Submitted by guysnydr on Wed, 10/14/2015 - 12:25

Hi folks, I'm brand new here and was hoping I might find someone(s) that might be able to help me out. My elderly aunt has a 1991 Jaguar XJS Coupe with V12 and is the original owner. She has finally surrendered to the idea that it is best to part with the car.

She purchased it new at a dealership in PA (name escapes me at the moment) and it has been garaged it's entire life.

Here is what I've been told by she and my Uncle:

According to the dealer, when they purchased it (new off the showroom floor), this was one of only eight like cars built for the Jaguar show circuit, they were told that the other seven were located on the west coast and this was the only one of them that was sent to the east coast.

It is bright red with tan leather interior with red piping on the seats. It also has a factory custom painted pin stripe (tan I think). It also has a very nice looking factory ground effects package with dual exhaust (& factory chrome splitters) encased within the rear valance, not above and around the exhaust like all others I see. They were told all of this was part of a special edition package this car received from Jaguar for the show circuit. It has polished wire wheels but Aunt Sally said she asked for those to be put on at the dealership as she liked the wires better than the stock rims. She recalls the rims alone were over $2,000.00 at the time.

I don't know what options it has specifically because I don't know what came standard, but it does have heated seats. It has a tag on the back that says Collector Classic - or something along those lines. The car is completely stock and never modified in any way, it has around 35K miles or so on it and is very clean overall.

Anyway, she lost her storage spot and is in need of something a little more practical for her at this point in life. She has finally agreed to sell her "little red car" - as she calls it.

I guess my main questions are: #1, does any of this 1 of 8 concept sound reasonable to anyone? And #2 what would something like this be worth roughly. She would obviously like to get what she can, but she also does not want to sit on it long.

I realize it is hard to put a value on something you can't see but hopefully some of you can help me out with some ideas. I am going tomorrow to pick it up and offered to store it at my house until it sells. I can then provide pics and whatever else. I will get the VIN number and post it as well.

It looks exactly as a car of this caliber should look, it's very shiny, no rust anywhere. Overall very well preserved. Sat in the garage most of the time. I do know the headliner is drooping some but otherwise I think it's a very good car.

Thanks for any help!

Guy - Trout Run PA

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 04/25/2018 - 08:01

Contact: Jaguar North American Archives, Jaguar Land Rover North America LLC, 555 MacArthur Blvd., Mahwah, NJ 07430
Direct: 201 818-8144 Fax: 201 818-8464. Apply and pay for a "Heritage Certificate" for factory history and model validation. Jaguar Corporate states no "Show" models were ever produced, only limited production numbers of certain models. What you have appears to be a "Rouge Collection". I have a 1990 Rouge Collection where Jaguar sent me on corporate letterhead only 98 "Rouge Collection" models were produced globally in 1990. You will want additional info like this to estimate a current Fair Market Value. Best guess at value by me would be around $20,000 (?), but consider yours has the wrong wheels for this model which is a take away for this model.

Regards

Submitted by NC45-61244 on Sat, 10/31/2015 - 10:14

Guy,
First decoding the vin: SAJ= Jaguar; T= Special Edition; W= Single Airbag; S is probably a 5 and is for a 2 door coupe; 8= 5.3liter engine; 4= LH drive auto transmission; 9= a check digit and is meaningless; M= 1991; C= mfg at Brown's Lane; 178771= serial number. As for what special edition, could be the "TWR" version with molded front and rear bumpers (shown on mine at photo) or a rear spoiler, or something else ?? need photos. As for value: unfortunately xjs models are notoriously known for severe electrical problems and being very difficult to work on the V12 engine. They are very expensive to have a shop work on them and many parts are no longer made. I am on my 2nd parts car. ebay will show many sell from 2k to 9k. Even Barrett Jackson sales of these are less than 10k. Not many collectors out there willing to make the investment unless they do their own work like me. My wife of 47 years allows me the garage and my toys. I also have a 78 mb 450sl and a car lift in the garage. I bought my XJS on ebay for 5k and it took me 3 years to get it where it is today. It won a "Best in Class" at the Pittsburgh Car show earlier this year. I work on them during the winters when the roads are salty. When you decide on a price you are looking for, I would also like to make an offer, but not before you see the ranges of selling prices. you can reach me in Charleston, WV by email at: kenatofc@gmail.com Let me know if I might be of further assistance.
Good luck,
Ken