JAGUAR XJS COUPE WITH MANUAL GEARBOX AND AJ16 ENGINE

[deek]

Hi all, I am new to this site and asking for information on the above car please.I have been lead to believe that only 10 cars were produced in this combination ie. 5 speed manual g/box, with the AJ16 engine and a Coupe body. Any info. would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, deek.

[dhdove]

Deek

A very warm welcome to the XJS Bulletin Board.
That does indeed sound like a rare and very nice car.
No doubt pjts1 will be along presently with full details.......

Best Wishes
TonyS

[deek]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I have spent many hours on the internet trying to get more info on this topic and I have discovered on this site ie. JEC, that there was one other 4.0l coupe with, I believe, the Aj16 engine. This was a '95 Celebration coupe owned by 'Greeban'. I perhaps should have said that I have the car in the topic. It was 1st registered in late '94 and has virtually all the features of the Celebration model except for the wood trimmed steering wheel and embossed headrests. It was supplied with 'sportspack' suspension, twin coach lines, etc. Last year the hydraulics failed on the clutch and the full system was replaced with new Jaguar parts, only to find that the problem was confined to the hydraulic hose between the slave cylinder and the master cylinder, where the tube was in contact with the bulkhead. It had developed a virtually invisible hole, thus losing hydraulic fluid. Yes, we did renew the seals in the slave cylinder first, but this obviously was no use. The hose cost 92 pounds. So for the benefit of the other manual owners, check your hose before replacing the whole lot. Regards , Deek.

[greeban]

Hi,

I can't see from the post what the original problem was but glad you got it sorted. I assume you have a manual Celebration? I still pinch myself every time I look at mine - I simply cannot understand why the manual was not more popular - I have never owned or driven a car like this one. The other incredible thing is you can buy the supercharged engine for around £1000 and with a bit of work turn this car into a super car! Only problem is the wife will not let me!

[robv12]

ah ha some one else who loves manual Jaguars, we had a guy up here who did do the very conversion you speak about, a supercharged XJS, but an auto sadly a late car on a P plate, my manuals are both XJR 300's well known in JEC circles, fanatstic machines, 102 built, so RARE cars, but imagine a late XJS convertible, supercharged and with a manual box, my ideal car

on the matter of manual AJ16 XJS, there has to be more than 10 built I would guess, there are two coupes on the market at the moment and I am aware of at least three convertibles

a check with Jaguar Heritage would tell you the exact numbers

[ptjs1]

deek,

Manual AJ16-engined cars are unusual but there were certainly many many more than 10 built. I once estimated that perhaps 10% of the AJ16 cars were built as manuals which could mean that there were 800. However, I do need to sit down with Jaguar Heritage to verify numbers one day and see whether it's less than 10%. I do know of 8 just with our own members, which will be 9 when you update your own membership record with your car!

A manual AJ16 XJS is a great driving experience and, in my opinion, makes the car feel quicker and gives a more involved drive. Great to hear that you've bought one!

Paul

[deek]

Hi Greeban and all for your responses. They are appreciated, many thanks. I've just checked the JEC register and of the 1297 XJS Cars registered I can only find 5 cars that fit my original post. Perhaps I am overdue an eye test so nothing new there. If the figure of 5 is correct, by my calculations that equates to 0.259% of the XJS cars registered here. Given that we Brits. love manual g/boxes and the North American market didn't, preferring auto boxes, where are all the rest? If there were as many as 800 manual g/box Aj16 coupes produced surely as enthusiasts, there would be many more on the register? I am aware of the many other countries to which XJSs were exported, so many others may still be around. Please do not misinterpret my response as negative, but merely as continuing the debate re. the post. In March this year, there was a Celebration manual for sale on ebay which is still available to view as an ad., but which I believe, is no longer available. Thanks again all, regards, deek.

[dhdove]

Deek

Don't despair, I'm sure pjts1 can answer yor query with full details.

In the meantime,, whilst Brits may prefer manual boxes over our American cousins I'm sure most UK XJS's were supplied with auto boxes.....the later auto box is actually quite serviceable and really suits the car.

TonyS

[dougie]

I have a manual 5.3 1977 model. i wonder how many of these survive?

[ptjs1]

dougie,

I'm not sure how many are still out there, but we have 14 members who claim to have a manual V12. If you update your own membership record with your car, that will make at least 15 JEC members with one!

Paul

[robv12]

Paul, if you can give me the vin identifier for a manual 4.0 I will see what I can get from JH

As you know it will be 7 for RHD and 8 for LHD, but there may be more to it that than this as there is with XJR's where we have 7BP and BJ and 8BP and BJ, depending on emmisions spec

I guess we would need convertible identifier and the same for coupe

Not being up on XJS vins, is there a different vin identifier for the change to AJ16, or do we go by sequential number to find the change point??

[ptjs1]

Rob,

I'll contact you and give you all the info.

Paul

[deek]

Hi all, thanks for your interest in my original post, ie. specifically a 1994 XJS 4.0 coupe, with a manual gearbox and an AJ16 engine. This car was registered in the UK, in late 1994. It is not the Celebration version, but was supplied with most of the extras available at the time ,including the sport pack suspension set-up. At this time, I am renewing the suspension from sports, to a more standard set up. One of the reasons is because of the state of the roads in Scotland, as far as potholes are concerned. The sports mode gave a very firm ride, but it is not a pleasant experience clattering through unavoidable pot holes in the roads. These potholes get filled and a few weeks later are back to the usual offroad type. So, for comfort and a more pleasant driving experience for my wife, the soft set up will remain,that is until we get the roads back to a reasonable state of repair.I will refit the stiffer suspension set up when the road surfaces are improved, but I won't be holding my breath on that one. Cheers, Deek. PS. I still do not have a final number for cars produced to the above spec. If anybody out there has an exact figure, I would be pleased to know.Many thanks.

[ptjs1]

deek,

Rob Jenner is examining the build records and we hope to have a definitive answer soon on build numbers.

As you probably know, the term Celebration was introduced in April 95 and all XJSs after that date are deemed to be Celebrations.

As regards the suspension, all AJ16 Coupes had Sports Suspension as standard. It was an extra cost option to have the Touring Suspension fitted to a Coupe. Conversely, 4.0 litre Convertibles had Touring Suspension as standard with Sports Suspension as an extra cost option. So Sports Suspension is standard fitment on your car.

Hope that helps

Paul

[deek]

Hi Paul, many thanks for getting back so promptly. It was interesting to know that the convertibles were fitted with the comfort suspension as standard. I was not aware of this. The back end on my XJS now feels a bit softer, but this is not an issue, as I don't drive the car hard. I did expect a slight change in the ride height and this is now apparent. I did think that the rear was a bit tired, ie. springs and shocks and the ride height was below the ideal, before renewal. The ride height now looks a little on the high side, but with a full tank and some weight in the boot it has settled. Does 68cm measured from garage floor to wheel arch lip [measured up through the wheel centre] seem about right? Wheels are original, as are tyres, at 30 psi. The measurement was taken with no driver or passengers on board. Many thanks, Deek.