EPILOGUE
Even after 21 years on the market and more than 115,000 sales, the XJS remains a polarizing design, particularly the coupe. (The convertible, lacking the flying buttresses, is less divisive, one of the reasons it eventually outsold the fixed-head models.) It has a certain following, but it doesn’t provoke the same eye-glazing lust as the E-type and probably never will.
It’s interesting to speculate what sort of response the XJ-S would have received had Jaguar also been able to build the XJ21. The XJ-S’s styling would probably still have been controversial, but we suspect that critics would have been less inclined to chide it for what it was not and more willing to embrace it for what it was: a new kind of car for Jaguar with strengths of its own.
It’s also worth noting that many of the criticisms of XJ-S — that it was too big, too heavy, and too soft — were also made about most of its rivals, including BMW’s E24 6-Series and the Porsche 928 (not to mention almost every subsequent sports car and GT). The XJR-S made it clear that Jaguar could have offered a much sportier XJ-S if they’d been so inclined, but for the most part, the factory opted not to, judging (probably correctly) that its customers preferred grace to outright pace. As for the abortive XJ41, we’re not sure it would have sold any better than the XJ-S in the early nineties. Attractive as it was, the XJ41 would have arrived just as the sports car market was collapsing; the sales figures of its potential rivals from that period make for depressing reading. There’s a reason the posh XJ-S and its XK successors have survived more than 30 years while the F-type/XE took until 2013 to reach production.
Even so, we find the XJ-S easier to respect than to love. It has its appealing aspects, but we can’t help thinking an XJ12C would offer many of the same virtues (and, admittedly, many of the same foibles) in a prettier, more practical form. The XJ-S’s unique character and exceptional longevity have earned it an honorable place among classic Jaguars, but immortality will be a harder road.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to thank Martin Alford, Xero Britt, John Parkes, Antonio Tarascio, ‘MSL,’ and ‘FiatTipoElite’ for the use of their photos and Dan Bodenheimer of Saint.org for his help with the history of the Return of the Saint TV series.
NOTES ON SOURCES
Our sources on the development of the XJ-S included Keith Adams, “Daimler XJS,” AROnline, 19 September 2008, www.aronline. co.uk, accessed 25 March 2011; “Autocar Test Extra: XJ-S V12 Convertible,” Autocar 27 April 1988, reprinted in Jaguar XJS Gold Portfolio 1975-1988, ed. R.M. Clarke (Cobham, England: Brooklands Books Ltd., ca. 1989), pp. 164-167; “AutoTest: Jaguar XJS HE: Fireball efficiency,” Autocar, 24 April 1982, reprinted in ibid, pp. 94-99; John Barker, “Group Test: Tour de Force,” Performance Car April 1992, reprinted in Porsche 928 Takes On the Competition (Head to Head), ed. R.M. Clarke (Cobham, England: Brooklands Books Ltd., ca. 1999), pp. 114-121, and “Tried, Tested, Rejected: Jaguar XJS Twin-Turbo 4WD,” CAR January 1997, pp. 68-69; Patrick Bedard, “Jaguar XJ-S: The cat comes back,” Car and Driver January 1976, reprinted in Jaguar XJS Gold Portfolio 1975-1988, pp. 13-18, 69; Stuart Bladon, “Fireball: The development of the decade?” Asian Auto June 1981, reprinted in ibid, pp. 85-87; John Bolster, “Road Test: State of the art,” Autosport 25 February 1982, reprinted in ibid, pp. 90-91; Michael Brockman, “JaguarSport XJR-S: Still hitting on all 12 cylinders,” Motor Trend Vol. 45, No. 7 (July 1993), p. 58; Thomas L. Bryant, “TWR Jaguar Sport: Subtle changes, dramatic improvements,” Road & Track August 1985, reprinted in Jaguar XJS Gold Portfolio 1975-1988, pp. 126-127; Martin Buckley, Jaguar: Fifty Years of Speed and Style (Haynes Classic Makes) (Sparkford, Somerset: Haynes Publishing, 1998); Roger Bywater, “The technical history of the Jaguar V12 engine,” Jaguar