Nicest We’ve Seen: 1989 Jaguar XJS V12

This 1989 Jaguar XJS (chassis SAJNY5848KC160875) is a beautifully preserved V12 model with our preferred, earlier round headlights and no tacky chrome wheels or fender trim as commonly fitted to these cars. 46,018 miles in 25 years reflects careful ownership, as does the apparently excellent condition of the car throughout. A pre-delivery inspection completed in January resulted in more than $2k in maintenance work, and though priced right at the top of the market we rarely if ever see them this nice anymore. Find it here on eBay in Plainfield, Illinois for $11,900 OBO.



Black on natural hides is the ideal color combo, and paint, rubber, brightwork, plastics, and even wheel rims all look to be in very good condition with minimal wear. Though many were built as convertibles we’ve always preferred these coupes for their elegant roofline and lovely, concave flying buttress C-pillars. Two small but well-proportioned, polished exhaust exits add a lot of visual interest to the rear, and we’d never grow tired of the large, chrome V12 badge reminding us of what’s under the hood.


The cabin seems to be up the same standards of the exterior, with clean, unmarked leather, headliner, dash, and carpets. Switchgear, instrumentation, and veneers all look very fresh as well, and we’ve driven far less nice examples that still retained that classic, intoxicating Jag smell—Connolly leather, Wilton wool, and maybe a touch of strained wiring mixed in all playing their part.


Though twelve cylinder Jags of this era define the term “rats nest” underhood, this one looks very clean and as tidy as is possible. There’s no specific detail given on its mechanical condition, but the dealer does call it a turn-key example fow which no apologies need to be made. Service history is documented, and tires are said to be fresh Pirelli P600’s with 95% tread remaining.



There are plenty of pretty nice V12 XJS’s about for roughly half the price, but considering the cost of catching up on deferred maintenance in such a notoriously picky car those savings can be eaten up quickly, and even then those other cars always have their cosmetic flaws—none of which seem to be present here. If anyone out there snags it for less than the BIN we’d love to hear about it.