Category: Commissions

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The Lynx eventer is an XJS Coupe converted to a shooting brake body style. This was achieved by deleting the buttresses and extending the roof from the B pillars back to the rear light cluster, the Eventer conversion also involved pushing the rear seats backward, elongating the rear quarter trims, relocating the fuel tank, and stiffening the rear suspension due to the change in both front-to-rear weight bias and centre of gravity, adding a rear tailgate (complete with a wiper and washer) and revising the rear seats so they could be folded flat, creating a 6-foot-long boot area.Founded by Guy Black, Chris Keith-Lucas, and Roger Ludgate in 1968, Lynx Engineering began converting the XJS from 1983, they converted 67 XJS over 16 years, 52 pre-facelift and 15 facelifted cars. They converted various engine models including the 5.3 V12, 3.6, 4.0 straight six and THIS one-off 6.1 litre V12 rebuilt and tuned by TWR.Prior to its conversion by Lynx, Tom Walkinshaw Racing received the standard XJS V12 in 1986 with only 342 miles where it was rebuilt to 6.1 litre and tuned to 380bhp by enhancing the original V12 engine and gearbox. In addition, a TWR suspension kit, TWR Power Assisted Steering Valve and TWR JaguarSport 16" Speedline alloy whee [...]

Once again we’ve had the pleasure of having Paul Walton of Jaguar World Magazine come to our facilities in Thatcham to test drive one of our latest Jaguar restorations. With the help of Alan, the owner of this awe inspiring machine, Paul has summed up the final product pretty well in the following article that was published in the November 18 issue of Jaguar World. We’re thankful to Alan for giving us the opportunity to restore his beloved XJR-S and wish him many happy adventures in what is now a ‘perfect’ or should I say Purrrfect JaguarSport TWR.

A thorough restoration by model specialist KWE has resulted in one of the best examples out there.”

Perfect is an overly used word these days. When a waiter asks how our food is, we sometimes answer, “Perfect,” even if it’s not quite there. And when I go on holiday I’ll

We love a good review here at KWE, it’s very encouraging to know we are doing right by these wonderful cars and their owners. This is a recent review from a new customer that decided he wanted to upgrade the handling, ride and all round reliability of his XJ-S Convertible. This work included our full suspension/brakes and steering package, V12 perishable engine service, AC revamp, new convertible hood and also taking care of it’s underside rust and bodywork imperfections, plus other minor issues that needed addressing.

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Here’s what David had to say:

“First – thank you for the very professional job that KWE have done on my XJ-S. I feel much more confident about driving it (and stopping it!) after the suspension and braking upgrades.
Similarly I am very happy with all the remedial work you did to the sub-frame which was clearly in rather

My other half is Sarah, and the Big Blue Cat in the heading relates to our 1990 XJ-S 5.3 litre convertible, in Solent Blue with Saville Grey interior. It’s actually Sarah’s baby, bought for her after many, many patient years of waiting.

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Jags are in her family, with her brother owning an E-type and various uncles having Mark Xs and Mark 2s throughout life, but the XJ-S was always her personal desire. She’s had to put up for many years with my love for Land Rovers of all shapes and sizes, from Series 1, 2 and 3 through to Discovery 2s and 4s, Range Rovers Series 1s and P38s plus off-roaders and finally our White Witch, a white Discovery Sport 2.2 litre with the registration W1 CHH. Sarah has dabbled with imports, via a Chevy Astro 4.0 day van, a lifted and overboard 3.2 XXS Toyota surf,

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Get involved in this XJS Convertible restoration project – what will you choose?

We’ve been busy beginning restoration on this XJS V12 Convertible, offered for sale. Hailing from Liverpool, it has very low mileage, and will be an affordable and cost-efficient classic car once our work is finished.

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It can be difficult to distinguish between some of our favourite XJS restoration and upgrade projects. Each one gives the KWE team immense satisfaction. However, one recent project does stand out.

At the request of a famous TV and music industry celebrity, this 6-litre, V12 convertible has been fully restored and upgraded with some unique styling features.

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Our Jaguar XJS restoration skills were fully utilised during one of our latest projects, which features as our ‘Car of the month’ for March 2016.

The new owner of this stunning example of a fully restored XJS V12 coupé requested that we first find and purchase the donor car.

Last year, we worked on many amazing classic Jaguar cars, which makes it difficult to choose our favourites. However, we hold a particular soft spot for this project, and are extremely proud of the finished result – and its owner is delighted, too!

It’s not everyday that we receive a car from Norway, but it goes to show how much some Jaguar enthusiasts are willing to go to get a decent restoration. Our car of the year, an X305 with 6-litre V12 engine, was shipped from Norway with an extremely comprehensive restoration brief – we like a challenge!

As part of a full-scale restoration project, we conducted an expert evaluation for internal and external re-engineering perfection.

We fully stripped the vehicle, top to bottom, inside and out. Our expert engineers rebuilt the V12 6-litre engine, as well as suspension, braking and steering systems to ensure maximised driving pleasure.

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We recently completed work on a 1983 Jaguar XJ12 Series 3 Saloon. Prior to its full-scale makeover, this classic had been sitting in the sidelines at KWE for several years, awaiting a client to commission its restoration.

 

Last year, one of our existing customers enlisted our expertise to restore the model back to its former glory. The customer – a true XJ enthusiast – is already the proud owner of a KWE-restored 1991 XJS, featured on James May and Oz Clark’s BBC series, Oz and James’s Big Wine Adventure.

The body has been completely stripped and repainted in gloss black, with ‘biscuit’ Connolly hide throughout, full interior makeover, and new KWE suspension, making this classic a real head-turner.

To view the full extent of our work, and for a look inside our workshop, visit our build gallery.

 

Restore your classic Jaguar to ‘better-than-new’

If you have a restoration project you’d like to enlist

We’ve had the pleasure of working on this increasingly customised V12 XJS on a number of occasions. On its latest visit to our workshop, we’ve been asked to install our Digital Engine Management (DEM) system. The system will release more power, and will allow us to optimise the fuelling and ignition for other modifications, such as cold air inlets.

 

Modifying these engines would normally have little or no effect, unless the fuelling and ignition is re-mappable. Without specialist knowledge of the original firmware-based map and ability to re-blow vintage eproms, this is not really possible.

Our modern Omex system, however, allows for full re-mapping. This XJS was dyno-tested at just over 300bhp, prior to any modifications being carried out. Once the installation of the system has been completed, we will be able to check on the gains we’ve made.

Another advantage of the modern engine management is the much-improved reliability. The old Lucas system

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