World, 1997, www.jagweb. com/ jagworld/ v12-engine/ index.html, accessed 5 October 2009; “Buying Secondhand: A Classic Opportunity,” Autocar 8 April 1987, reprinted in Jaguar XJS Gold Portfolio 1975-1988, pp. 143-146; Mike Covello, Standard Catalog of Imported Cars 1946-2002, Second Ed. (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2001); Michael L. Cook, Illustrated Jaguar Buyer’s Guide (Osceola, WI: MBI Publishing Company, 1996; Peter Crespin, The Essential Buyer’s Guide: Jaguar XJ-S: All 6- and 12-cylinder models, 1975-1996 (Dorchester: Veloce Publishing Limited, June 2008); Dave Destler, “Going Topless in France: Jaguar Unveils the XJS Convertible,” British Car October 1988, reprinted in Jaguar XJS Gold Portfolio 1975-1988, pp. 153-156; Jim Donnelly, “Visionaries: Malcolm Sayer,” Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car #67 (March 2011), p. 64; Craig Fitzgerald, “Marketplace Buyer’s Guide: 1993 Jaguar XJR-S: Jaguar’s Rare, Affordable V-12 Coupe,” Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car #57 (May 2010), pp. 80–85; Pascal Gademer, “Jaguar Model Guides: The XJS,” South Florida Jaguar Club, 14 February 2005, www.jcna. com, accessed 23 March 2011; Scott Gordon, “First Drive: 1995 Jaguar XJS 6.0: Tampering with perfection,” Road & Track Vol. 46, No. 7 (March 1995), p. 48; Ron Grable, “’93 Jaguar XJS Coupe: Sporty performance with an emphasis on style and grace,” Motor Trend Vol. 45, No. 7 (July 1993), pp. 53-55; Larry Griffith, “Jaguar XJS-SC Cabriolet: The return of the pop-top cat,” Car and Driver August 1986, reprinted in Jaguar XJS Gold Portfolio 1975-1988, pp. 131-135; Larry Griffith, “Short Take: Jaguar XJ-S: The fastest production car in America,” Car and Driver February 1981, reprinted in ibid, p. 75; “In Search of the Greatest Grand Tourer,” Autocar 9 January 1991, reprinted in Porsche 928 Takes On the Competition, pp. 104-112; “Jaguar XJ-S: Enhancing its reputation for silky smooth performance and luxury,” Road & Track May 1981, reprinted in Jaguar XJS Gold Portfolio 1975-1988; William Jeanes, “Preview: Jaguar XJS: A new way to re-skin a cat,” Car and Driver Vol. 37, No. 1 (July 1991), pp. 123-124, 127; “Life Begins at 40,” Performance Car October 1986, reprinted in Jaguar XJ6 Gold Portfolio 1986-1994, pp. 15-23; Brian Long, Jaguar XJ-S (Dorchester: Veloce Publishing Limited, 2004); Karl Ludvigsen, “Twelve to Go,” Motor Trend Vol. 23, No. 5 (May 1971): 80–82; Richard Maura, “Understanding Fuel Injection,” Georgia Jag, 2006, georgiajag. com/ Documents/UNDERSTANDING%20FUEL%20INJECTION.htm, accessed 25 September 2014; Mark J. McCourt, “Living Up to the Legend,” Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car #67 (March 2011), pp. 18–23; “Move Over Merc,” Motor 1 May 1976, reprinted in Jaguar XJS Gold Portfolio 1975-1988, pp. 40-44; Bob Nagy, “Jaguar XJ-S: A New Groom for the Old Cat,” Motor Trend Vol. 44, No. 4 (April 1992) pp. 80-82; Douglas Kott, “Jaguar XJR-S Coupe: JaguarSport puts some snarl into Coventry’s fat cat,” Road & Track Vol. 44, No. 7 (March 1993), pp. 69-72; Ian Nicholls, “Jaguar XJ21: The missing link,” AROnline, 15 November 2009, www.aronline. co.uk, accessed 3 April 2011, “Jaguar XJ6: Quantum leap,” AROnline, 2 January 2011, www.aronline. co.uk, accessed 5 April 2011, “Jaguar XJS: A brave new direction,” AROnline, 22 May 2010, www.aronline. co.uk, accessed 12 April 2011, “Projects and prototypes,” AROnline, 15 November 2008, www.aronline. co.uk, accessed 25 March 2011, and “Quantum Leap: Jaguar E-Type,” AROnline, 19 September 2008, www.aronline. co.uk, accessed 13 October 2009; Kirby Palm, Experience in a Book: Help for the Jaguar XJ-S Owner (Morgantown, WV: Coltrane Productions, May 2009), published online by the author at Jag-Lovers.org, www.jag-lovers. org/ xj-s/ book/ Jaguar.html [e-book in PDF format], accessed 23 March 2011; Cyril Posthumus, “New Jaguar E-Type V-12: Technical Analysis,” Road & Track May 1971 (Vol. 22, No. 