Story and History

1977 Jaguar XJ 5.3C - 41.500 miles only

Three years after our initial purchase of this car we are very pleased to have her back with us again

We sold her firstly to one of our regular friends and customers who, as we did, took a shinning to this fantastically good looking car when he popped into the showrooms

After his purchase he has indulged both himself and the Jaguar by having a top of the range Becker stereo fitted together with very high quality speakers - a sensible option when the interior is so quiet whilst on the move and now it's more akin to sitting in the Royal Albert Hall than a 38 year year old motor car

Also being used to Bentley and Ferrari he decided that although the interior was wonderfully original he would rather retrim her in the manner that she deserved - ie soft connolly leather throughout the whole of the interior - not just on the seat facings as was the practice of Jaguar Cars when this Coupe was built

Black hide adorns the central console, beige hide the headlining and burgundy hide covers the rest of the interior

Dark green Wilton carpets bound in green hide finish off the interior wonderfully and also have been used to dress the boot too

In all he spent £14.000 on these upgrades and covered 1.500 miles during his ownership

She was as pin sharp when he part exchanged her as when he took delivery and is possibly the best in existence - certainly the best we have ever had

On the day we took her back another regular customer snapped her up and has covered only another 1.000 miles since

She remains in almost perfect condition and sits on the motorway at 70mph, or substantially more, in serene comfort, running true and straight with not a whisper of wind noise - almost unheard of with these Coupes, even when new

Below is the description from when we originally bought her and offered her for sale from the first owner

A wonderful and most original example of a very under rated motor car

Finished in Fern Grey (I know it's actually green) with Olive hide interior she has the benefit of GKN alloy wheels shod with new VR rated Avon tyres, chrome waist rail strip, chrome bonnet strip with Jaguar leaping mascot and internally adjustable driver and passenger door mirrors

5.3 litres of V12 purring out over 270Bhp and ooodles of torque - good for well nigh 150Mph and smooth as silk too

This is one of the later GM400 gearbox examples (Only 450 of these produced) and so they at last had a gearbox which perfectly suited the smoothness of the engine (earlier cars had a BorgWarner box)

There is a raft of paperwork from the time of the original purchase - both with the supplying dealer and also with Leyland Cars' Managing Director

There were a few issues, as was often the case with Leyland products at this time

The Unions were so belligerent that they would call "All Out" even if the loos had run out of paper........

Nevertheless it is also clear that the original owner was, and still is a perfectionist

Fortunate really because this has led to the car being maintained in such outstanding condition

She was waxoil injected from new in every panel so there is none of the usual rust and she was always serviced by the original supplying dealer

Kept in secure storage for a number of years, he ensured she was on axle stands so that he could jump in, start her and run her through the gears to ensure all was well

He also ran the windows up and down etc so everything which should work still does - incredible really

We have given her a major service and there is also a stainless exhaust system, which of course, should last forever

All of the window rubbers are like new so there is very little wind noise (unusual on these) and the seats have been regularly cleaned and given a good hide food so are still nice and supple - she has NEVER been Connolised, thank goodness

I shall be using her shortly for a week or three to settle her in and also for a little bit of self indulgence too

Well there you have it - an absolute crackerjack