Without everybody shouting at once, how many of you took one look at the 1995 Jaguar drop-top that is currently being featured as our latest $5,000, cash-in-hand classifieds find and immediately and instinctively started screaming things like “Dude, NO!” and “You’re gonna regret it!” and “BEGONE, LUCAS, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, HAUNT THIS ABODE NO LONGER!” You do know who writes all of the Rough Start find pieces, don’t you? Yeah, me, McTaggart…the guy who looks at a $600 1980-something Chrysler Corporation product and thinks, “Hmm. Could be fun.” I’m the master of throwing good money after bad. I live for it. But does that mean that you might as well torch the stack instead of buying this car? No, it doesn’t. Stick around for a second and try to keep up…
First of all, the six cylinder powerplant is a nice, responsible choice, especially compared to the other option, the newly enlarged 6.0L V-12. At 237 horsepower and 282 ft/lbs of torque, it’ll cope. And if it really craps the bed, the answer is simple: Chevy swap. Oh, don’t look at me like that…I don’t care if Ford did own Jag when this car was made, are YOU going to go to the trouble of cramming in a Coyote? Send pictures if you do. Or better yet, Jaguar Hellcat…oooh, now that’s an image…
Wait, back to the point at hand, check car find. So you have a basic powertrain and a car that isn’t completely clapped out. What’s the problems? Easy: the power top requires literal hand-holding to operate, the power seats aren’t alive and the radio doesn’t give half of a crap. Honestly, the radio might be the worst problem this car has…manually folding down the droptop isn’t that bad of an idea and unless the seats are are fully forward, we’re fine there. For $4,500 we can spend a couple hundred to get the tunes back in working order.
Craigslist Link: 1995 Jaguar XJS convertible
Big Block Mopar
I’m a glutton for punishment. I love these cars. The V12 was always an issue. I would avoid them at all costs. Most of the small bock CHev swaps were V12 cars, The 4.0L inline-six is a better, more reliable option in any Jag until they started sticking the 4.2L V8 in them. Avoid the $.0L V*, The chain tensioners like to fail. And by all means, avoid the modern V-6 (2.5 and 3.0L). The new (2009+) Jag 5.0L is also a good motor.
I have a 2004 S-Type R. The 4.2L 32V Supercharged V8 in the S-Type R, XK-R, and XJ-R deliver reliable, smooth power that is a blast to drive. The late 90’s XJR with the supercharged inline-six is a good deal as well. BTW, if you have a V12 car that goes T/U, the 5.0 H.O. EFI Ford small block is a viable swap into the old Jags as well. I’ve even seen one swapped into a 60’s Mark II sedan.
One of the worst cars ever built.