2022-11-29 16:46:42 | pauls writes:

Car offered at:

luzzago.com/Home/Article&lang=ita

Seller's description:

Jaguar XJS C 5.3 V12 Automatic Hess & Eisenhardt (1 of 2100)

Year 1988

Mileage 53554

Fuel Gas

External Color White

Internal color Black

Exchange type Automatic

Displacement 5344

cylinders 12

License plate Italian

KW/hp 300hp

Price €29,900

Hess & Eisenhardt convertible

From 1986, a fully convertible version was available from some dealers, modified by Hess & Eisenhardt in the USA. Coachbuilder Hess & Eisenhardt was based in Ohio, USA, and built convertible modifications for the XJ-S under contract to Jaguar, before the official Jaguar-built full XJ-S convertible became available in 1988.

The Hess & Eisenhardt convertible differed from the later Jaguar-built XJS convertible in that its unpadded soft-top folded deeper into the car's body structure resulting in a cleaner rear profile when the roof was lowered. To accommodate this design element, Hess & Eisenhardt convertibles have two separate fuel tanks, positioned to allow the roof to fully retract. The process of converting the production Jaguar XJS coupe into the H&E Convertible included post-production removal of the roof, cutting the body into different sections, adding steel reinforcements behind the driver's seat and weights from 9.1kg ( 20 lbs) positioned just behind the headlights to eliminate harmonic resonance caused by significant car modifications. H&E XJS convertibles are easily identified by their lower folding roof and two small badges located just behind the front wheels. The later full Jaguar convertible had a heavier soft-top which did not fold down as low as the H&E convertible, but retained nearly all of the original coupe components.

The number of H&E Jaguar XJSs produced is unknown, in part because a fire at the Hess & Eisenhardt plant destroyed most of the records relating to Jaguar XJS conversions. According to some sources, a total of 2,100 cars were converted.