History of the Jaguar XJS
The Jaguar E-Type defined an era. Even now, over 30 years since the last one left Browns Lane, the E-Type is still wheeled out to illustrate features on 'cool Britannia' and it consistently tops poles as the most desirable car of all time.
Imagine trying to follow an act like that. With the XJS, it's clear that Jaguar realised they faced an impossible task. The media and customers expected a new E Type, a svelte, impossibly beautiful coupe and roaster combination perfect for the Kings Road. What they got was a rather awkward, heavy, luxuriously appointed grand tourer with a plastic-clad interior and only available as a coupe. It's fair to say that at its launch the XJS met a muted reception.
It would be easy to dismiss the early Jaguar XJS as the flawed product of a manufacturer struggling with the turmoil and politics of British Leyland. But it was a well thought through car. Jaguar could not replace the EType so it didn't even try to. The seeds of the XJS lie in the Series 3 E-Type, a car that shares the XJS' V12 engine and grand tourer pretentions. The E-Type had evolved to reflect a changing, maturing clientele and BL's own internal requirements, which called for more profit from every car made.
Work on the E-Type replacement began in 1967, Jaguar finally selecting a design proposed by Malcolm Sayer that had benefitted from some input by William Lyons (the XJS is the last car to have his input). The new car was aimed at affluent, successful company buyers aged 35-55 who wanted traditional jaguar pace and grace with space for colleagues, associates and young children as necessary. Sayer's design focussed on aerodynamic efficiency, which resulted in the low bonnet line with its distinctive oval headlamps and the famous (or infamous) 'flying buttresses,' a styling technique pioneered by Italian car designers and also seen on the Dino 206 and 246GT. Sayer died in 1970 before the car reached production, but the final car is largely unchanged from his original design.
Jaguar had high expectations for the XJS in America and the XJS was launched in 1975 as a V12 coupe only. Press reaction was less than effusive, journalists being perturbed by the styling - which was very 'un-Jaguar' - and not particularly enamoured by the interior. The ride and handling were praised, though, the XJS continuing Jaguar's reputation for smooth, quiet and powerful progress.
The XJS was continually developed and improved throughout its life. In 1981 under John Egan Jaguar ensured the car's survival by giving the V12 engine a 'HE' high efficiency head, which improved fuel economy, and finally putting timber in the interior.
The XJS was originally conceived as a coupe and convertible, the open top car being shelved - like the original TR7 convertible - because of fears that these cars would be banned in the USA. Buyers wanted an open top version but lack of money prevented Jaguar acting until 1985 when it introduced the XJ-SC. A cabriolet rather than a convertible, the XJ-SC used a central bracing hoop that made it more of a coupe with a large sunroof rather than a full convertible.
The XJ-SC was an obviously cheap solution that largely failed to satisfy demand. With XJS sales flagging in its main market America in 1986 Jaguar commissioned Hess & Eisenhardt, an Ohio coachbuilder, to produce a full convertible. The contract was for 18 months, just enough time for Jaguar to develop and launch its own convertible, which appeared in April 1988, initially as a V12 only.
The XJS received an elegant face-lift in 1991. Jaguar stuck with automotive facelifting convention and added colour-coded plastic bumpers and new front and rear lights, but the overall effect was to soften and modernise the 16 year old design. The car survived until 1996 when it was replaced by the XK which introduced Jaguar's penchant for recycling old designs, in this case the E-Type.
By the time the last XJS rolled off the production line in early 1996 opinions had mellowed and it was recognised as an attractive, highly competent and still desirable luxurious grand tourer. The ugly duckling had grown up. And as testament to Sayer's original vision, it lasted longer than the E-Type and sold in larger numbers.
