherooftobefitted,beforefinally
returningtoBrownsLaneforthelastbody
trim.Withsuchacomplicatedandtime-
consumingproductionprocessit’snot
surprisingthatjust5,0 13 XJ-SCabriolets
wereproduced,alltoorder.
Yetthecar’shandsomelinesbetrayits
difficultbirth.Itexhibitsgraceandperfect
proportions,especiallythesmoothline
wherethenewrearwingsmeettheC-pillars.
WhentheCabrioletwentonsalein 19 83,it
wasoriginallyonlyavailablewiththenew3.6-
litrestraight-six(theAJ6),whichwasjoineda
yearlaterbya5.3V12version.Althoughthe
AJ6wasmoreeconomical,butstillpowerful,
thelureofaV 12 Jaguarconvertiblewas
obviouslytoostrongformany,becauseofthe
5,0 13 Cabrioletsproduced,3,883wereV12s
comparedto1, 1303 .6s.
Asthereislittledifferenceinvalue
betweenthe3.6andV12,it’sthelatterwe