Enjoy Sun And Smooth Performance In The 1990 Jaguar XJS-12

Refined, stately, classy, elegant, tasteful: all adjectives that could effectively describe the Jaguar XJS-12’s classic lines. From the long nose to the upright taillights, this 1990 Jaguar XJS-12 that is currently for sale on Hemmings.com announces its presence and departure with poise and assurance. Back in the day, your great-uncle Arthur the personal injury lawyer might have rolled up to a wedding in one of these. Or maybe to the golf course, with a trunk full of clubs and a jug full of Long Island Iced Tea, ready for a day of laughter with friends that only casually involved golfing at all.

If one was of the correct social bent, the XJS-12 was an aspirational car back then, and in our opinion, still is today. The sleek Jag fits perfectly into the grand tourer category, and this Classic Collection Edition example, with its soft top and Signal Red exterior, calls attention to itself with just-enough mesh wheels and tastefully placed chrome exterior accents. Nothing appears gaudy or overdone, but just enough to draw in those with a level of appreciation for British engineering that appears both external and under its flanks. Today, it exudes a level of cool and daring that doesn’t exist in the automotive marketplace. 

This car was produced in Jaguar’s first year under then-new owner Ford and is one of the final examples of the XJS that were delivered wearing the distinctive quad round headlamps at the end of its long and stately-but-sporty countenance; later “facelift” examples of the XJS featured aero headlights that, quite frankly, just don’t have the “it” factor these do. 

The XJS-12’s bonnet covers one of Jaguar’s 5.3-liter High Efficiency 12-cylinder engines, which delivered 263 horsepower here in North America. Back then, the silky-smooth V-12 allowed the XJS-12 to move from 0-60 in seven and a half seconds or so, quickly enough to get the lawyers and doctors off to work in the morning with a high level of refinement – and it is still plenty quick today. It may not be the most fuel-efficient vehicle on the highway, but the return on investment delivered by an XJS-12 appears in the form of smiles per mile. 

The seller states that this XJS-12 has rolled 79,000 miles of golf trips and sunset oceanside drives over its 33-year life. It presents well, especially given its age, with no known issues and a trunk full of service records. Wouldn’t it be nice to drop your clubs in there instead, assist your lady in seating herself, put the top down, and motor off in style? I can hear the wind whistling through what’s left of your hair. Hop in!

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