Hyperdrive

Hyper Transformations produced only three of its big-winged Mk 3 XJ-S-based specials. We drive the second all-steel prototype to see if it’s as good as its more illustrious – and expensive – rivals

- Paul Walton

MAY BE IT was due to the car’s controversial styling, or possibly because it was more of a Grand Tourer than an out-and out sports car, but, from the outset, independent tuners and modifiers set out to make harder, faster and sportier versions of the XJ-S. Companies such as TWR, Lister, and Paul Bailey Designs produced their own interpretations of Jaguar’s sports car, often boasting larger engines and extreme body kits.

Some were more successful than others in terms of numbers produced and aesthetics, but the one thing they all had in common was a high price. These modified XJ-Ss weren’t cheap, with the Lister Le Mans, for example, costing £147,000 in the early Nineties, big money when a Lamborghini Diablo cost the same.

The one exception was Hyper Transformations’ cars. This little Oxfordshire-based specialist produced several modifications for the XJ-S for a fraction of the price of its rivals. Were they any good? We’ve tracked down the second all-steel prototype for its ultimate version, the Hyper Sport Mk 3, to find out.

Hyper Transformations’ Paul Hands has been in the motor industry since the late Seventies, firstly as a general mechanic, then as a specialist in Jaguars, the brand he had admired since he was a child. He raced them, too, and it was through competition that he first met Laurence Pearce – at that time from WP Automotive, but later Lister Cars – and started buying parts from him. In the late Eighties a customer with an XJ-S wanted a full Lister conversion, so Paul stripped the car ready for it to be transported to Lister’s workshop. Originally told by Lister that it would take two weeks to complete, when Paul was later informed it would be closer to three months before the car could be ready, he looked for an alternative and investigated producing his own XJ-S body kit.