1993 Jaguar XJS 4.0

Finished in the iconic colour scheme of Brooklands Green with an Oatmeal leather interior, ‘K232 KGW’ is a facelifted 1993 Jaguar XJS that’s fitted with the AJ6 four-litre engine.

Waxoyl’d and Dinitrol’d throughout, it has had just one previous keeper and has been in the seller’s hands since the end of the last century. (Bet you feel old now, don’t you?)

Now, after a quarter of a century of fastidious care – he’s in the aerospace industry, a world in which painstaking maintenance and on-the-dot servicing are second nature – he feels it’s time to let someone else enjoy it as he’s easing himself into retirement and finds he now needs the garage space to restore his classic motorbikes.

Could you be the next one to embark on a quarter of a century love affair with this fabulous XJS?
 

The Brooklands Green coachwork is in an excellent condition with a healthy shine to the finish, no dents or dinks, and a more modern appearance than the earlier cars thanks to the changes that facelift ushered in.

These include the smoked rear lenses, which visually shrink the rear end and bring it slap-bang into the 21st century – and speaking of lights, this example still features the original oval headlamps instead of the four round Federalized versions we’re starting to see fitted due to the factory lamps becoming hard to find.

The silver pinstripe works in conjunction with the (very good, no pitting) chromework to highlight the XJS’s lithe lines; a lesser motoring journo would use this as an opportunity to make a comparison to the big cat mounted on the bonnet but we’re better than that.

However, if that’s the analogy that leaps to mind, we won’t judge you…

Either way you, like us, will have admired the tight and consistent shutlines, the ripple-free flanks, the subtle front spoiler, and the purposeful twin exhaust.

The 15-inch, BBS-style alloy wheels too, no doubt. A nod to the wire wheels of yesteryear, we love the modern twist they bring to a familiar theme. They’re in great shape too, with no dents, dinks, or kerbing scrapes. Also, four good centre caps and 20 shiny nuts.

Matching 235/60R15 Saferich FRC26 tyres are fitted, and all have very good tread.

Always garaged and never used in the rain since he bought it, the quality of its curation means we can’t find anything on the exterior for you to do other than to keep it polished. 
 

The cabin is the usual early nineties riot of leather, walnut, and chrome and all the better for being finished in Oatmeal, a colour that highlights the top-notch hide Jaguar used.

And, like the coachwork, the interior has withstood the passing of more than thirty years with nary a mark.

Take the electrically adjustable and heated front seats, for example. They might have had to put up with 133,000-miles of being polished by various backsides, but you’d never guess that from looking at them as they only show some very light creasing, creasing that is far, far less than you’d expect given the car’s mileage.

The individual rear seats might not offer much in the way of legroom but they’ve survived the years even better than the ones in front. This is one of the many benefits of buying a car with a provenance like this one’s; with just two careful owners, everything is in a much better condition than a superficially similar example that’s spent the last couple of decades lurching from one impoverished owner to the next…

The door cards are similarly clean, the headlining is clean and undamaged, the walnut veneer trim is glossy and unspoiled, and the white lettering on the switches and controls is bright and vivid.

The pop-up mirror in the glovebox is present and correct too, as is the original Jaguar radio-cassette in the centre console. We are told that, of course, everything works.

Lifting the (nigh-on immaculate) carpets shows only solid metal and dry sound insulating foam, another two good signs.

The four-spoke steering wheel might not be the most elegant in Jaguar’s catalogue but it feels great in the hand and boasts an airbag, so there is that.

The air-conditioning compressor was replaced in July 2024 by Clayton Classics, so we are told that the air-conditioning runs nice and cold.

The boot is immaculate. Home to the full-size spare wheel, the tool kit and a fire extinguisher, a lead for a battery conditioner has been hard wired in to enable you to keep the Jaguar fully charged.

The bonnet and boot struts have also been replaced recently.

As for work to do, the washer fluid reservoir needs a new sensor.

That’s not a bad Top Do list for a 31-year-old XJS, is it?
 

The stamped service history booklet shows the following routine servicing:

•    28.01.1993 and 27 miles – pre-delivery inspection by Lancaster Jaguar
•    15.02.1993 and 970 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    09.06.1993 and 6,928 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    06.10.1993 and 14,243 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    01.03.1994 and 21,800 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    18.07.1994 and 29,594 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    24.10.1994 and 36,727 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    15.03.1995 and 45,215 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    19.06.1995 and 52,528 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    19.09.1995 and 59,099 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    26.02.1996 and 66,619 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    03.07.1996 and 73,124 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    05.05.1996 and 81,900 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    09.04.1997 and 88,956 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    08.10.1997 and 97,409 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    16.04.1998 and 101,427 miles – service by Lancaster Jaguar
•    12.02.1999 and 108,875 miles – service by Hartwell Jaguar
•    07.03.2001 and 114,764 miles – service by PJG Auto Services
•    10.06.2003 and 119,406 miles – service by P&J Workshops
•    14.05.2008 and 126,577 miles – service by PJG Auto Services
•    07.03.2013 and 130,517 miles – service by Auto Classico
•    07.04.2017 and 131,193 miles – service by Auto Classico including fresh gearbox oil and a new filter

As the video demonstrates, the straight-six engine fires into life and shows a healthy charge to the battery. It revs and idles nicely too and has a suitably subdued engine note – and an appropriately sporting exhaust.

NB: Evans waterless coolant is used, so please be sure to source the correct coolant before you top it up.

If you’ve made it this far then the next two paragraphs won’t come as a surprise.

The engine and underbonnet area are so clean we can’t imagine anyone bar the most fanatical detailer finding the need to do anything to it. The quality is such that even the underbonnet sound-deadening pad is intact and in great shape. It really is in a remarkable good condition.

The underside is so well protected with underseal. Dinitrol and Waxoyl too, something the seller applied himself when he first bought the car in 1999.

He clearly did a good job because even the suspension components, the bits that are always covered in surface rust, are free of corrosion and weathering.

Again, it’s quite remarkable how well preserved it is, something the car’s stunning MoT history confirms; you might think old Jaguars and rust are inextricably linked by this example shows it’s more about who owns them than any inherent tendency for them to dissolve. 
 

The Jaguar’s MoT certificate is valid until May 2025 and, remarkably, it’s only picked up a couple of advisories since records begin in 2006. The most recent was last year for the offside front brake binding “but not excessively”.

Not that this is an issue now because the seller replaced the front brake calipers, discs, and pads himself this year, and he had the rears done by his garage 2-3 years ago.

As you can see from the online MoT history, it’s only covered a little over 7,000 miles since records begin in 2006.

The recent Vehicle History Check is clear and the XJS comes with three keys.

The history file includes the book pack and wallet, expired MoT certificates and tax discs, and some old invoices for servicing and maintenance work. 
 

Modern classics like the XJS offer an awful lot for the classic car collector and driver who’d rather not compromise unnecessarily; with nigh-on modern handling, performance, and reliability the Jaguar combines the romance of the iconic lines we love with what is usually a much easier ownership experience than would be the case with older classics from an earlier decade.

As to its value, we think the canny enthusiast should be able to pick this one up for between £8,000 and £12,000, which is an astoundingly small sum to pay for such a beautifully presented and fastidiously maintained example.

Even better, the seller has sufficient faith in his car to offer it with no reserve, so will sell from the very first bid.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays between 10am- 12pm or 2pm-4pm. To make a booking, please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, and read our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.