New Year’s Resolution: Regularly exercise this twin-carb V-12 Jaguar

Evidently, the chief weakness of the 1989 Jaguar XJS is that it didn’t have big twin carburetors sticking out of the hood. We can only assume that the owner of this for-sale-on-Facebook example, located in Shelocta, Pennsylvania, engineered this fix to keep a better eye on his fuel system. With 2023 on the horizon, keeping all 12 cylinders regularly exercised is a New Year’s resolution we can endorse.

Shelocta (population 102, according to Google) is without a Jaguar dealer, so we suspect this one may be familiar with Jaguar of Monroeville, just 27 miles away.

Frankly, the unique XJS doesn’t look like it needs much aside from a paint job, unless you just like patina. According to the seller, it “Needs sealed up better on drivers side carb, hear hissing sound,” which is seldom a positive. The engine has 70,000 original miles, the ad says, and is matched up to an automatic transmission. Forward visibility, one assumes, is impeded in a manner not unlike certain examples of the Isuzu Vehicross.

Perhaps for competition purposes, the Jaguar has been lightened: “Seats removed in rear and carpeted for a ‘luggage throw,’” which would be helpful if you have to get out of Shelocta quickly after completing purchase. But pack wisely, because there is a fuel cell in the trunk, which will limit luggage space to the luggage throw.

The ad says it is “very reliable” and the seller “drive[s] it every weekend,” which optimists may take to mean one wouldn’t spend Monday through Friday working on it. Regardless, it would behoove any interested buyer to at least drive it from one end of Shelocta to the other, or possibly over to the nearby Coffee Pot, or even the Jimmy Stewart Museum in Indiana, Pennsylvania. (We checked, and there is no Pennsylvania, Indiana, which would probably confuse the USPS office no end.)

The seller is named Isaiah, who boasts a four-star rating (one review) and also has for sale a far more boring Honda Shadow and Subaru Outback, as well as an iPhone case ($5). The Jaguar is listed at $5500, marked down from $7000.

We’ve seen any number of small-block-Chevy-swapped Jaguar XJs (and even driven one) but no matter where you live, Shelocta or Los Angeles, this twin-carb V-12 cat would be the only one like it in town. Someone alert Jay Leno.

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