Forget for the moment that Jaguar ever produced either version of the XJRS, because that falls short of the goals I have in mind.

Imagine that it's the early to mid 1980s, and you're part of a factory Jaguar engineering team tasked to build a version of the XJS which one could purchase, and drive on the street through the week, yet, with only a few, mostly safety required modifications, the car could be driven to a road course on the weekend, and competitively raced by a hobby racer or privateer. Following along with Jaguar's current trend for naming performance versions of their vehicles, we'll call it the XJS-R

The differences between this version, and the standard XJS would be along the lines of what Shelby did with the Mustang when he made the GT350 (the GT500 was aimed more at drag racing, so it doesn't apply in this case), or, for more modern examples, the 2013 Porsche GT3 compared to the standard 911, or the Laguna Seca version of the 2013 Mustang Boss 302 compared to the standard Mustang GT. There are other examples, but, you get the picture.

Being a Jaguar, it would need to maintain at least a minimal level of comfort, refinement, and luxury. It would also be a halo car for the company, so it would need to incorporate some tasteful-yet-functional performance-proven visual modifications, like flared fenders, or, maybe a wide body, to allow for fatter rubber at all four corners. However, because it was Jaguar in the 80s (ie: financially troubled British Leyland), it couldn't be an all-out exotic "price is no object" exercise. It should be an option not costing more than $5,000 over the standard sticker price in 1980s dollars, and incorporate only those materials and performance improvements which would have been commonly accepted practice in the 80s.

That's kinda what I am trying to do with Jagzilla. My approach is to try to build an XJS-R as I imagine Jaguar might have built in the 80s. I know that my onboard PC and sat/nav wouldn't have been around back then, but, it's my project, and I claim artistic license in that area, lol. Other areas of the project remain pretty true to that vision, with a hotter V12, a better fuel & ignition system, cold air intakes, manual transmission, polyurethane bushings, stiffer shocks & springs, and lots of off-the-shelf Jaguar parts (just like the BL accountants would have required).

I'm planning the exterior now, which is proving to be something of a challenge. I want the final product to be elegant and tasteful yet, undeniably meaner, and more aggressive in appearance. I want people to recognize the car as an XJS, but, to also know it's something slightly more than that. I want it so well executed that people will ask if it is a special factory edition.

Some of the visual ques that I'm fairly settled on are:

Hood vents (not louvers) to extract hot air (I think the units on the 2014 Mustang GT match the lines of the XJS hood pretty well)

All-steel bumpers, or possibly bumperettes, made from the chrome portions of the stock bumpers, and kept tucked cleanly and tightly against the body

Remove the highbeam headlights, and install velocity stacks protected by a stainless mesh in their place, to funnel cold air to the intakes (a common practice among people who race their XJS)

Delete the stock rectangular driving lights, and install round Cibie Oscar driving lights in the lower center of the grill area, to act as highbeams, similar to the arrangement on the 67 Shelby GT500.

Put the widest 17 inch rubber I can find onto wheels from a 95 XJR. I'll likely have these wheels widened, and the backspacing changed, so I can gain a couple inches worth of wider track and more aggressive handling.

Take everything down to bare metal. Spend an ungodly amount of time adjusting the body gaps to levels Jaguar could never achieve, then blocking & sanding in preparation for a fresh coat of the original Pearlescent Poseidon British Racing Green.

What I'm not so certain about, is how to best cover those wider wheels sticking out beyond the stock sheet metal. The shape of the wheel openings, especially the rears, which overlap the top of the tires, make for awkward looking flairs (see photos of the Group 44 XJS for confirmation of this). I could change the shape of the wheel openings to be round, but, I think doing so may be too much of a visual departure from stock. My other idea is to widen the entire body panel, creating a coke bottle shape when the car is viewed from above. I will only widen the car by 2-3 inches per side, and I think this will also create a muscular looking "hip" above the rear wheel. Where the original body juts out horizontally about 1/4 inch just below the vent panel, I would create an arc, which protrudes about 1-1/2 inches at its widest point. Whether flairs, or complete fenders, all work would be done in 18 gauge steel.

OK, I've revealed what my plans are to produce my own XJS-R. I'd like to hear what other's thoughts are about my plans, and methods...even if the you think it's a horrible idea, which would look hideous in the end. I also would like to know what you would do if you were on that team building a Factory XJS-R.

