1988 JAGUAR XJS, HESS & EISENHARDT EDITION, ONLY 35K MILES

1988 Jaguar XJS HESS & EISENHARDT Description

From 1986 a full convertible version was available through some dealers, modified by Hess &Eisenhardtin the USA. The Hess &Eisenhardtcoachbuildingfirm was located in Ohio, USA, and built about 893 of these cars under contract from Jaguar before the official Jaguar-builtXJSfull convertible appeared in 1988.

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

The number of H&E JaguarXJSproduced is unknown, partly because a fire at the Hess &Eisenhardtfactory destroyed most of the records pertaining to the JaguarXJSconversions.