Hi everyone,

Now that the good weather is here in the UK I have a hankering for a cabriolet to replace my coupe. As I want a 6 cylinder manual a cabriolet seems the only option for wind in the hair motoring.

Is there anything specific to look for when checking a cabriolet over and above the normal XJS issues? Would be keen to hear from any owners as to what the driving experience is like.

Cheers,
LeeP

 

Honestly I don't know why anyone would want a coupe in this car. It's a car meant for Driving enjoyment.. not a sports car per se but a Touring car. The proper (and fun) way is to do that top-down. It's no comparison. I myself had a 63 Corvette split-window and it was pretty to look at but driving it not so much. I decided from that point on that any "secondary car" or car meant for pleasure must have a folding roof.

There are zero downsides to my XJS vert. In fact it's the most well designed convertible top I've owned. As for driving differences.. who cares? None worth mentioning. It is not a race car competing at Laguna Seca seeking the ulitmate in chassis stiffness. It is for pleasure, and it excels in that. I notice no cowl shake or other issues with it being a convertible. It's tight enough. Enjoy!

 

I love mine. Most of what I know is an up side. I like the open top, I agree that it's a well designed top. Downsides?

Well, I think a down side to any open topped car is as the speed goes up, the wind noise goes up. You will not be having a pleasurable conversation on your pleasurable drive. Of course, if it's below about 70 mph, that's not too bad. But at 120? Well, you should be focused on the road anyway.

Top up, it does leak a little in the rain. There's some wind noise, but I think really my windows are not meeting up with the rear quarters correctly, and should be adjusted. And I do wish the cover matched the interior instead of being black.

But topless on a sunny day? Worth every penny.

 

There are some of us out here, BCR, who think that the sloppy chassis stiffness of the convertible (NOT of the cabriolet which is a great deal better than the convertible in that department) ruins a good coupé!

 

To each his own. But IMHO there is no discernible difference between coupe and convertible when not on a track and when not driving 10/10. If you can feel the difference then you are probably driving too fast for public roads. I myself would trade any negligible increase in stiffness for the increase in pleasure by not having a roof! Are you setting lap records in your XJS? Surely there are better track weapons if that is your goal.

BTW my 96 has no leaks whatsoever. And it is extremely quiet with the top up or down and you can certainly carry on a pleasant, normal conversation with top down at highway speeds. It's a great place to be and there is no buffeting or overpowering wind noise etc. It's very relaxed and no downside that I can find.

 

Lee,

I know that nearly all of the feedback that you have received relates to Convertibles, not the Cabriolet model that you're considering. However, fwiw, here's my thoughts:

- Despite their important position in the XJS timeline (and the fact they were expensive when new!) I do not think that Cabriolets will ever be worth the same as Convertibles now. I might be wrong, but i think they are too niche, not well recognised by non-XJS afficionados and Convertibles appeal to more open-topped enthusiasts.

- The corollary of that is that they represent great value imo, and also provide a unique, more protected structure whilst still providing elements of that top-down experience. They will also feel more like a Coupe in rigidity, than a Convertible.

- As an older model, you do need to assess the structure very carefully, as corrosion is always the XJS bugbear as we know. Also check the integrity of the bracing element underneath.

- All mechanics are bog-standard XJS whether 3.6 or 5.3 so nothing new for you there.

- There's far more chance of finding a manual than if you were buying a convertible. So good news if you want a manual box.

- it's very very hard to find the unique components such as roof panels, panel bag, or the very elusive rear hardtop. So ensure they exist and are in good condition.

Go for it! I'm looking forward to the first photos!

Cheers

Paul

 

Coupes are very solid cars that have excellent chassis rigidity for their day. That's what the rear buttress and thick and odd shaped A pilar were designed to do.

Convertibles are jiggly on city roads, may not notice a difference on smooth tarmac but here in NYC my convertible is a jiggle machine. The XJS the jiggle (cowel shake) is oddly pleasant becasue occurs at low frequency and isn't an annoying buzz like you'd get in Gen3 Camaro or Corvette convertible.

Cabriolet is not a tight as a coupe and not as special as a full convertible. I dont get that. You get some of the shake and shimmy with incomplete top down fun. It's like going 1/2 way and turning back.

 

I deliberately targeted the Cabriolet because there is a lot less buffeting at freeway speed (100kph / 60mph) than the drop-top. Very comfortable and rigid. As mentioned earlier, make sure the folding roof and targa tops are in good condition and that you have the targa panel bag and rear hood cover as they are hard to find later. Nothing better than touring the nearby wineries on a sunny day with the tops off and the hood down. On the colder days, leave the targa panels on and just drop the rear hood.

 

Hey Man. I agree. Convertible is the way to go...

Window sealing and sealing around the top is important, not always easy to get right and new seals can be costly - having all that work done,,, as opposed to doing it one's self, can be costly-er... Then, if there was a leak around the seals in the back window, that water ended up somewhere and I think it's usually in and round where back seats would be and sometimes under the padding for the gas tank. Drip, drip drip over time X 1000 adds up. Look for a stain or even mold at the bottom corners of the rear glass.

If the windows aren't sealing because of where they end up fully raised (I'd struggled to reset mine) when you go and start looking,,, sometimes all it will take is a spray bottle set to STREAM,,, pointed up at and into the area of window to top seal,,, sprayed vigorously, see if drips will make it into the car and roll down the inside of the glass. Which can lead to other issues - door card mis-shaping.

Definitely operate the roof 3, 4, 5 times and before ya even get to a car think about what can go wrong, and where, on a car whose roof can OPEN to see the sun and stars 😃

Like others have said - the convertible aspect is my FAVORITE asspect of this amazing machine,,, closely followed by many many other really lovely things about em. They really are beautiful cars.

 

Hi Jay,

Agree with everything you've said about a Convertible. However Lee is looking to buy a Cabriolet. Perhaps there arent many Cabriolet owners on here to help his deliberations?

I need to go and look up the production figures and see how many went to the US. Perhaps the availability over there of the H&E convertible meant there was no demand in the US for the factory Cabriolet?

Paul

 

Thanks to all for feedback and comments.

There is no right or wrong answer to the debate between cabriolets, convertibles and coupes so everyone's viewpoint is valid.

Without wanting to start another debate I have to admit I prefer the pre-facelift rear end, maintaining the V12 engine frightens me and I would prefer a manual so I think that means my only choice for wind in the hair XJS motoring is a cabriolet so hence my interest. Also, prices of true convertibles have gone through the roof over the last year in the UK. Anyway, don't think there was a post facelift, 6 cylinder manual convertible?

Will keep you posted.

Cheers,
LeeP

 

I don't think we've seen production numbers, but we saw US sales figures which might give some indication of the manual facelift's rarity:

1992 Coupe - 33 Canada only
1993 Coupe - 37 US and 4 Can
1993 Convertible - 62 US and 4 Can
1993 2+2 - 2 US and 4 Can
1994 Coupe - 19 US only
1994 2+2 - 56 US and 2 Can

So 130 manual convertibles (incl 2+2) sold in North America...maybe a similar number in the UK? (from https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...figures-99273/).

Personally, I'd look for a manual 3.6 Cabriolet, as I prefer it to the full open car for myself.

 

Lee,

Yes there are facelift 4.0 manual Convertibles. BUT really hard to find, even the early AJ6- engined ones. And by the time you get to AJ16 ones, it's a tiny number, something like 19 RHD seems to ring a bell? I'llook up the figures just out of interest.

So a 3.6 Cabriolet is your easiest and cheapest way to a Manual fresh-air XJS.

Good luck

Paul