GRAHAM FRANKLIN'S: DREAMS DO COME TRUE

IF YOU ARE A REGULAR READER YOU WILL probably remember this eye-popping XJR-S in edition #162 when it was owned in Perth (WA) by Peter Crisp.

He bought it in 2009. It is a genuinely spectacular and rare XJR-S Facelift model built in tiny numbers by JaguarSport - a company formed and owned originally by Jaguar and TWR.

In edition #200 we featured a beautiful identical but green XJR-S sold new in Japan (now in Australia).

We mentioned then that from September 1989 the model got a 6.0 litre V12 engine with TWR's Zytek engine management system.

The XJR-S stayed in the Jaguar line-up until 1993 with 837 coupés created. Only 87 were manufactured in 1989, 122 in 1990, 65 in 1991, 249 for 1992 and just 23 in 1993. Peter Crisp had been looking for this exact model, abandoned his dream - then lucked onto it at a Club meeting!

He bought the car in September 2009 with a mere 4863 kilometres of driving recorded. He believed then that only around 300 Facelif t XJR-Ss were manufactured. Peter maintained it in perfect condition, but eventually sold it to Adelaide Jaguar stalwart Graham Franklin, a lifelong Jaguar owner and enthusiast.

Graham explains: I bought my first Jaguar, a MkV, when I was 17, and have owned a Jaguar ever since.