1975 Jaguar XJ Coupe

A 9,378-car run of the two-door Jaguar XJ Coupés with a pillarless hardtop body called the XJ-C were built between 1975 and 1978. The car was actually launched at the London Motor Show in October 1973, but it subsequently became clear that it was not really ready for production. Then, along with the economic troubles unfolding in the western world around this time, it seemed that any sense of urgency about producing and selling the cars faded. It has been alleged that problems with window sealing had delayed production. XJ coupés finally started to arrive in Jaguar show-rooms some two years later. The coupé was based on the short-wheelbase version of the XJ. The coupé's elongated doors were made out of a lengthened standard XJ front door (the weld seams are clearly visible under the interior panels where two front door shells were grafted together with a single outer skin)

A few XJ-Cs were modified by Avon into convertibles, but this was not a factory product. Both six and twelve-cylinder models were offered, 6,505 of the former and 1,873 of the latter. The delayed introduction coupled with the labour-intensive work required to modified the saloon body, the higher price than the four-door car, plus the early demise caused by the arrival new XJ-S, all ensured a small production run.

The XJC on offer today is a remarkably original car, with a genuine 38,300 miles on its odometer at the time of cataloguing. Bought from new by a lady in Peterborough, she ran it very sparingly and always returned it to the supplying garage for servicing. On her retirement, she sold the car to the garage owner and it is he who is offering this amazing machine for sale today. Coming to us with a fresh MOT and in simply astonishingly original condition, this car is utterly lovely and more than worthy of both close scrutiny and serious consideration - regular Silverstone Auction attendees will remember how well a similar Coupé performed this time last year.....!