1989 Jaguar XJS 5.3 V12 Automatic
(Featured on 31st January 2011)
Make: Jaguar
Model: XJS
Year: 1989
Registration: F900 0AP
Mileage: 15,600
Sellers original description:
A once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire what is, almost certainly, the lowest mileage and best original condition XJ-S 5.3 V12 HE available for sale anywhere.
Just 15,600 genuine miles from new and effectively 3 owners. Presented in exemplary original condition retaining all of its original panels and the vast majority of its Browns Lane applied paintwork.
Absolutely Breathtaking.
Launched in 1975 the Jaguar XJ-S had quite a mountain to climb, for it was seen by some as the successor to the glamorous and hugely popular E-Type. However, in reality, the car was never envisaged as a direct replacement for the E-Type - being more of a Grand Tourer than an out and out sports car.
Largely designed by Jaguar’s legendary Malcolm Sayer the XJ-S had a top speed of 150mph and 0-60 time of under 8 seconds it slipped through the air far more efficiently than the E-Type and its excellent ride, comfort and handling were justly praised by the mid Seventies motoring press.
In 1981 the XJ-S received the new HE (High Efficiency) V12 engine providing improved fuel economy and taking the top speed to 155mph, making it the fastest automatic car in the world.
Popularity for the XJ-S grew through the 1980’s. In March 1988 at the Geneva motor Show Jaguar presented the new improved and better equipped facelift version which included a new steering wheel, redesigned seats, new burl walnut trim and sports lattice wheels as a “must have” option.
To many this is the most eye-catching XJ-S ever.
As always with classic cars original condition low mileage, privately owned examples are the most desired, with this being particularly so in the case of the XJ-S.
By the late eighties the cost of an XJ-S had risen to in access of £30,000 (close on £100,000 by comparison today).
Finding a original condition XJ-S 5.3 V12 H.E now is rare, to find one with ultra low mileage rarer still but to find one that is in unrestored pristine original condition and that has covered just 15,600 genuine miles – well that’s almost unheard of.
We have been honoured, over the past few years, to have offered for sale a number of of the world’s finest lowest mileage original condition XJ-S’s, some of which have ended up in the most exclusive private collections while others have been featured in specialist magazines. We are delighted to present yet another world class example – exemplary throughout and equally as good, in actual fact better in many ways, than those that have passed through our hands before it.
F900 OAP
First registered on the 18th May 1989 with a cherished number the first owner of F900 OAP, the managing director of a company based in Ockley Surrey, purchased this Jaguar XJ-S 5.3 H.E from prestige dealers Harwoods of Pulborough.
The first owner cherished his new XJ-S and used it very infrequently. By the time it was acquired by its second owner, a retired Jaguar enthusiast, when it was one year and one day old the mileage was just 4,200. At that time the first owner retained his cherished number and the car was issued with F900 OAP – which in itself is quite an interesting number. There is a receipt from the first owner to the second owner dated 19th May 1990 for the purchase price then of £26,000
The second owner never intended to use his XJ-S on a regular basis. When he had it serviced by Arlington Jaguar 4 months after he bought it he had covered just 700 miles in that time. This was not his only Jaguar; it did though form pride of place in his small private collection.
F900 OAP (now once again with another cherished number relevant this time to the second owner) was cosseted, cared for, stored under wraps in a heated garage and never intentionally taken out in the wet. By the time of its first MOT in June 1992 the mileage had risen to just 9,234.
Almost every MOT from the first is present in the history file and they tell a tale of a reducing annual mileage, presumably as the owner got older. Often the mileage on one MOT certificate is less than twenty miles greater than that recorded for the previous year. It would seem that the only mileage covered in these years was those travelled to return form the test centre and then back again the following year for the next annual test.
In the late nineties circumstances dictated that title on the V5 was transferred to the second owners son for a short time before, in accordance with the law, it was changed again in December 2000 into his Mothers (the second owner’s wife) name.
Six years, and just a few hundred miles, later F900 OAP was acquired by its last and effectively its third owner who was an engineer by trade.
The search by the last owner for the perfect Jaguar XJ-S 5.3 V12 HE had been a long one which had resulted in his hopes being dashed many times.
It was vital to the last owner that he should find the finest example that he possibly could. He was determined to find a car that was totally original and not only one that had not been restored but one that had not received any, or if any very little, paint rectification in the past. He recounts the first time that he saw F900 OAP – the garage door where the car had been kept since 1990 went up, the covers were removed and he knew straight away that his long search was finally over.
He was certain that all the paintwork was factory original and no rectification was required anywhere on the car. On close inspection though our body shop (the owner of which served his apprenticeship at the Jaguar dealer in Oxford) suspect that the top section of the boot lid and panel below the rear window may have been painted many years ago. If they have been, and they really can’t say for sure, it is almost certain to have been done pre delivery to the first owner back in 1989.
After another cherished number plate transfer F900 OAP was reinstated on the car on the 5th September 2006. The new owner drove the car to its home which was destined to be a garage acquired for the purpose of keeping F900 OAP safe and undercover in the same style to which it had become accustomed since it was new.
Unfortunately the new garage was not to be ready for a couple of days and consequently F900 OAP found itself for the first time ever left out in the open overnight. Sadly some wretched idiot, no doubt jealous of such a fine example, decided to run a scratch down both of the lower section of the doors. Although the damage was only superficial and had not gone through even to the metal the new owner, as you could imagine, was mortified. The new owner made good the damage himself (see body work below) and confined the car to the garage where, pretty much, it has stayed on SORN since.
The last owner hardly used F900 OAP – just a few hundred miles in his four years of ownership and two hundred of those on the journey home from the second owners house. With his engineering background he was fastidious about the car that he had searched for for so long. He even meticulously removed parts including the chrome work and waxoyled them (or invisibly behind them) to preserve their corrosion free state.
Today the total mileage covered by this extraordinary Jaguar XJ-S 5.3 V12 H.E automatic is just fifteen thousand six hundred and fifty one.
This beautiful Jaguar is totally original and as it left the factory with the exception of additional an aftermarket alarm which has been disabled, is untested and could be removed without any trace.
All five tyres are still the Pirelli P600’s that were fitted on the production line.
We have just had the car recomissioned, a new battery fitted, serviced and MOT’ed by one of the countries leading Jaguar XJS specialists – who have become used to seeing exceptional examples from us in the past but even they were wowed by this one, proclaiming it as amongst the best they have ever seen.
Today the condition of this remarkable XJ-S V12 can only be described as absolutely exemplary in every way. We have never seen one that has been better cared for and we have a genuine belief that F900 OAP is one the finest, lowest mileage, original condition example of a XJ-S 5.3 H.E available for sale anywhere-worldwide. It is an absolute credit to its last owners.
Summary:
It’s a bold claim – ‘the finest, lowest mileage, original condition example available’. It’s not a claim that we make lightly but one that we wholeheartedly believe to be correct.
Many enthusiasts and collectors search for many years, as did the last owner until they find that ‘once in a life time car’ If you have been looking for a 5.3 XJ-S V12 H.E we think that you need look no further, your search is over.
F900 OAP is in mind-blowing condition and would take very little to become a Concours contender. It certainly took our breath away when we first saw it, and still does.
It is impeccable in very way and has been truly loved and cherished since new and has covered just 15,650 miles.
A rare opportunity indeed. Don’t miss it because you almost certainly will never again get such an opportunity.
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