9), pp. 26-30; “Prestige Performance,” What Car? March 1988, reprinted in Jaguar XJS Gold Portfolio 1975-1988, pp. 158-163; “Road Test: Jaguar XJ-S,” Motor 21 February 1976, reprinted in ibid, pp. 26-31; “RoadTest: Jaguar XJS – 3.6C,” Motor 3 March 1984, reprinted in ibid, pp. 112-115; Graham Robson, “XJG Classic Choice,” Thoroughbred & Classic Cars August 1991, reprinted in Jaguar XJ6 Gold Portfolio 1968-1979, ed. R.M. Clarke (Cobham, England: Brooklands Books Ltd., ca. 1995), pp. 164-171; Michael Scarlett, “XJ-S: A new concept in Jaguar motoring,” Autocar 13 September 1975, reprinted in Jaguar XJS Gold Portfolio 1975-1988, pp. 5-11; LJK Setright, “A Cat may look at a King,”Car and Driver Vol. 24, No. 4 (February 1979), p. 110; Paul Skilleter, “On the road,” Thoroughbred & Classic Cars October 1975, reprinted in Jaguar XJS Gold Portfolio 1975-1988, pp. 12-13, 55, and “XJS,” Thoroughbred & Classic Car January 1977, reprinted in ibid, pp. 48-49); Kevin Smith, “Short Take: Jaguar XJS: Rocky XIV: In which our handsome hero undergoes an ego reduction,” Car and Driver Vol. 39, No. 1 (July 1993), p. 125; John Simster, “Test Match: Open warfare” and “The fall and rise of the XJ-S,” Motor 6 August 1988, reprinted in Jaguar XJS Gold Portfolio 1975-1988, pp. 172-176; “Test Update: The Cat Strikes Back,” Autocar 7 October 1987, reprinted in ibid, pp. 147-149; Bill Visnic, “Topless Review: Jaguar XJ-S: More evidence that Jaguar’s finest tradition is tradition itself,” Car and Driver Vol. 34, No. 8 (February 1989), p. 55; Ted West, “Lister-Jaguar XJ-S NAS,” Road & Track November 1987, reprinted in Jaguar XJ-S Gold Portfolio 1975-1988, pp. 150-152; Barry Winfield, “Jaguar XJ12: Coventry’s 12-step program,” Car and Driver Vol. 38, No. 12 (June 1993), pp. 87-89; Barry Winfield, “Short Take: Jaguar XJS 4.0 Convertible: They’re not kidding about cats having nine lives,” Car and Driver Vol. 40, No. 6 (December 1994), p. 169; “XJR-S ’88-’91,” Jag-Lovers.org, 25 February 1999, www.jag-lovers. org, accessed 11 April 2011; the official Jaguar Heritage website (www.jaguar. com, accessed 7 April 2011); and the Wikipedia® entry for the XJ-S (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_XJS, accessed 24 March 2011).
Additional information about the XJ-S’s competition history came from Charles W. Bryant, “How the Cannonball Run Worked,” HowStuffWorks.com, 22 June 2009, adventure.howstuffworks. com/ cannonball-run.htm, accessed 26 March 2011; Ginger Corda, Phyllis Chisholm, “Florida Jaguar Clubs Take their Cats out to Play at Sebring International Raceway,” Jaguar Clubs of North America, 2 March 2002, www.jcna. com, accessed 26 March 2011; Frank de Jong, History of the European Touring Car Championship website (originally homepage.mac. com/frank_de_jong/Race/, now www.touringcarracing.net), accessed 30 March 2011; Job Drenth, “XJC Models Part 2: The Series II XJ Coupe Models (II),” Jaguar Model Club, 2005, www.jagweb. com, accessed 28 March 2011; Alexis Gousseau, “Group 44: the return of Jaguar,” IMSA History, 15 August 2006, alex62.typepad. com/ imsablog/ 2006/ 08/ group_44_the_re.html, accessed 26 March 2011; “Le Mans Grand Prix d’Endurance,” n.d., www.silhouet. com/ motorsport/ lemans.html, accessed 31 March 2011; Wouter Melissen, “1990 Jaguar XJR-12,” Ultimate Car Page, 26 July 2007, www.ultimatecarpage. com, accessed 15 April 2011; Gordon Smiley, “Track Test: The Big Cat’s Back,” Autosport 25 February 1982, reprinted in Jaguar XJS Gold Portfolio 1975-1988, pp. 88-89; “Turning Topics: Race modifying Jaguar’s XJ-S for European endurance events,” Motor Sport May 1982, reprinted in ibid, pp. 103-105; “Two Jaguar Coupes: Group 44’s XJS is more than the cat’s meow,” Road & Track May 1977, reprinted in ibid, pp. 56-61; and Brock Yates, “The Cannonball: One More Time,” Cannonball Express: A personal Journal of Automotive News and Opinions Vol. One, No. 18/19 25 (April 1979), www.onelapofamerica. com, accessed 26 March 2011.
