At $15,995, Will it Be Hard to Top This 1987 Jaguar XJ-SC V12?
The ad for today’s Nice Price or No Dice Jaguar XJ-SC says it was “brought back to life” after being purchased through a trust sale. Let’s see if its price can be trusted not to be a ripoff.
Despite its futuristic styling, the 1999 Mercury Cougar we looked at yesterday, is a car that quite a few of you would very gladly leave in the past. That’s if you’d even give it any thought at all. The majority, however, found it well kept and, at $6,000, not egregiously priced. That resulted in a 59 percent Nice Price win.
In the animal world, the Cougar is one of five big cats in the genus of Panthera under the general family of Felidae. Apex predators all, it’s not surprising that of the five — Lion, Tiger, Jaguar, Leopard, and Snow Leopard — all but one have found their names or likenesses used as automotive talismans over the years. I’m hoping that a Snow Leopard car is right around the corner
Until then, let’s keep the big cat name game afoot by looking at a Jaaaag.
This 1987 Jaguar XJ-SC is one fairly rare big cat. Only built between 1983 and 1988, these framed-window convertible coupes were a stopgap measure to breathe new life into Jag’s big coupe after it had been on the market for eight years. A full soft-top convertible would replace the SC in mid-1988.
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Over the course of its model run, Jag built a little over 5,000 SCs. Out of those, just under 3,000 were left-hand drive and carried the silky smooth 5.3-liter V12 HE engine. This is one of those cars.
According to the ad, this SC was originally sold in Santa Barbara, California. It changed hands in 2010 with that second owner holding on to it until passing away in 2016. After that, the car sat for five years until it was purchased out of the second owner’s estate. It was then (cue dramatic music) “BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE” by a repair shop. The ad describes the 44,500-mile car as “NOT factory perfection but a Clean, drivable, complete, sharp looking, functional Jaguar XJ SC.”
That lack of perfection is most notably evident in the Arctic Blue paint on the surface of the boot lid. That is fading significantly and will require a respray to make the car’s booty look fully presentable. Other than that, the big cat looks to be in fairly decent shape, and the most important parts — the three-piece convertible roof pieces — all look to be intact and in good shape. Also, the car comes with a decent-looking set of chrome-plated factory basketweave alloys and one “Domed Starfish” spare in the boot.
The cabin, trimmed in blue leather and burlwood still has plenty of charm, although it is pretty cramped in there. The XJ-S in general is a bit of a reverse Tardis (big on the outside, small on the inside) but that’s just because more space is given to the glorious 273 horsepower 5.3-liter SOHC V12 engine under the long sexy bonnet. Mated to that is a standard four-speed ZF-sourced automatic.
Expect that combo to get somewhere around 11 miles to the gallon around town. This Jag will be free as a breeze to suck down that gas, though, as it comes with a clean title.
Over its 21-year production run, Jaguar built a little over 115,000 XJ-S and later XJS models. Of the factory editions, the SC is one of the rarest. That’s because it simply wasn’t all that popular when originally introduced, lacking the coupe’s iconic flying buttresses or the later full convertible’s elegant and easy automatic roof. That makes the model unusual and interesting today. The question is; could this one be worth $15,995 in its present condition?
What do you think? Is this rare big cat worth scratching out just shy of sixteen grand to buy? Or, does that price make you think this Jaguar will be even less popular now than when new?
You decide!
Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
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