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StarLight presents another marvellous Jaguar, this time the Jaguar XJS "Monaco" from 1993 which was the next car of my British friend (the owner of the Jaguar XJS).
Enjoy this very rare car ... no, this one has no NITRO ... when people grow up their demands also change.But nevertheless this car is a rocket on wheels, you don't dare to search his limits unless you are on the race track since the car is not in Holland but in Britain I didn't yet have the chance to take it for a spin but that will certain happen one day at the race track in Brand Hatch.
Many thanks to the owner of this car, without his information I would not be able to write this article which I did it with much pleasure. Sorry for my English since it's not my native language.
Let's talk about the car, the "Monaco" is an exclusive creation from Paul Bailey from PBB-Design (founded in Bristol 1987).
Paul Bailey is a brilliant engineer coming from the aerospace industry. He was worked for Glenforme Engineering where his was involved with the engineering of special convertible versions for Range Rover and Rolls-Royce.
Like many car lovers I don't like to put a saw on a car like the iconic Jaguar XJS and make something different because some "rich or mad" guy wants to have a special version for himself to show or not to show off on a rainy or sunny day at the boulevard.
Where the men will open their mouth and which the car was owned by them, don't forget the women which will automatically turn their heads when this car is driving by.
But on the other hand not everyone was pleased with the new sport-coupe Jaguar XJS when he was introduced in the seventies.
Personally I love the XJS as long as I can remember but the Paul Bailey creation is really a awesome version and with a high quality level.
The donor car used for the transformation was a Jaguar XJS 6-litre from 1993.
The first prototype of the Monaco version was entirely produced with a special foam and that on a 1:1 scale, after then Paul modelled the car to his own imagination. At that time his brother joined the company and bring a lot of CAD/CAM engineering with him so they could produced the car as it should be, a tremendous job for such a little company.
Paul wanted that the Monaco must have bigger and wider wheels but the maximum steering en suspension specifications must be maintained, so the tyres would be for the front 245 and the rear ones would be 335. A lot of rubber on the asphalt.
PBB-Design produced in totaal 11 cars, 5 of them were under the name, "MONACO" and the first 6 units under the name "PBB Special". None of the PBB Special versions are the same, the are unit for unit one-off's.
The differences were not only based on body color, interior, leather or any other cosmetic details but also huge technical and mechanical parts. The customer could choose from an engine 5.3 to a 7.3 litre, the last engine was enough to get the speedometer above the 350 km/h. Even a 6 manual gearbox was available or an automatic one with 5 gears for the "lazy" driver. My friend choose for the famous Jaguar V-12 engine but with 70hp more.
The donor cars used started with the models before 1991 and his successor. After the facelift the new car gets a silver (yes, real silver) emblem from PBB-Design, so high were Pauls quality standards for his cars.
My friends Jaguar XJS Monaco is one of the four convertibles and the last (number 11) car ever produced by PBB-design, sadly Paul Bailey must close his firm in 2001 because of financial issues.
Story written by StarLight © 2015
UPDATE: The Sultan of Brunei seems to have 2 of the 11 cars delivered by PBB-design.
Specifications
Donor car: Jaguar XJS
Version: 'Monaco"
Model: Convertible
Serial#: 11
Engine: V12 tuned by AJ 6 engineering
Displacement: 5994 cc
Bore/stroke: 90 x70
Compression: 11,5 : 1
Power: 370hp
Torque: 480 Nm
Carburetor: Lucas-Bosch electric indirect injection
Gearbox: 4-gear automatic
Brakes: Jaguar Sport ventilated disc brakes (front & rear)
OTHER JAGUARS ARE HERE
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