July 201 9\JaguarWorld|3 3XJ 42
TospreadthedevelopmentcostsoftheXJ 40 duringtheearly
Eighties,asportscarusingthesamefloorpanasthesaloonwas
proposed.DesignedbyayoungKeithHelfet–whoopenlyadmits
hewasinfluencedbytheD-andE-type–thecarfeaturedthe
samesmoothlinesastheiconicsportscarsandmanyunofficially
nicknameditthe‘F-type’.Bothacoupe(XJ41)andconvertible(XJ 42 )
weredesignedfromtheoutset,bothpoweredbyaturbo-charged
versionofJaguar’sstraight-six.Althoughitwasindevelopmentfor
almostadecade,FordcancelledtheprojectwhenitboughtJaguarin
198 9,onlyforthecartoberebornin 199 3astheAstonMartinDB7.
Threeprototypessurvive.One,anXJ42convertible,canbeseen
attheJaguarDaimlerHeritageTrustcollectioninGaydon.ONETHATGOTAWAY
Theconvertiblehadinitiallyonlybeen
availablewiththeV12,butwhenthecar
wasupdatedin 1991 itwasgiventhe
optionofastraight-six,althoughbythen
the3.6hadbeenreplacedbya4.0.It’sone
ofthosethatwehavehere.
Anextremelygood-lookingcar,it’shard
tobelievethatXJS4.0convertibleslike
thisareworthsolittle.Just£15,000will
getyouaclean,usableexample,although
low-mileagecarscancostupto£30k–big
moneywhenXJS4.0coupescontinueto
beboughtforlessthan£10k;butyou’llstill
pocketchangewhencomparedtothecost
ofanopenE-type.
LiketheCabriolet,anXJSconvertible
isnotwithoutissues.Aswellasproblems
withthesillsandjackingpoints,thescuttle
paneljustinfrontofthewindscreenseems
tofareworseonthefaceliftmodel.Atiny
bubbleofrustmightbemoreominous
thanitseems,butittakeshalf-an-hourto
removethetrimtoconfirmifthat’sthe
case.Dampcarpetscanbeagiveaway,
butblockedairconditioningdraintubes
producethesameresult.Alsocheckthe
rearpanelwherethelastpieceofthe
exhaustsilencerpasses.It’strickytoseeon
lateXJSsbecauseitiscoveredwithaplastic
bodykit.Thankfully,theAJ64.0engineis
generallyreliableandit’snotunusualtosee
carswith2 00 ,0 00 milesontheclock.Becausethisisalateexamplefrom
February 19 95,builtjust 14 monthsbefore
thefinalXJSconvertiblelefttheBrowns
Laneproductionline,itisfittedwiththe
frontunderfloorcrossbracethatarrived
inSeptember 1992 –whichwasawayto
endthedreadedscuttleshakethatplagued
earliercars.Thecarisnotasrigidasother
convertiblesoftheera,suchastheR129-
generationMercedes-BenzSLor 993 Porsche
91 1,butitcornerssurprisinglyflatforsucha
large,heavycar,andwithouttheexpenseof
impingingonitsfamouslysuppleride.
Thiscarhastheupdated4.0-litreengine
thatarrivedin 19 94.ChristenedAJ16,the
enginehadonlyrecentlybeenproduced
andfeaturedanewblockandheadwith
improvedinductionporting,newcam
profiles,ahighercompression,newpistons
andanupdatedenginemanagementsystem.
PowerwasincreasedfromtheAJ6’s223bhp
to 24 4bhp.Anissuethatcanaffectthis
engineisthethrottlebutterflystickingopen.
Thestraight-sixlacksthenever-ending
pullofthe6.0V12thathadreplacedthe
5.3-litrein1 99 3,butitstilloffersakeenand
responsiveperformance.Whileisdoeslack
therefinementofthehoney-smoothV12,
alate4.0-litrelikethiscostsupto£10kless
thana6.0,dependingoncondition.
Butthen,performanceisn’tthepointof
theXJSconvertible–it’saboutarrivingat
yourdestinationintheepitomeofstyle,
classandcomfort.Thanksto:owner,PaulSinnott