Banham's reworking of the XJS ranged from providing it with a more conventional roofline to completely rebodying the car...
Banham appears to have ceased trading in 2004, although we have yet to find out the full details...
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Jaguar XJS fixed-head coupe
rom the day it was first launched, the most controversial aspect of the XJS must surely have been the distinctive "buttresses" which ran in a gentle curve from the rear of the roof down to the tail lights. For owners who loved the car but couldn't live with the roofline, Banham offered this elegantly executed remodelling. It's an idea that Jaguar themselves tried in the mid-1980s for the badge-engineered Daimler XJS proposal, but if you wanted to own such a car, then it had to be the Banham.
This fairly subtle wide-bodied conversion, seen here applied to the fixed-head coupe, was another Banham speciality.
Jaguar XJSS
hen the XJSS was first introduced in 1994, the 19-year-old XJS was looking decidedly long-in-the-tooth and its replacement, the XK8, was still around two years off. Here was a way for existing owners to give their cars a complete makeover, with the aid of Corsa headlamps and Mondeo rear light clusters. Banham initially carried out the conversion work as part of their coachbuilding activities, but in 1996 the XJSS became available in kit form for customers who wanted to undertake the work themselves; today it is only sold that way, providing a useful and cost-effective lifeline for XJS owners whose ageing cars have less-than-pristine bodywork.
The long, slender front and rear wings of the XJSS are somehow redolent of the 1989 William Towns-designed Railton Fairmile which, along with its Claremont counterpart, was also based on the XJS.
Banham later added this alternative twin-headlight version to its portfolio. Makes for an interesting comparison with the more muscular lines of a rival XJS-based conversion offered by Paul Bailey Design.
Information and images used with the kind permission of Paul Banham Conversions.