Jaguar XJC V12 Coupe

How do you make the most beautiful saloon in the world look even better? Simple, you convert it into a coupe.

In fact it wasn’t quite that simple and it took Jaguar two years from the unveiling of the show car in 1973 to finally get it into production. Based on the short-wheelbase floor pan of the XJ6 saloon, the coupe featured a clever pillarless glass side profile that took a huge amount of effort to perfect, wind noise being the main problem to overcome.

When it was finally available in 1975, the prohibitive expense of getting the bodyshell to meet US safety regulations meant that it never went on sale in the States - hence its short production life of just four years. Both six and twelve cylinder models were offered (6,505 of the former and 1,873 of the latter) with about 2,000 in Daimler trim, making it one of the rarest Jaguars of all. The 4.2-litre sixes produced 245bhp while the twelves produced 265bhp and vastly more torque.

The property of a famous cricketer, this particular Coupe is a bit of a hybrid that was bought by the vendor in 1989 as a standard Daimler 4.2 Coupe. However, like all true sportsmen, our man soon found himself hankering after a bit more power. Unable to find a V12 Coupe with bodywork anywhere near as good as his existing car, he made the bold decision to buy a rotten one and transplant the V12 engine and gearbox into the Daimler.

To be sure that his new toy would be purrfect, he first had the V12 engine completely rebuilt by XK Engineering while the bodyshell went away to be refurbished and repainted. The new engine and gearbox were then dropped into the car, at which point our man rather lost interest and retired to the pavilion.

Since then the car has languished in storage for a few years and still needs finishing off – some of the engine ancilliaries remain unfitted and the wiring needs sorting out. The car is believed to be complete (apart from the rear bumper which has gone missing) and it shouldn’t take too much effort to get it back into the crease.

Being sold here strictly ‘as viewed’ and offered with no reserve, this interesting and handsome machine is now ready for a second innings in the hands of a more determined owner. Howzat?