Jaguar XJ6C 4.2 Coupe

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The Series Two version of Jaguar's brilliant XJ6 saloon was launched at the 1973 Frankfurt Motor Show alongside a new variant on the XJ theme, a two-door coupe.

A pet project of Sir William Lyons (and the last one he worked on before he retired from active design in 1972), the XJC used the short-wheelbase floorpan with longer front doors and a slightly different roofline, but was otherwise substantially the same as the four-door saloons.

Lyons had insisted that the front and rear windows met in a pillarless construction, which was very elegant and looked fabulous when all the windows were down, but posed a serious headache to the development engineers who had to suppress the wind noise on these fast cars. This delayed production until 1975 and the coupes were considerably more expensive and exclusive than the saloons.

All featured a vinyl roof which was very fashionable at the time and helped to disguise the thickness of the C pillars. Just 6,505 coupes were made before production ceased in 1977, including a few badged as Daimlers and good examples are much sought after today.

This 1976 Automatic version has been owned by the vendor since 1985. The old-style logbook shows just two former keepers and the car was last on the road in the mid-'90s according to the most recent of the six MOTs on file. The car was stripped for renovation and much work done on the shell which was given a coat of Fern Grey paint, although through the ravages of time, it will need doing again.

The indicated mileage of 92,000 miles is believed correct and the vendor advises that during the renovation, the engine and gearbox were overhauled, although to what extent we don’t know as there is no paperwork to support this.

This is a car that needs close inspection, as it looks to be a solid basis for a nice car.