1976 Jaguar Hyper Sport XJS

For sale by auction on Saturday 08 March 2014 with Historics at Brooklands. Brooklands Motor Racing Circuit. Weybridge. Surrey. Call 01753 639170
Launched in 1975 the Jaguar XJ-S had quite a mountain to climb. br/>following the hugely popular E-Type. However. in reality. the car
was never envisaged as a direct replacement for the E-Type. being
more of a Grand Tourer. Largely designed by Jaguar's legendary
Malcolm Sayer. the XJ-S had a top speed of 150mph and 0-60 time of
under 8 seconds; it slipped through the air far more efficiently
than the E-Type and its excellent ride. comfort and handling were
justly praised by the motoring press of the time. The car had its
critics. although everyone agreed that as a high speed tourer the
new XJ-S had few rivals. but many agreed that it lacked something
dramatic in its styling and some say that it drove too soft - not
like the proper sports car Jaguar used to be. These shortcomings
were soon picked up by sports car conversion specialists. At the
end of 1984 Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) announced their intention
to build a range of special XJ-S coupés calling them the XJR-S.
Upgrades included body kits. interior kits and modification to
suspension. increased output from the 3. 6 and the 5. 3 engines along
with a 6L engine. These cars were a private offering without the
backing of Jaguar. However this was to change in 1988 when a new
company. Jaguar Sport. was formed which was a 50/50 split with
Jaguar and TWR. The idea was that cars were part built at the
factory then shipped to the TWR facility in Kidlington. Oxford and
latterly Jaguar Sport at Bloxham. where the custom finish ordered
through Jaguar dealers was added before the finished car was
delivered to that dealer. The XJR-S sold around 300 which was
fairly respectable but. to many. the looks of the car were too tame
and not distinctive enough from the standard XJ-S. This was
addressed by one of the most renowned names in sports car racing
history; Lister. The Lister Jaguar added engine mods and a full
body kit but for some it was felt that there was still room for
improvement.

Hyper Engineering is owned by Paul Hands and in the best
traditions of those before him when it comes to modifying Jaguars. br/>cut his teeth on the race track. In the business of building racing
Jaguars for years he began modifying the XJ-S for road use in the
late eighties. Body. interior. road wheels and mechanical upgrades
were available to transform a standard every day XJ-S into a sleek
Hyper XJ-S. The Mk 3 package offered the Mk 2 body kit and in
addition wider wings made from high-quality impact-resistant
fibre-glass. These bigger wings. 4" wider at the rear and 3" wider
at the front. allowed the fitment of very wide wheels and tyres to
enhance the look and performance even further. The package also
included a unique 3 piece rear boot spoiler and a modification that
extended the rear windows rearward. further improving the slick
look. Mechanical upgrades were available to the suspension as were
a manual 5 or 6 speed gear box or the Hyper drive 'clutchless
manual' gear box. Steering. manifold. exhaust 'Hyper brakes' and
'Hyper cool' - oil cooler were also available. The wide bodied
Hyper Sport XJ-S Mk 3 was much acclaimed by the motoring press in
the early nineties after they tested a purpose built steel bodied
press car. Sadly this car. number 001. was written off in the
nineties. Only one other steel bodied Hyper Mk 3 was ever built. br/>car number 002. which was to serve as the prototype from which the
mouldings were made for the fibreglass wide body versions that were
to follow.

JAG 63L was first registered in June 1976. It was then a standard
5. 3 V12 XJ-S with one of the last of the factory fitted Jaguar
close ratio manual gear boxes. which it retains today. Believed to
have first been a demonstrator. the car later went on to be
registered by a business man based in Jersey who regularly
travelled on German Autobahns. After deciding that he really needed
a little more power and a little higher top speed for these
journeys. he took JAG63L to Forward Engineering. the company formed
in the 60's by Ron Beaty. Jaguar's competition department's
experimental engineer for the V12. In the early eighties the 5. 3
engine was rebuilt by Forward Engineering and bored out to 6
litres. In 1987 the owner of JAG 63L (then on Jersey plates) traded
the car in for a new Lister Jaguar. The car was then acquired from
Lister by Paul Hands of Hyper Engineering. Work began on
transforming JAG 63L into the steel bodied prototype (002) for the
Glass Fibre winged Hyper Sport Mk3. The BLE under bumper body kit
was removed and replaced with Hyper sport front dam and rear body
kit with provision for front and rear fog lamps. Hyper side skirts
were also fitted. Following a design created by Paul which gave a
more.

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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