In our second instalment in the guest blog series, we ask classic car enthusiast, Rhett Redelings why he chose the Jaguar XJ-S over other available models. Here’s what he had to say:

I was the only child of a single parent. My mother worked in the classic car business, which exposed me to many high-end collectable cars, Jaguars among them. And Jags were always a favourite in our household. But as the only child of a single parent, I was somewhat in need of a male role model and, rightly or wrongly, I looked to film and television to show me the options.

In the summer vacation of 1982, between my first and second year of high school, while most of my friends were away for the summer, one of the local stations began running Return of the Saint

As part of a new series of blog posts, we will be inviting a number of XJS owners and Jaguar enthusiasts to contribute to our blog, telling us exactly why they love the XJS. This week, we’ve gone across the pond and asked California-based, Rhett Redelings what makes the car so special to him.

• 1988 Jaguar XJ-S coupe in Glacier White with a Mulberry interior, an HE V12 e [...]
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As the Jaguar XJS turned 40 on 10th September this year, we held a celebratory event at our showroom on 12th September. The event was a great success – and saw Jaguar and classic car enthusiasts from across the country coming together to commemorate this car’s great history.

If you’re not on Facebook, you may not have seen the photos taken at the event. If you couldn’t make it to the party, this is your chance to see what you missed. We think you’ll agree, visitors were treated to a true motoring spectacle!

To view the album in full, please click here.

For more information about the open day, please read our recent blog post, or article featured in the Newbury Weekly News. 

Alternatively, if you want to find out more about the Jaguar XJS, or would like to enlist

A big thank you to everyone who visited our workshop this weekend for our open day, celebrating 40 years of the Jaguar XJS. The event was a great success, and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

We were delighted to welcome customers old and new to our showroom to join in the birthday celebrations, many bringing along their prized XJS cars.

Classic car and Jaguar enthusiasts from across the country were treated to a motoring spectacle, as Greenham Business Park was awash with an array of stunning Jaguar XJS models.

• The very last XJS Eventer ever built – 6.0 litre TWR version
• An XJS currently being upgraded with an Omex Digital Engine Management system
• Six Series XJs and an extensively refurbished X300
• The day before the event a unique car had been collected from us by its owner. This was a test mule

According to Wikipedia, a Grand Tourer can be defined as: “a performance and luxury automobile capable of high speed or spirited long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement”.

The term derives from the Italian ‘gran turismo’, and is a tribute to the tradition of the grand tour, which sees GTs of various marques and models embarking on long-distance, high-speed journeys in both style and comfort.

According to author Sam Dawson, “the ideal is a car with the ability to cross a continent at speed and in comfort, yet provide driving thrills when demanded”, and it should exhibit the following:

• The GT should have been devised by its designers specifically as a Grand Tourer
• It should be able to transport at least two in comfort with their luggage and have room to spare

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

Thinking about restoring a classic Jaguar XJS? Well now’s a very good time, as this model is becoming an increasingly good investment opportunity. But how can you ensure you’re getting a good deal? And what can be done to minimise restoration costs? This post aims to shed some light on what to look out for when buying an XJS; it could save you a great deal of time and money!

First of all, it’s important to consider that sellers – in particular garages and dealers – will have gone to some trouble to make the car look pristine on the outside; but it is very unlikely that a seller will have done a proper restoration-quality repair of rusted areas. Therefore, a perfect-looking car is often in much worse condition than one with visible rust, which has not yet been ‘tarted-up’.

As with all

A warm article by Jasper Gerard on the Jaguar XJS appeared in the Daily Telegraph, November 2010

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Gambit in The New Avengers swanked around in a Jaguar XJS, as did Simon Templar in The Return of The Saint.

When my parents divorced I was sent to boarding school, where the one concession to pleasure was allowing us boys to watch The Saint on Sunday evening following our long return to that joyless establishment.

How I envied the Saint his freedom: the series was based on Leslie Charteris’s thrillers, whose covers carried such heroic slogans as “Simon Templar vs Europe’s Most Ruthless Man!” Most of all I envied the Saint his car and … Click here to read the article.

Top Gear presenter and noted motoring journalist James May explained how KWE rebuild the XJS and improve its handling and performance. The Jaguar XJS is a popular car with the Top Gear team who recognise both its visual appeal and performance as one of the great sports tourers.

The car featured is an Arctic blue 5.3 litre V12 first manufactured by Jaguar in 1989 which has covered only 47000 miles since new. The car is still in the process of being re-engineered by KWE and will serve as the company’s K-S demonstrator.