Information about the brief television career of the XJ-S came from Keith Adams, “The New Avengers,” AROnline, 19 September 2008, www.aronline. co.uk, accessed 25 March 2011; Dan Bodenheimer, “The Saint’s Jaguar XJS: Jaguar and Ian Ogilvy as The Saint,” The Saint Club/Saint.org, n.d., www.saint. org, accessed 23 March 2011; Dave Matthews, “The Authorised Guide to The New Avengers Star Cars,” The Authorised Guide to the New Avengers, 25 May 1998, www.personal.u-net. com/ ~carnfort/ NewAvengers/ navgcars.htm, accessed 25 March 2011 and “The Return of Steed,” ibid, 9 December 1996, www.personal.u-net. com/ ~carnfort/ NewAvengers/ navg.htm, accessed 25 March 2011; Paul Rance, “Gareth Hunt – Mike Gambit of The New Avengers – Obituary,” Booksmusicfilmstv. com, 24 April 2007, www.booksmusicfilmstv. com, accessed 25 March 2011; and the IMDb page for Return of the Saint, www.imdb. com, accessed 9 April 2011.
Other information about planned and actual successors to the E-type and XJS came from “2013 Jaguar XE,” Car and Driver April 2010, www.caranddriver. com, accessed 26 March 2011; Keith Adams, “Jaguar XJ41/XJ42,” AROnline, 19 September 2008, www.aronline. co.uk, accessed 11 April 2011; John Barker, “Tried, Tested, Rejected: Jaguar XJS Twin-Turbo 4WD,” CAR #413 (January 1997), pp. 68-69; “DB7 – The six cylinder cars,” Aston Martin, www.astonmartin. com, accessed 26 March 2011; Robert Edwards, Aston Martin: Ever the Thoroughbred (Haynes Classic Makes Series) (Sparkford, England: Haynes Publishing, 1999); Steven J. Ewing, “Report: Jaguar F-Type gets the greenlight,” Autoblog, 28 May 2010, www.autoblog. com, accessed 26 March 2011; “Jag F-Type is go,” Auto Express, 28 May 2010, www.autoexpress. co.uk, accessed 26 March 2011; “Jaguar confirms XE + X-Type,” Autocar; “Jaguar: The all new F-Type Concept,” Autointell. com, 11 January 2000, www.autointell. com, accessed 26 March 2011; “Jaguar – the next 12 years,” Autocar, 15 February 2011; “Obituaries: Victor Gauntlett,” The Telegraph 2 April 2003, www.telegraph. co.uk, accessed 26 March 2011; Martin Padgett Jr., “Jaguar XK8: Never mind the bollocky XJS–here’s Jaguar’s next sexy pistol,” Car and Driver Vol. 41, No. 5 (November 1995), pp. 34-37; Simona, “Jaguar confirms F-Type and X-Type models,” Topspeed. com, 13 July 2010, www.topspeed. com, accessed 26 March 2011; Steve Sutcliffe, “Jaguar F-type review,” Autocar, 17 April 2013; “Tata buys Jaguar in £1.15bn deal,” BBC News, 26 March 2008, news.bbc. co.uk, accessed 26 March 2011; Mark Walton, “Jaguar F-Type V8 S (2013) CAR review,” CAR 17 April 2013, www.carmagazine. co.uk, accessed 20 April 2013; and Mark Wan, “Jaguar XK,” Autozine.org, 13 April 2006, www.autozine. org/ Archive/ Jaguar/ new/ XK.html, accessed 16 April 2011.
