The Jaguar XJS & Classic Car Detailing

Preserving History: How AP Car Spa Detailed the Jaguar XJS and Classics Like it

There's a particular kind of silence that falls over a workshop when a truly special car rolls in. It's not the silence of an empty room it's the quiet respect a craftsman gives to something that deserves it. That's exactly the atmosphere at AP Car Spa when a vehicle like the bronze Jaguar XJS featured here comes through our doors.

This isn't just another car detail. This is a conversation with automotive history.

A Pedigree Grand Tourer

The Jaguar XJS is one of Britain's most iconic grand tourers a car that replaced the legendary E-Type in 1975 and carved out its own identity as a refined, powerful, and beautifully appointed continent-crosser. This particular example wears its age with elegance: a deep bronze metallic paint finish with a classic gold coachline, chrome bumpers and trim, and those unmistakable flying buttress rear pillars that made the XJS silhouette instantly recognisable on any road.

Step inside and you're greeted by soft biscuit-tone leather seats, burr walnut veneer trim across the dashboard and door cappings, and the famous "J-gate" automatic gear selector a design so distinctive that Jaguar used it for decades afterward.

Round analogue gauges, chrome switchgear, and a leaping Jaguar emblem on the steering wheel boss complete a cabin that feels less like a car interior and more like a gentleman's study on wheels.

Cars like this weren't built to be disposable. They were built to be lived with, loved, and eventually restored and preserved for the next generation of enthusiasts. That's where our work begins.

Why Vintage Cars Demand a Completely Different Detailing Approach

A modern car rolling into a detailing bay is a fairly predictable job. Its paint is a hard, UV-stable clear coat, its interior plastics are engineered to resist chemicals, and its rubber seals are formulated with modern polymers designed to last. A classic like this Jaguar XJS is the opposite in almost every respect, and that's precisely why vintage detailing is a specialist skill rather than a scaled-down version of a standard valet.

The paint is often single-stage, not clear-coated. Many classics from this era were finished in single-stage enamel or early basecoat formulations without the protective clear layer we take for granted today. This means the colour pigment itself sits on the surface, fully exposed. Polish too aggressively and you're not cutting through a clear coat you're removing colour permanently. Every product and every pass of a machine polisher has to be chosen with that fact in mind.

The chrome is real chrome. Original bumpers, trim, and grille surrounds on cars of this vintage are typically triple-plated chrome over brass or steel, not the plastic-and-vacuum-metalised chrome substitutes used on many modern vehicles. This is wonderful news for durability, but it also means decades-old pitting, oxidation, or previous poor polishing attempts need to be assessed and treated individually rather than blasted with an all-purpose metal polish.

Rubber, trim, and seals have hardened with age. Weatherstripping, door seals, and trim gaskets on a car of this era are typically 30 to 45 years old. They've lost natural oils and plasticisers over time, making them brittle and prone to cracking if handled or cleaned incorrectly.

Interior leather has its own life story. Original leather hides from this period were tanned and finished very differently than today's leather. They can be wonderfully supple when properly maintained or dry, cracked, and fragile if neglected. Every hide reacts differently depending on decades of sun exposure, previous conditioning treatments, and even the climate it's spent its life in.

Understanding all of this isn't optional knowledge for a technician working on a car like this it's the foundation of everything we do.

Vehicle Assessment Before Action

Before a single product touches this Jaguar, our technicians conduct a full paint, trim, and interior assessment. We're checking paint depth where possible, looking for evidence of prior respraying or touch-up work, testing small inconspicuous areas with our intended products, and inspecting rubber and leather condition by hand.

This diagnostic stage is arguably the most important part of the entire process. A vintage car doesn't forgive guesswork. Where a modern car might tolerate a slightly wrong product choice, a mistake on a 1980s Jaguar can mean irreversible damage to original paint, trim, or leather that can never be perfectly replaced because it's original, and original is exactly what makes it valuable.

Jaguar XLS Exterior Care

Restoring Depth Without Removing History

For the paintwork, we avoid harsh chemical degreasers and high-alkaline pre-wash snow foams that are common in modern detailing. Instead, we use pH-neutral, low-alkaline shampoos specifically formulated to lift dirt without stripping wax layers or attacking aged paint pigment.

Machine polishing, when required, is done with the gentlest possible cutting compounds and soft foam or wool pads, using low rotation speeds and constant monitoring of paint temperature and surface response. On single-stage paint, we often favour hand polishing techniques over machine correction entirely, because the margin for error is simply too small to risk with power tools.

Once the paint is corrected, protection is critical. We steer away from modern synthetic sealants that can sit unevenly on older, more porous paint, and instead favour traditional carnauba-based waxes and oils. Carnauba wax has been the gold standard for classic car protection for good reason it's compatible with older paint chemistry, it enhances depth and warmth in colours like this bronze finish beautifully, and it's forgiving to reapply by hand every few months as part of ongoing maintenance.

Chrome trim receives its own dedicated treatment: a gentle, non-abrasive chrome polish worked in by hand, followed by a protective sealant to slow future oxidation. Rubber seals and trim are treated with UV-protective, non-silicone dressings that restore flexibility and colour without the greasy sheen or premature drying that cheap silicone-based products can cause over time.

Jaguar XLS Interior Restoration

Leather, Wood, and Metal

Inside the cabin, our approach shifts again. The biscuit leather seen in this Jaguar's interior requires cleaning with pH-balanced leather cleaners, applied with soft brushes to lift embedded dirt from the grain without saturating the hide. This is followed by a proper leather conditioning treatment rich in natural oils, which replenishes what decades of sun and use have drawn out, restoring suppleness and preventing the surface cracking that ages leather so poorly.

The burr walnut veneer trim is treated with specialist wood care products designed for furniture-grade lacquered wood rather than generic interior dressings, preserving the lacquer's clarity without leaving behind residue or a plasticky shine that would look completely out of place against the car's original character.

Chrome switchgear, the J-gate shifter surround, and interior metal detailing are hand-polished using the same careful, low-abrasion approach as the exterior brightwork. Carpets and headlining are cleaned using low-moisture techniques, since older adhesives and backing materials can be sensitive to oversaturation.

The Right Chemistry Matters as Much as the Skill behind It

A recurring theme in vintage detailing is that gentler is almost always better. Modern detailing chemistry is often designed for speed and strength cutting through stubborn contamination on tough factory finishes. Classic cars need the opposite philosophy: patience, dilution, and formulations that work with the vehicle's original materials rather than against them. Every product on our shelves for a job like this is chosen not for how fast it works, but for how safely it works.

More Than a Valet

What we do at AP Car Spa when a car like this Jaguar XJS comes in isn't simply cleaning. It's preservation. Every wash, polish, and conditioning treatment is performed with an awareness that we're custodians of something irreplaceable for a few hours and that the choices we make will influence how well this car survives for the next owner, and the owner after that.

That's the philosophy that separates true classic car care from a standard detail: respect for originality, patience with process, and genuine knowledge of how these cars were built and how their materials age.

Not Just Detailing: Vintage Car Acquisition & Sales

Alongside our detailing and restoration services, AP Car Spa also offers Vintage Car Acquisition & Sales. Whether you're searching for a specific classic to add to your collection, looking to sell a much-loved vehicle to someone who will appreciate it as much as you have, or simply want expert guidance on the vintage car market, our team brings the same attention to detail and genuine passion to sourcing and sales as we do to every car that passes through our workshop. If you own a classic, or you're dreaming of owning one, we'd love to talk.

CONTACT US

AP Car Spa  |  Chelsea London Car Park, Edith Grove, London SW10 0ED  |  apcarspa.co.uk