2019-12-14 14:42:43 | pauls writes:

Car was at auction 11/19
www.brightwells.com/lot-details/100011951

Auction description:
Lot number 1
Sale Price £800
Make & Model Jaguar XJS HE V12
Registration E982 XHB
Year 1987
Colour Red
Engine Size 5,343 cc
Chassis No. SAJJNAEW3BC138390
Engine No. 8S048746HA
Documents V5C

Looking for all the world like the TWR/Jaguar XJR-S version our vendor was convinced this car was when he found it, a check online shows the car to be wearing a cunning disguise and to have been off the road since at least 2005.

After decoding the chassis number, we can confirm that it isn’t an XJR-S, but a regular XJS HE V12 dressed up with TWR style body-kit, badges, quad tail pipes, JaguarSport steering wheel as well as a cheeky under bonnet plaque.

Thanks to a little help from Jaguar’s Heritage website, the first three letters reveal it to be a post 1981 car, the 4th digit that it’s a Jaguar (I think we knew that) and the 5th digit, an ‘N’ which designates it as a ‘standard model’ rather than the ‘S’ (Special model) he had hoped for. In addition, it’s a year too old to be an XJR-S in any event.

The condition is as you see it, a major project. Inside we see beige leather and automatic transmission with some peel evident to the wood lacquer. No attempt has been made to start the car after removal from the barn and it will clearly be necessary to give the car a thorough re-commission/restoration before howling down the road anytime soon.

The car comes with no documents bar its V5 (which states correctly, XJS V12 HE) showing it was first registered in September 1987 and that it was originally grey, although this changed to red in August 1995. The car shows just 18,830 miles although clearly this cannot be backed-up with any history.