American beauty
ACCORDING TO a report by the RAC Foundation, most drivers keep their cars for an average of four years. Obviously, nobody told Cecil Howard from St. Louis, USA, because he owned his XJ-S for more than 40 years, ten times that average. The result of this extended ownership is one of the most original, unmolested examples of an early XJ-S around. This remarkable Jaguar has recently been imported from the States and recommissioned by its second (and current) owner. We went to see him to find out more.
Chassis number 2W51960, a silver XJ-S 5.3-litre coupe produced for the American market, left the Browns Lane assembly line in March 1976. The model had only been launched the previous September, making this car one of the first left-hand drive examples. It’s rare too – in 1976, Jaguar produced just 3,082 XJ-Ss.
On 11 October 1976, Cecil Howard bought the car from his local Jaguar dealer, Clayton Ltd Inc, located in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. As
