Background
For a marque so closely associated with convertible sports cars it’s surprising to realise that only three generations of rag topped offerings had graced Jaguar showrooms prior to the XJ-S Convertible’s appearance. The first was the SS100 of 1936 – essentially Jaguar’s first model. Then came the XKs in 120, 140 and 150 guises. Perhaps most famous, however, was the XJ-S Convertible’s immediate predecessor – the E-Type. With that icon’s demise in 1974 there was a long 14-year hiatus for convertible Jaguars before the XJ-S fully took its top fully off in 1988.
A slightly compromised middle-way was offered in 1983, however, with the introduction of the Cabriolet. The configuration the Cabriolet model was dictated by the window frames which were fixed, and which together with a cross bar supported twin rigid targa-type roof panels. For the rear part of the hood, every car was supplied with both a ‘half hard top’ and a folding soft top. All cars were two seaters from the factory…….bar one. A special V12 Cabriolet was produced especially for Princess Diana with rear seats fitted for use by none other than William and Harry.
Given such a long wait and such illustrious forebears the pressure was on Jaguar to get the fully convertible XJ-S just right. Much effort was expended in retaining a rigid body for the decapitated XJ-S. A total of 156 (33% of the total) new or modified panels were developed with the sills, underfloor, transmission tunnel and A pillars all significantly strengthened. In the end the rigidity targets were exceeded by over 15%. Despite this the Convertible weighed just 100 kg more, while its Cd figure of 0.39 was only 0.01 higher.
This fastidious under-the-skin engineering didn’t come at the expense of more tangible attributes, either. The XJ-S Convertible was conceived as a luxury conveyance and so leather and polished wood was de rigueur. Occupant cossetting refinements included electrically adjustable and heated seats, central locking, air conditioning, cruise control and electrically deployable “12 second” insulated hood. Such was its level of appointment that only one option was made available – a “cellular mobile telephone (more of which later!).”
Luckily all this design diligence paid off. Despite the V12 XJ-S Convertible becoming Jaguar’s second most expensive car at launch (next only to Daimler’s hand built DS420 limousine), it was widely well received. At the 1988 launch Autocar reported that “The XJ-S V12 convertible is a very complete and accomplished tourer in the true sense of the word. It may be the most expensive production Jaguar to date, but we feel it is worth every penny.” Between 1988 and 1996, 30,946 topless XJ-S were produced (14,297 4.0s and 16,469 V12s), an impressive figure for a relatively small manufacturer such as Jaguar.