Other details about Jaguar, including its relationship with British Leyland and its return to private ownership, came from Keith Adams, “Company timeline,” and “Jaguar under BL’s wing,” AROnline, 19 September 2008, www.aronline. co.uk, accessed 25 March 2011; Edward Connolly, “Upper limit is placed on Jaguar Cars offer,” The Glasgow Herald 7 July 1984, p. 15; Nicholas Faith, “Obituary: Lord Ryder of Eaton Hastings: Dominating chairman of the National Enterprise Board,” The Independent 21 May 2003, www.independent. co.uk, accessed 25 March 2011; Dan Fisher, “Jaguar Shifts Gears, Backs Buyout by Ford,” Los Angeles Times 3 November 1989, latimes. com, accessed 3 March 2011; “Geoff Lawson, 54, Dies; Designer of New Jaguar Line,” New York Times 5 July 1999; Jonathan Glancey, “Obituaries: Geoff Lawson: Assured designer who brought style and success back to Jaguar,” The Guardian 28 June 1999, www.guardian. co.uk, accessed 26 March 2011; Gavin Green, “Why a Jaguar is not a Ford,” The Independent 1 October 1994, www.independent. co.uk, accessed 12 April 2011; Michael Harrison, “Former Jaguar chief Egan to take chairman’s role at Severn Trent,” The Independent 7 July 2004, www.independent. co.uk, accessed 23 March 2011; “Jaguar prospectuses quickly snapped up,” The Glasgow Herald 31 July 1984, p. 9; Bernice Kanner, “Jaguar Revs Up: Quality Catches Up With Image,” New York Magazine Vol 20, No. 34 (31 August 1987), pp. 23, 26-27; Evi Kaplanis and Antonio S. Mello, “Jaguar Cars: A Case on Foreign Exchange Exposure,” University of Wisconsin Business School, 1990, research3.bus.wisc. edu/ file.php/ 93/ Case%2520Studies/ Jaguar_Cars_A_Case_on _Foreign_Exchange_Exposure.pdf, accessed 25 March 2011; “Loughborough graduate and designer of E-type Jaguar honoured” [press release], 13 May 2005, Loughborough University, www.lboro.ac. uk/ service/ publicity/ news-releases/ 2005/ 37_sayer.html, accessed 25 March 2011; Steven Prokesch, “Ford to Buy Jaguar for $2.38 Billion,” New York Times 3 November 1989; John Revill, “Ford has spent billions on its British brands,” Automotive News Europe, 21 January 2008, www.autonews. com, accessed, 23 March 2011; Jonathan Wood, “Obituaries: Lofty England,” The Independent 9 June 1995, www.independent. co.uk, accessed 23 March 2011; and the Wikipedia entries for John Egan (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Egan_%28 industrialist%29, accessed 23 March 2011) and Geoffrey Robinson (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Robinson, accessed 25 March 2011).
Details on Ford’s sale of its British acquisitions came from Nick Bunkley, “Ford sells Aston Martin unit,” New York Times 12 March 2007; “Ford pays £1.8bn for Land Rover,” BBC News, 17 March 2000, news.bbc. co.uk, accessed 26 March 2011; Tom Krisher, “Ford Sells Jaguar, Land Rover to Tata,” The Huffington Post, 26 March 2008, www.huffingtonpost. com, accessed 26 March 2011; and Terry Macalister, “Ford sells Aston Martin,” The Guardian 12 March 2007, www.guardian. co.uk, accessed 26 March 2011.
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Interesting article as usual Aaron, on an interesting or curious car – in some ways an example on what not to do. I remember reading about a spy photographer getting into the design studios and ignoring the XJS prototype because he didn’t think they would release a car with the ugly buttresses. The Lynx Eventer is far and away the best looking (along with the convertible) because of that.
Typical large British car in some ways, with such a ‘huge’ engine it is like they ignore weight, the Rover SD1 is the same. Then the BL in-fighting that saw the XJ40 designed to not fit a vee engine because they were afraid the Rover 3.5 would be forced upon them, a move that caused havoc when they subsequently tried to fit the V12…
Well, the weight of the XJ-S doesn’t seem as unreasonable if you consider it as a variation of the XJ sedans, which is really what it was, in many respects. Making it substantially lighter would have required a bespoke platform (which Jaguar couldn’t afford) or extensive use of alloy panels (which would have complicated manufacture and probably made it even more expensive than it already was). I don’t think Jaguar was oblivious to the issue, but sometimes you’ve got to make do with what you have.
For the record, I rather like the buttresses. I think the issue is less the buttresses themselves and more the overall proportions, exacerbated to some extent by the awkward shape of the quarterlights. The pre-facelift cars have a hint of Mercedes C107 (SLC coupe), which is not to the credit of either; the facelift coupes are cleaner, but even more sedanish.