 

Utterly insane with the best of intentions. Frankenstein-esque if you will But I would love to see the results. A subtlety quad exhaust and rear diffuser would be nice - thinking along the lines of Maserati quattaporte.

 

LOL.
With a name like JagZilla, it needs to be a bit of a monster anyways :

 

Great ideas! I saw one XJ-S for sale that had the cold air intakes with huge cone air filter, nice exhaust, etc. I like the aero body kits but haven't heard much about fit/finish which is usually poor and not even close to Jag standards. I know the 2014 mustang hood you speak of:

 

Picture is worth a thousand words! Got any sketches you can share with us? I admire you hard core DIYers. I've only recently grown the stones to do a bit of basic wrenching.

 

You mean something that looks like this?

 

^ Now THAT is the business!!

The rear is not that great. Maybe keep the lights at their standard height, lose that strange wing (replace it with a functional adjustable racing wing) and of course some quad tip pipes (even if they aren't functional I just love the look of quads)

Or maybe bring the pipes to the center with large tips very close to each other.

By the way I love your concept for re-creating the xjs.

 

Unfortunately not my recreation, that is a Lister XJS. Various models built over the years right up to 7 litre twin supercharged ones.
Not for the faint hearted!
More pictures of Listers plus other variations here:-
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=li...61%3B600%3B451

 

I would love to see one of those 7 liter build, looks like I'm going to be very busy with looking into that.

Thanks for sharing that Lister car!

 

This is the only picture I can find of the one that I used to own.

 

Flint,
I don't have any sketches, but, I do have a few photos of the bumper concept. These photos were sent to me from another forum member, and although I will likely make mine thicker (top to bottom), they are very close to what I want to do. Notice that he removed that odd shaped reinforcement panel under the rear bumper, which really cleans up the look of the rear end.

 

Steve,
The Lister fenders come the closest to what I'm talking about. However, for some reason, Lister decided to make their fenders step out in an odd angular fashion, rather than creating a smooth graceful arc from front to back, as I would do. I also was never a fan of the way they raised the position of the brake lights, although I commend them for the way they integrated them into the rear spoiler. I do like that the bumpers don't protrude as much as U.S. spec bumpers. I think that closely cropped bumpers are one of the most effective ways of conveying a sense of attitude on the XJS. Mine will be similar, although they will be classic steel, rather than bumper covers incorporated into an air dam.

 

I remember seeing a article about a black XJS coupe that was being compared to it's rivals of the day. The XJS was sent over to a German company and beefed up and man did it look sweet. If I was going to build up a coupe a few things that would be a must:

Deep black paint-flawless show quality

Lowered a few inches

Wider tires on the back with the quarter panels flared out slightly to accommodate the big tires in the back

The side and back glass tinted dark to blend in with the black paint

All trim on the car black

A beefed up V12 with twin turbos because this car means business.

 

This is exactly my thoughts because I'm doing the same thing with the 6.5 motor I've built.

I have the lights under the grill currently and they are hella driving lights







I also took it a step further when I did the fuel cell system in the trunk.







After a lot of research I got the biggest tires that could fit in the fenderwell measuring 275 40 r17



So I think it's safe to say we both have the same vision in mind! You might want to google xjs widebody and find the red convertible and see if you like that style of fenderflare

 

You're the 1st to reply with what you would do if you were on that fictional Jaguar engineering team. Hopefully, you won't be the last.

 

Calvin,
The pix are great. I hope you'll be posting more on your progress soon. Have you wired the TEC3 and fired up that new motor yet? Mine is turning over, but not starting. I haven't had time to check if its a spark or fuel issue.

That red 'vert is close, but, the upper portion of the rear fenders is a bit too round-shouldered. I want to maintain the factory contour of the fender between the beltline and the upper character line (that line which runs from the top of the front fenders rearward, along the bottom edge of the side windows and vent panel). I would widen that character line in arc from the rear edge of the door, to where it ends at the brake lights, to create a broad-shoulder appearance to the rear fenders.

 

Ah, I remember seeing those a few years back. Certainly much tidier. Thanks.

Also, what is this fiction Jaguar engineering team thread?

 

Calvin, what's the story on those wheels? We really need an XJS wheel thread stickied.

 

Any chance of finding the article and scanning it here? Would love to read it.

 

Re-read the first 4, and last paragraphs of my original post on this thread.