INFO GUIDE: 1984 - 1988 Jaguar XJS (TWR Enhanced)

Early XJS TWR enhanced cars had the following interior features:

• Unique trim was applied to TWR cars, and Jaguar's 'Brown's Lane' trim shop was used to produce the interior finishes.
• Early TWR cars generally had inlayed stitched panels of tweed upholstery, surrounded by leather, or full leather trim.
• Early cars generally did not have contrasting piping on the seats, which was a feature often present on later cars.
• Some vehicles had optional modifications such as “TWR” embossed into the seat material. This feature does not appear to be a consistent feature of the early cars.
• Early TWR cars had a small diameter leather trimmed four spoke TWR steering wheel. There were two possible wheel options.

1. Wheel with a large centre boss with a small “TWR” logo embossed in the middle.
2. Wheel with a flat centre boss more integrated with the spokes and “TWR JaguarSport” embossed in the centre.

Optional woodgrain centre boss finishes were also available, with examples provided in the images. Note, the later 1988 onward Jaguarsport joint venture vehicles were fitted with steering wheels that had a slightly different design and “Sport” embossed on the centre.

• An early TWR car should have deep barrel dashboard instruments (as opposed to the later non barrel style on 'JaguarSport' cars).
• Optional TWR embroidered floor mats were also available.

Further details of the TWR interior feautures are being researched. Please contact us or comment below if you are aware of any additional unique interior features applied to TWR's early XJS cars.

There is limited information on the available paint colours for early TWR cars. Discussion we have viewed on enthusiast forums suggest that TWR used both Jaguar factory colours, as well as others (including other manufacturer colours). We have found that many Jaguar factory colours were used as the primary upper body colour on most cars (presumably un-altered from their original paint).

A common trait of the early TWR cars is their two tone bodywork. This is far more common on the early pre-JaguarSport cars than on the later models, but is not necessarily a strict identification rule, as we have seen exceptions on both sides. In addition to the lower body contrasting colour, sometimes (albeit rarely) the 'Speedline' wheels were also matched to the lower body colour.

Checking the paint code:

By checking the vehicle's build plate or paint/trim plate, you can usually confirm whether or not the upper body colour of the two tone scheme would be the original Jaguar factory colour, as TWR never removed these original tags from cars. However, TWR also made no reference to the secondary colour applied to the lower half of the vehicle (unless you have access to the original order documentation). The original Jaguar paint code can be found on the car's build plate, or may also be contained on a separate paint/trim tag. These tags are located on the inner fender/mudguard in the engine bay as shown in the images. 

Main body colours seen during our research (Therefore, colours may not be limited to these):

Lower panel colours seen during our research:

If you have any further information on early TWR paint colours, please contact us or comment below so we can update this section.

Unfortunately, the chassis number on an early TWR XJS will not determine whether it is a genuine TWR car. Further, the TWR conversion was available for older XJS models, and existing owners of pre-1984 cars may have had the conversion. That aside, we do loosely assume that a large portion of TWR cars would have been models from the 84 - 88 production year range. The chassis number applicable to the 1984 – 1988 TWR XJS is simply a standard XJS chassis number, as TWR did not alter these basic details during their modification process, nor did they apply any of their own "stampings" into the body/chassis. 

The chassis number may, however, appear on original TWR documentation (if available with a car), and it can be used in determining the vehicle’s original specification prior to modification by TWR, and will importantly confirm whether the vehicle’s age / body style corresponds with the pre-1988 era.

The XJS will typically have a 17 digit chassis number. For example:

SAJJNAEW3BA###### = XJS HE V12 coupe, automatic transmission

SAJJNACC8CC###### = XJ-SC 3.6l 4VC cabriolet, manual transmission

This can be interpreted using the below table.

Chassis Number / VIN location:

The chassis number on a TWR XJS is located in several positions:

1. Stamped into the body in the central top firewall.
2. Stamped into the build plate, which is riveted to the left hand side inner mudguard.
3. Stamped into a VIN tag placed behind the windshield next to the left hand side "A" pillar. Note, this VIN tag was generally only supplied to LHD cars going to the USA or other markets where this was a requirement.

Forum discussion suggests that some cars were also fitted with TWR ID plates on the back of the doors and in the engine bay. We have not been able to verify this, and this was perhaps something that was done on later models, rather than on the early TWR cars. Please contact us or comment below if you have further information.

TWR offered a range of modifications to the standard XJS. We have started to develop a  list of the various codes and their associated modifications here, including promotional material associated with the cars.

We have been advised of a couple of interesting points by one of our members with respect to the TWR options: 

• All TWR options were available for the V12 cars, however, some options were not available for the 6 cylinder models.
• Not all options as listed below were available in the early stages of the 1984 launch, however, all options had become fairly settled by mid 1985. 

If anyone has further information or can clarify the outstanding codes, that could be greatly appreciated (please contact us or comment below):

Option Codes:

We have now confirmed the majority of the TWR options and associated codes for the XJS. Some of these are demonstrated in an original TWR spec sheet / customer order sheet in the attached images.

Further confirmation of the originality of a TWR vehicle may be available by looking at the service books for the car. Generally, TWR converted cars were services (at least the first few times) at the TWR workshops, and would have TWR service stamps in the service schedule documentation. Original TWR letters and specification sheets (like the one shown in the images) would also confirm the vehicle’s originality, but many of these documents are misplaced and most cars we have seen for sale have not come with this documentation.