1995 Jaguar XJS

Description

Will the big cat from Coventry ever get any love? This 1995 Jaguar XJS convertible is some top-flight European sex appeal for a bargain-basement price. Great colors certainly help, but driving this car will make you feel like a million bucks and nobody has to know just how affordable it really is.

When you buy a Jaguar, you get something special. This graceful feline wears its original black paint, and for 20 years old, it's absolutely astounding. Of course it's not perfect, but its condition today speaks volumes about the quality of the workmanship when it was new and it's still visible today. The final evolution of the XJS shape was sleek and handsome, and even in 1995 when this car was built, it hardly looked like a 20-year-old design. The black paint shines up nicely and shows only modest signs of use, and there's just enough bright chrome to add an elegance that is seldom seen on lesser cars. The doors open and close with a feeling of quality and by 1995 Jaguar had figured out how to make a true convertible instead of that awful half-roof thing they tried to pass off on customers just a few years earlier. Sleek Euro headlights, a deep air dam, and smoked taillight lenses above a pair of chrome exhaust pipes all make for a delightfully sexy car with a ton of presence, even today.

The interior is really where Jaguar excels. Rich materials that look, feel, and smell expensive were a big part of the Jag's allure. The buckets are supportive enough for sporting driving but don't feel confining for long trips and the leather, while a bit shiny on the driver's side, is really holding up nicely. Real wool carpets and genuine wood trim add to the upscale ambience and the big, clear gauges are easy to read at a glance. Everything was standard on your top-of-the-line Jaguar, including power windows and locks, a powerful AM/FM/cassette stereo with CD changer, automatic climate control, and cruise control, so you won't be wishing for anything while you're out driving. I suppose you could call the rear area a "back seat" but it's really an exquisitely upholstered package shelf that's only suited to children. The relatively recent (2009) black canvas convertible top offers a glass rear window with defroster and folds into a rather British-looking stack that hides under a tan canvas boot for a tidy look.

Jaguar's 4.2-liter DOHC inline-six provides power and while some might bemoan the lack of 12 cylinders, the six is 96% as powerful, far more efficient, lighter, and easier to maintain, so I'd hardly call it a downgrade. Like all Jaguar sixes, it's silky smooth at any speed and pulls with increasing urgency as speeds increase. The engine bay is impressively clean and the individual intake runners and exhaust manifolds look similar to what you'd find in a vintage E-Type, although modern fuel injection makes it far less cantankerous. Backed by a 4-speed automatic overdrive transmission, it's an effortless highway cruiser best suited to long highway drives in first-class comfort. The independent suspension soaks up bumps without giving up its agility, a Jaguar trademark since the beginning, and the 4-wheel disc brakes are powerful. Gorgeous chrome alloy wheels add some real flash and carry Michelin Pilot radials all around.

Documented with the all-important maintenance records, this sleek Jag has to be the bargain of the century. Fast, comfortable, and stylish, few cars today can match its combination. Call today!