With just 38,000 kilometres on the clock, 71-year-old Peter Trechard's newest Jaguar is in mint condition.

Mr Trechard, of Exeter, bought his two-seat 1984 XJ-SC Jaguar from a Shannon's vehicle auction in Melbourne late last year as it was too good to refuse.

The latest edition is joined in the Exeter local's garage by a 1998 XK8 Jaguar.

"It is a V6 with a Getrag gearbox and what makes it rare is that the XJSs were all 12 cylinders," Mr Trechard said.

"They produced this one after the E-type as a grand tourer for the American market.

"They made a big engine which was a hard top and they thought that they would do a soft top in a six cylinder.

"So they produced a six cylinder as a cabriolet, but it didn't take off in the market because most Americans wanted to push a button for the hood to go down.

"They didn't like it because it takes half an hour to three quarters of an hour to get the two top bits off and the canopy down and folded back.

"It is a pretty special vehicle but they decided then to go back to the v12s and put them with an electric top, which sold for 20 odd years or more."

Mr Trechard said there are only between three to five 1984 XJ-SC Jaguars in Australia, as they were never exported out of Britain.

"There were only 1085 ever built so God knows what's left of that lot now," the car enthusiast said.

"I decided to buy it because of its rarity and a six cylinder with a Getrag gearbox.

"In its day it had a top speed of 145 mile-an-hour, it was something special and it is nice to drive.

"I haven't had to do anything apart from polish and clean it."