1996 Jaguar XJS 4.0 Celebration

This Jaguar XJS 4.0 Celebration with a 4-speed ZF automatic transmission was first registered in March 1996 and supplied by Lancaster Jaguar of Sevenoaks, Kent to its one and only owner - the vendor’s mother.

Her husband, the vendor’s late father, always liked the Jaguar XJ-S and when the model went out of production, he bought the last ever XJS that Lancaster Sevenoaks sold brand-new.

He and his wife took the car touring in Europe early on in their ownership but after an encounter on an Autobahn, his head was turned by a BMW 5 Series and one of those became his daily drive.

In the last decade or so, the son has been the main driver of the car - although it is still registered to his mother - and initially thought he’d keep it forever out of sentimentality. Over the last few years, though, he’s flirted with the idea of selling but never took the plunge.

Now, with a Porsche 911 (964) and Maserati MC Stradale competing for his attention, the XJS is rather in the way.

The exterior of the car is painted in Jaguar’s Flamenco Red, a light burgundy colour that is bright enough to put on a bit of a show but sober enough to do it with class.

If Craig Revel Horwood were to describe the exterior of this car, he would probably use just three words: FAB U LOUS! Strictly speaking there are some small age-related marks and imperfections, there always are even on the best of cars, but this is an exceptional looking Jaguar.

The paint is strong, shut lines and panel gaps straight and true, and as far as we can see there is no damage to the bodywork. The chrome is very good too, well polished with next to no patina. The fact that it has been kept garaged since new has certainly been beneficial.

A nice feature is that the car still sports the original window stickers and tax disc holder from the supplying dealer - Lancaster Jaguar of Sevenoaks. There is also a Swiss motorway and parking vignette in the upper windscreen from 1997, indicating that the car did some grand touring early on in its life.

The Jaguar sits on its special Celebration 16-inch diamond-turned alloy wheels, which also present in a very good condition and are shod with matching Pirelli P6000 tyres. Although the rubber hasn’t turned many miles and appears in good condition with legal tread depth, the tyres are now over 20 years old.

If the outside has set high expectations, then the interior will not disappoint. It is trimmed in magnolia or cream leather with brown piping and plenty of wood. The walnut veneer extends right across the dashboard and centre console and is picked up again as inserts on the door cards and rear side panels.

The steering wheel is also wooden-rimmed and the gear shift knob is in timber too. The dials and gauges look clear and easy to read, but the rev counter is temperamental and works only intermittently. The air conditioning, however, is full of gas and works very well - as does everything else, according to the vendor.

The leather upholstery looks immaculate. Unsurprisingly the rear seats look barely sat in but even the fronts show very little in the way of creasing or patina. Possibly the driver’s seat has been re-connolised at some point but if so, it has been done very well.

The brown carpets and overmats throughout look in good condition, with just the additional wear that you’d clean and taut.

Under the front-hinged bonnet, the engine bay is neat, clean and somewhat reminiscent of the early E Types with a beefy straight-six engine rather than the untidy-looking V12. The only things missing compared to the sixties cars are the triple SU carburettors. The 4.0-litre fuel-injected AJ6 engine is capable of delivering 245 bhp and 392 Nm of torque.

The undersides of the car look like they have been properly Waxoyled recently, with a good coating across most of the structures and surfaces - leaving the suspension and steering components untouched. There are some scuffs underneath the front spoiler, luckily not visible unless you’re under the car, no doubt thanks to the motorist’s arch-enemy, the speed bump.

The grey boot linings and carpet are in a good, clean condition. The full size spare alloy wheel is mounted behind a cover against the rear bulkhead, alongside the similarly hidden battery - which is new. Also present is a jack and wheel brace in a sleeve that matches the boot lining. There are a few spare parts and some rubber floor mats stowed in the boot.

The XJS has a current MOT valid until February 2024, which it passed at the first attempt with no advisories. In fact, looking back through the online MOT records, it has had a very good run of form since 2005, only failing once a year or so back with brakes binding, and barely any advisories.

In the space of nearly two decades the car has only put on around 2,000 miles, so it is understandable that not much should change or go wrong.

A service booklet comes with the car, which contains the following stamped entries:

• Mar 1996 - 20 miles PDI - Lancaster Jaguar (Sevenoaks)
• Jun 1998 - 17,974 - a/a
• Jun 2000 - 16,029 - a/a
• Jun 2001 - 18,957 - a/a
• Apr 2005 - 26,427 - a/a
• Jun 2011 - 28,976 - a/a

Accompanying invoices also add the following service visits:

• Jul 2021 - unknown - Clarke’s Restorations (Jaguar XJ-S specialist), East Sussex
• Apr 2023 - 29,567 - Classic Sports Cars Kent

The vendor reports that there have been a few services by Clarke’s but not all the paperwork has made it back to him or been retained. As he thought he’d keep the car forever, it wasn’t top of mind to collect it all.

The vendor states the speedometer and the rev counter have both been changed with a 2nd hand ones. The odometer was not changed. Apparently though, there is a slight ongoing issue with the rev counter. The vendor states Clarke's are able to fix this again upon request.

As a final hurrah, the XJS Celebration ticks all the boxes and is extremely well equipped for its time. The powerful 4.0-litre engine runs smoothly and the automatic gearbox runs up and down the ratios as you’d expect.

We think this super-looking, run out XJS Celebration will sell for between £24,000 and £28,000, which is strong money for an XJS but recognises the exceptional condition and low mileage of this one-owner car.

A cliché it may be, but where can you find another one as good as this?

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.