Let's say you are driving down Manhattan's West Side Highway. You notice a 1985 XJS in your rearview. It quickly overtakes you, and in a  blinding red flash you've been passed. This bit of cop-bait is Bradley Smith's ultimate sleeper...a wolf in XJS clothing. Under the custom made bonnet is a 600HP double supercharged V12, and a lot more.

Bradley had an itch for higher performance than a stock XJS could provide. He started with he usual: upgraded air filters and such, but found he still needed more. His search led him to Brian Maletsky of Motorcraft, a Jaguar specialist in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Brian and Bradley soon formed XJS Express, for the purpose of developing the car to it's ultimate performance levels.

The automatic transmission was soon deleted for a Richmond Six speed with a lightweight steel flywheel and clutch from Centerforce. Improvements were made to the suspension. But enough just wasn't enough. Soon a dual supercharged V12 by tuner Lee Hurley filled the engine compartment, with a custom intake manifold by Joe Conti.An Electromotive fuel injection system replaced the stock unit. Many other changes followed. What emerged is the perfect Jaguar hot rod...a car with comfort and refinement, but with incredible power and handling.

If you see this car on the roads around New York, watch out!

Suspension and Drivetrain

• Heavy duty front and rear anti-roll bars
• Tuned front coil springs / Heavy-duty chrome moly shot-peened rear springs
• Front and rear adjustable Koni shocks
• Cruciform differential brace and stabilizer
• ForgeLine 17" forged alloy wheels in aluminum clear powdercoat
• Michelin Pilot XGT Z4 Zero Pressure tires
• Smartire tire monitoring system
• 13" vented rotors, front
• 4-Pot AP Brake calipers, front
• Standard diameter vented rotors, rear
• Rebuild Girling calipers with spacer kit, rear
• Remote brake booster kit (from engine compartment to trunk)
• Custom bellhousing
• Centerforce lightened steel flywheel
• Centerforce heavy-duty clutch
• "Doug Nash " design Richmond Gear 6-speed transmission with "Leonard Long" shifters
• Shortened and balanced one-piece drive shaft
• 3:54 differential
• Custom rear-hub aluminum web fabrications
• Custom wheel studs

Engine

• Builder: Lee Hurley, Hesco Engineering
• Block: Late style block
• HE type heads (small plug) flowed and modified with European valves
• GT Stage 1 cams (also heavier valve springs, guides, keepers, seals). Custom forged pistons (oversized & dished tops for 9:1 compression, total seal rings, 15# oil rings)
• TWR solid billet stroked crankshaft
• TWR race rods (s.p.s. bolts, bronze bushed)
• High nickel sleeves ( " O " ringed, copper on top, silicone on bottom) .Copper head gaskets.
• Large capacity oil pump & big tube pick up
• Balanced and blueprinted
• Twin Whipple Superchargers 21 88R (2.1 liters per rev.) .Custom fabricated & flowed aluminum intake manifolds .Blow-off valves
• Electromotive TEC II direct ignition/fuel injection system .High-flow GM injectors
• AJ6 2 7/8 inch diameter throttle bodies
• MAP sensors
• Sanden air conditioning compressor
• 148 Amp alternator.
• Custom serpentine belt system (Doug Ring, East Coast Supercharging)
• AutoMeter boost gauges

Fuel

• Paxton Kamakaze fuel pump, fuel filter and adjustable fuel pressure regulator
• Custom aluminum fuel lines to and from fuel tank
• EFI in engine compartment,
• Fuel lines SS braided lines
• In-driver's compartment fuel pressure gauge

Cooling, oil and water

• BeCool custom all-aluminum 3 tier radiator with 1 " interior pipes to XJ-S specs except for oversized single right coolant intake.
• MotorCraft Ltd. custom cross-over coolant pipe for left water manifold to oversized right radiator intake
• Twin 13" SPAL  puller fans on custom mountings with Hayden controls
• BeCool cartridge type (coolant to oil) oil cooler
• Pre-Luber early-oiler system (grill mounted)

MISC

• Big bore all stainless steel exhaust system
• Transmission tunnel wrapped in reflective heat shield
• All heat-sensitive fluid lines in heat-shields

Design

• All mechanical mechanical designs and fabrications other than those listed above were completed by MotorCraft Ltd., Bryan & Joe Maletsky or fabricated in Europe or the USA under the direction of MotorCraft Ltd. & Bradley Smith

Body

• Front Engine Hood: A deepening of the power bulge running from the forward hood lip back to the cowl. The termination is a lip that extends 1/2 way over the wiper motor grill and is approximately 2 1/2 inches in height. The fresh air for the blowers is drawn from this area.
• Two rows of louvers in the traditional configuration of the XKE.
• No other body changes

Motorcraft is a Jaguar specialist located at 307 Paterson Avenue, East Rutherford, NJ 07073 phone: 201-935-3431

About the author -Michael Frank is Vice President and Webmaster of the Jaguar Touring Club. His red 2+2 E-Type is a familiar sight at JCNA events in the Northeast. Currently, he is building a reproduction of the 1963 Cunningham Lightweight E-Type.

Discuss the content of this article in the XJS forum.

Posted: 4/28/2002

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