“Never has a more exciting car been offered with so much, to so few.”
Significantly changed for 1982 (there was no 1981 XJ-S), the Jaguar XJ-S received a substantially updated H.E. 5.3 liter/326 ci fuel-injected V12 engine with higher compression, upping horsepower to 263 bhp and increasing efficiency. The other end of the powertrain remained a three-speed automatic transmission sourced from General Motors.
Performance was quite respectable for the almost 4,000-pound coupe: 0-60 in about 8.0 seconds. Despite the efficiency upgrades, mileage remained what you might expect from a V12—14 city/22 highway by the day’s standards (13/20 by today’s measures). A 24-gallon gas tank meant that an XJ-S owner could expect a range of between 355 and 385 miles with a 10% fuel reserve.
With its flying buttresses in the rear, the basic XJ-S exterior design from 1976 was nothing if not distinctive. Standard equipment included power-assisted rack and pinion steering and four-wheel power disk brakes. 15-inch five spoke cast aluminum-alloy wheels were paired with Pirelli 215/70VR15 tires (a size still readily available).
Inside, the buyer received air conditioning with automatic temperature control, leather seats, power windows, power mirrors, intermittent windshield wipers, cruise control, and an AM/FM stereo cassette with Dolby and metal tape capability. Burl elm on the dashboard and door panels was a new addition to the still somewhat cramped interior for 1982.
There were no options—probably a good idea in a car that used a six-year-old design and cost $32,100 (about $109,700 in today’s dollars). The approximately 3,100 buyers for the 1982 model year picked their exterior color, and that was it.
The View From 2025
The Jaguar XJ-S has good club support, and there are some restoration parts available. There’s also a free 738-page (!) ebook written by an XJ-S H.E. owner named Kirby Palm which features much hard-earned advice. Keeping an XJ-S at 100% is non-trivial—as it is with so many high-end eighties cars. Current discussions in the XJ-S portion of the Jag-lovers forums are replete with transmission issues, brake system replacements, gas tank challenges, and ECU problems.
Like all Jaguars, the XJ-S H.E. has a following and frequently appears in the Hemming’s Motor News classifieds, on eBay Motors, and on Bring a Trailer. According to Hagerty’s valuation tools, all the money for a 1982 XJ-S H.E. in #1/Concours condition is $54,800, with a far more typical #3/Good car going for $13,900.
Make mine Racing Green Metallic, please.
Two other eighties Jaguars I have written about are the 1983 XJ6 sedan and the 1989 XJ-S convertible.
Last updated March 2025.
Eighties Cars 