I’ve mixed feelings about the aesthetics of the facelift. I like the revised nose, reshaped rocker panels, and frameless door glass, as well as the ’94-on body-colored bumpers, but I prefer the original taillights to the rather anonymous wraparound units, and the integral chin spoiler of late-model cars looks rather strange on close inspection. I’ve never liked the shape of the Eventer, which to me lacks elegance and looks huge — it’s not nearly as pretty as the Volvo 1800ES.
You are of course right about the weight, but Jag sedans inc. the XJ6 have always been heavy, the engines likewise. Even the aluminium V12 weighs as much as an iron big block Chev (have seen an XJS with this swap!). That the weight of 40-year-old Jags seems ‘normal’ now says something I think.
I agree with you on the tail lights, the buttresses I think are not helped by the overly-arched rear window. I see what you mean about the rear overhang of the Eventer, a bit smaller would help.
Too bad the XJC (2 door) didn’t get much of a chance. That’s the first I’ve learned of it and I think it looks great.
Aaron, kudos on another fine article.
For anyone who wants to see photos of the Lynx Eventer, check out .
Also, a minor typo on the last page: you said that the XJS had 115,00 sales (the final zero is missing).
Thanks for the note on the typo — it’s been fixed.
Minor detail to an fine article: under the first picture of the XK-E, you state that "[i]This car’s covered lights were not legal in the U.S. in the sixties and seventies[/i]".
Actually, covered headlights were legal in the US though the 1967 production year, and the XK-E, Alfa Spider and Fiat 850 Spider had them through MY 1967. There were other cars that had them too, mainly Italians like Ferraris and such. Sadly, in 1968, they all went away, ending an era.
Desperately trying to find the tire and rim sizes that Tullius ran on the Group 44 XJS racer.Thank you for your consdieration
The Group 44 cars had Goodyear Blue Streak tires on 15×10 Minilite magnesium wheels. The front tires were 25.0×10.0-15, the rears were 25.0×11.0-15.
Hello
Any help on aftermarket wheels for the XJS like the ones on the 44 XJS racer/ thx Mike
Aaron-great article- just purchased a 1996 XJS 2+2 DHC as a stablemate for my 1990 Vanden Plas Majestic, which is a prolific show winner for me. You can see a picture of my Majestic in Wikipedia listed in the Jaguar XJ40 article, listed as the Majestic model,taken at the 2012 Greenwich Concours Show. The XJS has 138K+ miles and was mechanically neglected by it’s previous owners. Exterior is Topaz Pearl Metallic with Oatmeal interior and Brown Hood, all in good shape, however car is currently undergoing extensive surgery in the local ER with the help of a couple of capable Latino “doctors” and a few suppliers from around the US. After receiving the diagnosis a couple of days ago, I could have kicked myself for the purchase, but it is a great looking car cosmetically and am looking forward to showing it when discharged and cruising the backroads of CT to car shows next year.
Richard
Un poco tarde. En San Luis Obispo California, está XK Unlimited y ellos tienen todo lo de Jaguar. Inclusive envian las partes a México.
Old article, but I have just come across it. I have owned a 95 4.0 Coupe and now a 95 4.0 soft top. I never heard a complaint about the buttress from anyone. I used to prefer the coupe, but now I think each has its own look. Having put quite a few miles on the two, and comparing to some Germans I have driven recently back to back; I would agree that the steering it too light. I would have preferred the dash about 6″ forward instead of the long hood, which does have some spare space with the 6. I disagree that this car will not become a desired classic. Not versus the e-type, but in a minor way. Prices are moving upwards on good ones.
I find that encouraging! The dilemma the XJS faces as a collector car is that it’s not especially rare and it is very costly to properly maintain, repair, or restore. That can create a scenario in which a lot of examples get run down beyond the point where it makes economic sense to fix them and either end up scrapped or as a sort of a devil’s bargain for used car buyers (there are few things so perversely expensive as a cheap used luxury car!). That in turn can depress their resale values, making the cars’ survival dependent on individual owners just really liking their cars rather than there being a strong market for them. (This isn’t limited to the XJS; a lot of high-end luxury cars present the same issues.)
Excellent article. I re-discover this every few years and have a great read. I own a 1986 XJ-S and a 1986 Pontiac Trans Am T-top. I can’t tell you how firm…tank-like…the XJ-S feels after getting out of the TA with its many squeaks, creaks, rattles, and flex. The TA’s great for a little poor-man’s Miami Vice vibe, but sometimes you feel more like the refinement (and dare I say Bond vibe) from the XJ-S.