The Mercedes-Benz SL was the car to have in the 1970s and 1980s – nothing screamed success quite so loudly as the drophead German on the gravel driveway. And while many rivals were offered in its 18 year lifespan, most of those came with fixed roofs courtesy of scare stories from America, where it seemed that the open car could well be banned. But as that scare passed, more upmarket convertibles and conversions trickled onto the market. The Jaguar XJ-S came in for its fair share of conversions, notably from Ohio-based converter Hess and Eisenhardt. But it was the launch of the XJ-SC in 1984, developed in part by Aston Martin’s Tickford subsidiary, that really started the ball rolling for Jaguar. For the first time since the E-type it had a factory-produced convertible to take on the Mercedes, and its six-cylinder engine and manual gearbox meant that it offered far more sporting potential than the soft-top from Stuttgart.
Not that this was the first time the two ranges had crossed swords. The big V8-powered Mercedes-Benz 450SLC, a slightly longer, fixed head variant, had been doing battle with the XJ-S from 1975 until its discontinuation in 1981. The two model families were constantly vying for their spots alongside the rich and famous, even if for the first eight years of its life the Jaguar’s chances had been hampered by its single model V12 range. By contrast, Mercedes could offer a six cylinder, a small V8 or a big V8 in the
