Add twin hoop roll bars behind the driver/passenger head rests.
Effect:
Permit club racing on a race track, provide additional occupant
protection, and improve wind dynamics of the cockpit.
This is a brand new mod/idea that has been kicking around
in my head for a while, but was really inspired by my good
friend and fellow XJ-S addict, Bradley Smith, of New York City.
Bradley just recently had a great showing against race
prepared Vipers, Corvettes, and Ferraris at Lime Rock in his
highly engineered, twin supercharged powered V12 XJS--and he has
invited me to participate in next year's event. That would be great--but
one big problem--you must have a roll bar installed
in convertible cars to participate in track events like these and others.
This saftey feature is obviously lacking in the XJ-S.
A roll bar no doubt improves rigidity and safety, but a poorly
designed or executed piece will detract from the looks
of any car. The trick is, how could one be installed in an
XJ-S convertible for both functionality and looks? Fortunately,
other modern auto makers have solved this problem. My early
inspirations come from the new Porsche Speedster and Mercedes convertibles.
The MB solution is to have a pop-up bar. Slick, but too costly
to backwards engineer for an XJ-S. However, their bar looks
fantastic--a high quality foam covered with
cockpit color matching vinyl/rubber. The Speedster has two "U"
shaped hoops behind the front seats. Additionally, they incorporated
a wind baffle (see through) material that is attached to the
bars. The bars are covered with a stiched on leather
in a color matching the seats. It looks perfect.
My plan is to have the Speedster-style bars as follows. There
will be two anchor-to-body points. One would be on the shelf
behind the front seat (outward near the rear side panels). The
bar would then go up behind the head rest in an inverted "V"
hape, but the bar would come down at a slightly wider
angle, continuing until it met the floor just on the opposite side
of the transmission tunnel. The bars would intersect with
an "X" just above the tunnel hump and behind the center arm rest.
Like the Porsche, I'll get the bars cover stiched (and padded) in
the matching Connally leather color of my seats and interior.
I'll also find the mesh type see through material and have that
sewn into the leather, or set so it can be removed, if desired.
something smaller. As fate would have it, I did not
find 
