1987: The final race for the TWR XJ-S and the Cabriolet

February

The 1986-87 season would be the last for the XJ-S in its current form, as changes to homologation would push this car out of the running for the Touring Car Championships. The Group A organisers in New Zealand decided to extend the current homologation for one month to allow the Jaguar XJ-S to race once more to appease the marque enthusiasts. Two cars were entered in the Wellington race in January 1987 but Hahne crashed and the other car retired. The final race for the model was to be at Pukekohe on 1 February 1987 where Win Percy and Armin Hahne came second and this took the XJ-S to 20 victories in its short racing career.

Jaguar showed its commitment to the XJ-S with numerous improvements for the 1987 model year, most importantly in February it announced that automatic transmission would be available as an extra-cost option on the 3.6 litre models for the first time. This addition was made available for a couple of reasons, firstly, the success of the new four-speed ZF 4HP22 automatic transmission used in the XJ40 saloon and, secondly, the poor sales of the 3.6 litre manual-only models.

September

The 3.6 litre Cabriolet ended production in 1987. The V12 Cabriolet sales figures had improved but it had not been a big seller, especially in the American market. In September 1987 it was announced for the 1988 model year there would be a sports pack option available for the 3.6 litre models. Significant changes were made to steering and suspension to enhance the sporting nature of the car. The interior also had an upgrade to enhance the “sporty” feel with the introduction of sports style seating and a thicker leather rimmed steering wheel. The exterior of the car saw new cast alloy Lattice road wheels with a traditional spoked design, together with wider, lower profile tyres. There were no mechanical changes to the 5.3 litre version but the interior saw some enhancements that were similar to that of the 3.6 litre version. On the 3.6 litre models, the seats were upholstered in a luxurious wool cloth which was hard wearing yet soft to the touch, while the seat facings were trimmed in leather. There was a change to the design of the steering wheel, where the centre bar now had two thumb indents for operating the horn. External changes included a slightly bolder twin coach line. There was a revised specification hood material.