1992 Jaguar XJR-S

The vendor is well known to us – and possibly you too if you’re a Twitter-using car enthusiast – as a classic car dealer and an XJS fanatic. In fact, his love of the model probably amounts to a bit of an obsession, and the XJR-S is one of the ‘unicorn cars’ he spent years looking for. Eventually tracking a facelifted example down to match his early example, he spent far too much time bringing it up to the condition you see here.

Mechanically fettled by his in-house workshop, the work included new bushes and an injector plus some other bits and bobs and a recent service. Hell, he even lightly refurbished the interior – and yes, it did end up being a bit of a labour of love rather than the sort of quick-and-dirty job others might have carried out in the pursuit of easy money.

In need now of only gentle titivation to finish it off, our guide price should give plenty of headroom for the successful bidder given the fact we’re starting to see left-hand-drive examples fetching £30,000 and more…

As you can see in the photos, the Flamenco Red Metallic bodywork is in a good condition. With decent shutlines and a nice shine to the paint, it sits well and presents nicely. It’s got lovely straight flanks too, and it’s full of presence and latent menace with the body kit setting it aside as something very special.

Then lack of a sunroof means that this example benefits from greater headroom inside in addition to eradicating one of the car’s known weaknesses, rust often taking a hold around the edges. It’s much the same case in areas like the wheelarches; where you would normally expect to see some crustiness, there’s just good, solid metal.

As a good example of a driver’s car, it could do with some tidying up but the lack of any advisories on the current MOT should reassure potential bidders that the work is likely to be exclusively cosmetic.

The 16-inch alloy wheels are in good shape. Straight and true, they’re free of dents, dinks and other damage but do show some brake dust staining. The tyres are Firestone Firehawk on the front, and Ecsta SPT on the rear. All look to be in good shape and show plenty of tread.

There are a few jobs yet to do, including tidying up some of the lower areas: photo numbers 29 and 65 show what we mean, and because the seller is such an honest bloke, he’d suggest the new owner remove the sills to check they’re okay at the same time.

Other problems are more cosmetic: The nearside rear lamp unit has a light crack in it too, as does the full-width smoked plastic trim. There’s a small dink in the boot lid as well, but we defy you to spot it in the photos.

Oh, and it’s still got its original headlights, which XJS aficionados will know is something to celebrate given their scarcity.

The cream interior is wonderfully lavish; the vendor was at pains to point out the XJR-S’s dual nature, being luxurious and cossetting when you want to relax, and hard-edged and snarling when you want to play.

And while the latter is the preserve of the TWR-inspired mechanical underpinnings, the former falls firmly under the remit of the interior. With butter-soft cream leathering covering almost every surface, what isn’t leather is deep-pile red carpet or shiny walnut veneer; it might be a cliché, but no-one does interiors like Jaguar.

In contrast to so many we see, it’s all survived bloomin’ well, too. Even the driver’s seat, normally the first area to show wear, is only lightly creased and displays nothing more serious than a gently developing patina. There’s plenty of head and legroom too, and the seats are as comfortable now as they’ve always been.

All the rest, and by that we mean the centre console, dashboard, walnut veneer trim, and controls, is just as impressive – and just take a look at that glorious red wine-coloured carpet!

The boot is nicely trimmed in grey material. Clean and well-fitting, lifting it shows solid metal underneath, which isn’t something that can be said of every XJS.

There are, as you’d expect of a car that’s rapidly approaching its 30th birthday, there are some blemishes. None are serious and slide numbers 21 and 28 show the sort of thing we mean. Still, sorting them out will give you an excuse to disappear into the garage for a few hours, won’t it?

This is the real deal: the 'full house' 333hp/365lb/ft 6.0 beast - a hand-built V12 that features special cylinder heads, Cosworth pistons, a forged crankshaft, and Zytec digital fuel injection. it has been recently serviced and, as you can see and hear in the video, it sounds, runs and revs beautifully.

The engine bay is neat and clean. Filled with that iconic Jaguar Sport V12 engine, a fastidious owner might like to consider replacing the underbonnet soundproofing, which is a bit tatty in places. Otherwise, the vendor tells us that he’s not aware of anything that needs doing.

He also tells us that it “drives as it should” and given his experience with the marque, that somewhat understated assessment actually speaks volumes – and he’d welcome a socially distanced viewing at his premises in Essex, for the Doubting Thomases among you; please contact him if you’d like to view it in person, or via something like WhatsApp.

The Jaguar’s MOT certificate, which is valid until March 2021, was gained without a single advisory point, which isn’t surprising given the extensive refurbishment it benefits from.

It's just had new front tyres and a rear light lens (that was cracked) has been replaced.

Paperwork is, like so many cars that went through the doldrums before emerging as the fully fledged classics a lot of us knew they would be, limited. It has hung on to its book pack and has some recent receipts but as it was more a labour of love than a commercial transaction, the vendor admits that he didn’t hang onto every scrap of paper.

Better news come with the fact that it’s due to appear in the April edition of Jaguar World, where they pit it against a Renault Alpine (photo #32). We don’t know which car wins, but the Renault disgraced itself by losing all its coolant (#54), so there might be a clue there…

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork.

If you are able to travel and would like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment in order for you to set your budget based on its current condition.

With a guide price of somewhere between £13,000 and £18,000, this is your chance to get your hands on a classic XJS model that has hitherto probably escaped your notice. More of a driver’s car than a museum piece, it’s a very solid base with which to start your inevitable XJS obsession…

It’s an important model, too because it acts as the bridge between the old-style XJS and the much-lauded DB7, with which the XJR-S shares so much. And that pedigree shows; as we pointed out in the introduction, no less an authority than Andrew Frankel raved about it in-period, placing it above competitors from manufacturers such as Ferrari and Porsche.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the seller at Upminster, Essex; 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’.

This vehicle is not with us at The Market’s HQ, which means we have had to rely on the owner’s description of it, in conjunction with the photographs you see here, to compile the listing.

With this in mind, we would encourage potential bidders to contact the owner themselves and arrange to view the car in person, or to arrange a dedicated video call in which they can view the car virtually and ask questions.