Worth The Wait

Once completed, the car was taken to Mexico's Glazzkraft for a complete respray and body restoration that included covering some of the original chrome factory touches in Santorini Black. What would've usually taken a few months for the shop to complete turned into eight long months courtesy of the global pandemic, but the wait proved worthwhile with the XJ-S exterior completely refreshed. In addition, the interior was reupholstered, and its woodgrain surfaces refurbished to complete the restoration.

"I was glad I finally got my car back," he tells us. "The paint was shiny, the turbos were whistling, and everything was good, until the Jaguar in her wanted to shine through and I began having electrical issues—which these cars are famous for." Those almost expected electrical gremlins caused the lights and blinkers to work intermittently and when it was really acting up, turning the car on could take anywhere from 15 minutes to three hours. Tearing into the XJ's wiring, all of the issues were dealt with and rectified and the car is working perfectly at this point.

You've seen 2JZ swaps in countless chassis over the years but this Jaguar is one of the most unique you're likely to encounter. No, it doesn't have the big burly V-12 that Jaguar intended, but with six less cylinders and a pair of Aristo turbos, it makes double the power, is blessed with a massive aftermarket, and is much easier to find replacement and maintenance parts for. "I've really only owned the car for about a year and two months and have accomplished so much with it," Bryan says proudly. "My future goals are to do all new wiring and a fully custom dash, switch up the interior, make 550whp, and one day get the car into SEMA."

1990 Jaguar XJ-S V12 Rogue Edition

Bryan Pontifes

Instagram 2jzbryan

Engine 2JZ-GTE; custom engine mounts; ARP head studs; factory turbos w/46mm compressor wheel upgrades; 5-inch intercooler, 3-inch piping; Turbosmart Race Port blow-off valve; 3-inch exhaust; Walbro inline fuel pump, dual filters; Koyorad radiator; Turbosmart E-boost controller; Driftmotion oil cap

Power 425whp

Drivetrain TH400 transmission; Borg Warner clutch; custom flywheel; rebuilt Jaguar LSD; mild shift kit; custom torque converter, billet adapter plate, governor weights, springs; Summers Brothers Racing forged axles

Suspension Bilstein struts/shocks; polyurethane bushings

Braking Brembo rotors; 4 piston calipers

Wheels & Tires BBS LM 18x9 +25 front, 18x10 +25 rear; Nitto NT05 235/40 front, 265/35 rear

Exterior Resprayed Santorini Black; custom front bumper; TWR side skirts, rear bumper, spoiler

Interior Reupholstered seats, refurbished woodgrain; Pioneer head unit; JL amp; Infinity speakers

Thank You Mom (Alida), Dad (Jose), my little brother Jonathan, Aaron at Driftmotion for the platform, Ron and Marc at ArMotorwerkz for the custom BBS',Gabe and Noel at Upscaledetailing for keeping her clean, my team at Summers Brothers Racing for the custom axles, Hector and Tico at Glazzkraft for the paintjob, MrSexys2k, and all my friends who have supported me