Jaguar World – July 2019

July 201 9\JaguarWorld|3 1

XJ SPIDER

TheXJSpiderwasaPininfarina-ledproject,buttheItalian

coachbuilderhopedJaguarwouldtakeupthedesignanddevelopit

forproduction.Debutingatthe 1978 BritishMotorShowandusing

thechassisofanearlyXJ-S,theSpiderhadallthecurvesandsoft

shapesthattheoriginalcarlacked.Importantly,itwasaconvertible,

avarietyofcarthatJaguarwasn’tproducingatthetime,and

wouldn’tdoforanotherfiveyears.

However,despitethepositivereactiontotheSpider(itbecame

thefirstcartobeunofficiallycalledthe‘F-type’bythepress),Jaguar

wasn’tinapositontotakeitfurther.Thesoleprototypesurvivesand

remainspartofPininfarina’ssmallcollectionofcarsinTurin.

wouldgofor,andit’swhatwehavehere.
EventhoughitispoweredbyJaguar’s
famousV12andcomesfromthesame
lineageastheE-type,ownerAndyHarvey
reckonshiscar–acleanbuthard-working
examplefrom 1985 with 13 0,000onthe
clock–isworthamere£6k.Evencarswith
lowermileagesstillonlymanageafigureof
between£10,000and£20,000.
DrivingtheCabrioletisallaboutthat
magnificent5,343ccengine.Always
smooth,refinedandwhisperquiet,with
thethrottlepusheddownhardthethree-
speedautomaticgearboxkicksdown,
allowingtheV12toquicklydelivermoreof
its295bhp.A0-60mphtimeofmorethan
sixsecondsmeansit’snotquickbytoday’s
standardsandevenanF-TYPE2.0willleave
itstanding.Yet,becauseofthewaythecar
accelerateswithsuchregalsplendour,the
timeittakestogetthereisimmaterial.
However,I’macutelyawareofthecar’s
1,800kgthroughthebends,atwhichpoint
drivingaCabrioletquicklyisliketrying
tothreadaneedlewithapieceofrope.
But,thankstotheXJ-S’famouslysupple
suspension,therideisthebestofthefive
carsfeaturedhere.Theinteriorisstandard
XJ-S,includingthefamous‘tumbler’
auxiliarydialslocatedbetweenthespeedo
andrevcounter,whilethedashboard’s
architecturefeaturesmoreanglesthana
shirtafterI’veironedit.Locatedbehind
theseatsaretwostoragelockersanda
usefulparcelshelfthat,alongwiththecar’s
alreadysizeableboot,makestheCabriolet
themostpracticalcarhere.

ONETHATGOTAWAY

Downsides?TurningtheCabriolettopless

isn’tasimpleoreasyaffair,consistingof

removingtwosquareroofpanels(tobe

storedinacanvasbagthat’skeptinthe

boot)andacanvassectionattherearthat

raisesandlowersinplace.Whileallthe

otherownersloweredandraisedtheir

hoodsatthetouchofabutton,forpoor

Andyitwasafive-minutejob.

Asa30-year-oldJaguar,Cabrioletsare

obviouslynotwithouttheirproblems.

Corrosionisthebiggestissue,especially

aroundthejackingpointsandseatbelt

mountings.Thebottomofeachfront

wingwhereitmeetsthesillisparticularly

vulnerabletocorrosion,andthewingswill

alsoneedcheckingaroundtheheadlights

andwheelarches,plusalongthetopedges.

Corrosionaroundtherearwheelarchesis

alsocommon,aswellasatthefrontlower

edgeofeachrearwingwhereitjoinsthesill;

ifthereisn’tanobviousseamhere,thenthe

areahasbeenpoorlyrepairedandfilledover.

TheV12isgenerallyreliable,despite

itssize.Therattleofaloosetimingchain

(oftenheardonhigher-mileagecars,in

particular)istheonlycommonissue.

FindagoodoneandtheXJ-SCabriolet

V12willbeasperfectforwarmsunny

eveningdrivesasanyE-type.

Thanksto:AndyHarveyfromJustXJS

CarsLtd(www.justxjs.com)andtheXJS

Club(www.XJSClub.org)