1989 Jaguar XJS HE Convertible

• Finished in its original colour of Signal Red with a black soft-top
• Very smart interior with magnolia leather piped in red
• Only 70,024 miles indicated at the time of cataloguing
• The MOT history confirms the Jaguar has been used lightly over the last ten years
• The history file contains the original owner's manual and some service invoices
• Offered with a current MOT it is said to drive well and is excitingly offered at No Reserve

With E-Type sales falling and an outright ban on convertibles looming in its most important export market - the USA - Jaguar addressed the problem of defining its successor as the 1960s drew to a close. Codenamed 'XJ27', the car that would evolve into the XJ-S was styled by Malcolm Sayer, the man responsible for the E-Type, under the fatherly eye of Jaguar boss, Sir William Lyons.

Conceived as a comfortable and long-legged Grand Routier, rather than an out-and-out sports car like the preceding E-Type, the XJ-S made use of the Jaguar XJ6/XJ12 saloon platform and running gear. Shorter in the wheelbase than its saloon siblings, the new model debuted at the 1976 Frankfurt Motor Show as a V12-powered coupe, with six-cylinder and soft-top versions following in the 1980s, the expected ban on open cars having failed to materialise. One of the most important developments in the evolution of the V12-powered XJ-S was the introduction of the HE (High Efficiency) engine in 1981. Incorporating a new design of cylinder head, this more fuel-efficient unit enabled the top-of-the-range XJ-S to meet tighter worldwide emissions legislation. The XJ-S would go on to become Jaguar's best-selling sports car ever, well in excess of 115,000 being made up the time production ceased in April 1996.

This particular XJS Convertible comes from a private vendor who has enjoyed the car as the English weather has allowed over the last couple of years covering just a few hundred miles in his tenure.

Finished in the original colour combination of Signal Red with red-piped Magnolia leather upholstery and a black hood, it covered most of its mileage prior to 2010, since when the MOT history confirms the car travelling just a few hundred miles each summer. Currently, it has just turned the 70,000-mile landmark and there are a few service and general maintenance bills present in the rather thin history file plus the original owner's handbook. Offered with a current MOT it is said to drive well and is excitingly offered at no reserve.