mine…a neighbor-friend showed it to me…I didn’t know he had it for many years. …Stored at another location for 20 years…one day he asked me to buy it as his 16 year old wanted it…no time wasted …we said yes !
You might want to put a coyote engine in that Cobra. Keep a Ford car with a Ford engine ( Smile)
Have to agree about the V12 & Tremec 5sp. coupled with a 3.54 diff, there’s no holding that combo down.
Wow. You have excellent tastes. That is the setup that I have in my 1976 XJC. Love it!
Like the “Little Duce Coupe”, I get rubber in all four gears. (But not the overdrive).
On the XJS, I love the looks. That red drop top is simply stunning. (and I rarely say “stunning”). Never owned or driven one but maybe someday.
Phillip
Ron,
Beautiful car.
Here’s another picture of my wife’s 1990 XJ-S convertible this time with the top down and hood cover in place.
Paul
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Wow. You have excellent tastes. That is the setup that I have in my 1976 XJC. Love it!
Would like to see a photo of that!
Went to NAS Atlanta in 1988 to join the Navy, Student Naval Flight Surgeon, my brother , a stockbroker, took me. He said that mourning a Little Old Lady was in the office and mentioned selling an E-Type Jag. He wanted me to go look at it with him, I told him he was crazy to buy an old Jag, he stated “I’m not going to buy it you are!” Well it was a early 1971 V-12 manual that her deceased bought the day he retired. We drove it around the block and I had to have it. Fixed it up while I was on active duty, Ten years ago my Lincoln needed replacing and the 2+2 was not daily driver, wanted an XJ12C but could not find one, asked Dick Maury what should I get and he said a late model XJS. Found mine in L.A. in 2010, had printed The Book and read it front to back. It is a love/hate relationship but I like the challenge of keeping her going, Small improvements and a great interstate cruiser, just wish we had a real Autobahn here in the states.
Considered it, and do love the Coyote. However, I really don’t give a #$%^^ about which company makes which engine or which car. If I cared at all about history or originality, I’d argue that the pushrod LT1 would provide a better representation of the pushrod Ford engine of the original than the current DOHC Coyote – and, of course, if I really wanted originality, I could build up an old Ford small block. I’d be looking for modern components, not old stuff. And compared to the Coyote, the LT1 weighs less, costs less, has essentially the same power, more low-end torque, and takes up less space in an engine compartment. In fact, pretty much the only reason I could come up with to favor the Coyote was that it’d probably be easier to change the spark plugs. I might have to fashion some access ports in the footwells to change the plugs on the LT1.
Paul,
I have followed your progress over the years while you renewed your wife’s engine bay. Its truly beautiful. I know its tedious work and you appear to have the patience of a saint.
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James,
Thank you for the kind words. I am amazed at your creativity. I could never come up with the ideas of what you have done to your XJ-S. Never in a million years. 
What I am pretty good at is returning my Jaguars to something very much like what they looked like when they left the factory. But you have a wonderful artistic perspective that takes it further. One of the reasons I enjoy the Jag-Lovers lists that I am on is because of the different perspectives that members bring with them.
I just read your post to my wife and she agreed to a point saying “you certainly have a lot of patience when it comes to our Jaguars but not everything…”. 
I am trying to restore all five of our Jaguars to look as close to new as I can possibly make them. In addition to my wife’s XJ-S convertible, I completed much the same engine bay work on our 1990 V12 Vanden Plas last year and our 1984 XJ6 Vanden Plas last month as shown in the two attached pictures.
I plan to tackle my 1957 MK VIII and 1969 E-Type FHC the same way starting later this year but I am still trying to decide which one to start with first.
Paul
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define cheap… there were two which just sold on May 11 in the Silverstone auctions… both were cheap…
Jerry,
It is tough to decide which one to tackle next. I discuss this with my wife regularly.
My 1969 E-Type is a “scruffy driver” that I have really enjoyed driving for the past 17 years but not so much lately because it has a slipping clutch. I need to pull the engine and transmission to change the clutch. But as long as I have to do that why don’t I bite the bullet now and start a full bare metal repaint restoration instead of just fixing the clutch and driving it again sooner?
My 1957 MK VIII hasn’t been on the road since 1975. I stripped it down after I got it towed to my house in 2005 and a few years later it got a beautiful bare metal repaint. I put a lot of time, effort, and money into it so far, but I have a lot left to do. Here is how it looks in my garage looking over the nose of my E-Type.
Both will require a substantial amount of work and money to get running properly and look “as new” again. I have been thinking about this a lot lately as I am not getting any younger and I really want to complete both of them while I am reasonably healthy and mobile so that I can enjoy driving them.
What to do?
Paul
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If I may… You should consider farming out some of the work. It can still be performed to your standards but will save a ton of time. Which, as you stated, you don’t have much left.
Phillip
They are both worthy of time. What would you enjoy most! Since we all have limited time and both may require substantial amounts, is restoration something that would drive your life satisfaction? Or as Phillip suggested relegate some of the work and probably have more time to pursue/enjoy other life enjoyments, like driving your other wonderful cars.
BTW, My choice would be the E. My MK V11 as a 18yr old left me stranded after the right wheel broke off. It seemed like fun at the time, as I recall.
Do the E-Type first, do not fix the tranny put in a https://www.5speeds.com/history.html 5 Speed and it will totally transform the car, then you will have a driver that you love to drive. It is the best thing you can do to an “E”.
Dan
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I knew a guy in the 70’s who owned an E-type. He said he could drive to the store, go inside to buy something, and when he came out there’d be a girl sitting in it. I don’t think that happens with the Mk VIII.
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The early E is very much an art piece to look at but the XJ-S is everything the E-Type wasn’t.
I have to say however that the 4.2L engine has been very reliable. My lady and I have taken it on long (to me) 150 mile road trips, several times now without any issues.
She doesn’t let me take the E out without her though. As Kirby had said, women will find their way in.
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Yeah, now remove about 1500 pounds and you’ll be close to what I’m talking about.
