Jaguar XJS

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from XJS)
Jump to: navigation, search
 This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
Jaguar XJ-S
1994-1996 Jaguar XJS (US)
Manufacturer Jaguar Cars
Parent company Ford Motor Company (1989-1996)
Production 1976—1996
Assembly Coventry, England
Predecessor Jaguar E-Type
Successor Jaguar XK8
Class Grand tourer
Layout FR layout
Mark I
Production 1976—1980
Body style(s) 2-door coupé
Engine(s) 5.3 L Jaguar V12
Mark II
1989 Jaguar XJ-S V12
Production 1981—1990
Body style(s) 2-door coupé
2-door convertible
Engine(s) 3.6 L AJ6 I6
5.3 L HE V12
Transmission(s) 3-speed automatic
Wheelbase 102.0 in (2591 mm)
Length 191.7 in (4869 mm)
Width 70.6 in (1793 mm)
Height 47.8 in (1214 mm)
Mark III (XJS)
1976-1980 Jaguar XJS Cabriolet (Germany)
Production 1991—1996
Body style(s) 2-door coupé
2-door 2-seat convertible
2-door 2+2 convertible
Engine(s) 4.0 L AJ6 I6
5.3 L HE V12
6.0 L HE V12
Transmission(s) 4-speed automatic
Wheelbase 102.0 in (2591 mm)
Length 191.2 in (4856 mm)
Width 1992-93: 70.6 in (1793 mm)
1994-96: 74.1 in (1882 mm)
Height 48.7 in (1237 mm)
1988 Jaguar XJ-S
1988 Jaguar XJ-S
1985 XJ-S 5.3 V-12 HE, North American quad headlights
1985 XJ-S 5.3 V-12 HE, North American quad headlights

The Jaguar XJ-S (later the Jaguar XJS) was a luxury grand tourer produced by the British manufacturer Jaguar Cars. The XJ-S replaced the legendary Jaguar E-Type (or XK-E) in September 1975, and was based on the XJ saloon. It had been developed as the XK-F, though it was very different in character from its predecessor. Although it never had quite the same sporting image, the XJ-S was a competent grand tourer, and more aerodynamic than the E-type. The last XJS was produced on April 4, 1996, with the XK8 taking its place.

Contents

The first XJ-S appeared in 1975 as a 1976 model. Power came from the Jaguar V-12 petrol engine with a choice of a manual or automatic transmission, but the manual was soon dropped. V-12 automobiles were unusual at the time, with notable others coming from Italian luxury sports car makers Lamborghini and Ferrari. The specifications of the XJ-S compared well with both Italian cars; it was able to accelerate to 60 mph (100 km/h) in 6.5 seconds and reach 157 mph (255 km/h).

For 1977, the Group 44 racing team had a very successful season in Trans Am with a race car based on the actual production XJ-S chassis and running gear. The team won the series' 1977 drivers' championship cup for Bob Tullius but missed winning the manufacturer's title by 2 points (only one Jaguar was competing in the Trans-AM series compared to many more Porsche entrants). In 1978, a purpose-built tube-frame "silhouette" style XJS race car was constructed which greatly reduced the weight compared to the full production chassis car campaigned in 1977. This silhouette car had only the production car's roof panel as the sole piece of factory XJS sheetmetal on the car. Group 44 succeeded in again capturing the driver's championship for Bob Tullias and also captured the manufacturer's title as well, by entering Brian Fuerstenau driving the 1977 car at some venues to gain additional manufacturer's point for Jaguar. The silhouette car survived and has surfaced recently in the SVRA historic sports race series. The 1977 factory chassis race car is believed to still be in the hands of Group 44's Bob Tullius.

Jaguar's timing was not good; the car was launched in the wake of a fuel crisis, and the market for a 5.3-litre V-12 grand tourer was very small. The styling was also the subject of criticism, including the "flying buttresses" behind the windows.

Jaguar did seize promotional opportunities with the television series The New Avengers and Return of the Saint. The New Avengers featured Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt) who drove an XJ-S. Reliability issues meant that three XJ-S cars were used.[citation needed] Return of the Saint saw Simon Templar (played by Ian Ogilvy) driving an early XJ-S with the number plate "ST 1". Miniature versions were made by Corgi and proved popular. A decade and a half before, Jaguar had turned down the producers of the earlier Saint series when approached about the E-type; the producers had instead used a Volvo P1800.

Responding to criticisms that the XJ-S was not a worthy E-type successor, Pininfarina revealed a sporty show car in 1979 based on XJ-S mechanicals. The car never went into production.

The 1981 XJ-S received the new High-Efficiency engine for much better economy. The XJ-S was also now the fastest automatic-transmission car in the world at 168 mph with 255kw and 0 to 60 in 5.7 seconds. In 1982, the new V12 XJ-S won first and second at the RAC Tourist Trophy race at Silverstone.

In 1983 a new cabriolet version débuted with a new 3.6-litre Jaguar AJ6 engine, the XJ-SC. In the XJ-SC, the rear jump seats were eliminated making it only a 2-seat car. The XJ-SC was not a full convertible but had a non-removable center targa-type structure and fixed cant rails above the doors. The rear quarter windows remained as well. With the introduction of the AJ6 engine in the XJS chassis came the availability of a 5-speed manual transmission for the 6 cylinder cars. This model with a GETRAG manual transmission was not imported by Jaguar into the United states until 1994 (and then only in extremely limited numbers). A limited number of earlier 5-speed AJ6 cars did enter the US as grey market personal imports however. A V12 XJ-SC did not emerge until 1985. The two-seat XJ-SC targa-type model was replaced with a two-seat full convertible in 1988. Prior to that there was a special full convertible version called a Hess & Eisenhardt XJS offered through dealers starting in 1986. The Hess & Eisenhardt coachbuilding firm was located in Ohio and built approximately 2100 of these cars under contract from Jaguar before the official Jaguar built XJS convertible appeared in 1988 to be offered as a 1989 model. The Hess & Eisenhardt convertible differed from the later Jaguar convertible XJS as its unpadded top folded down deeper into the body structure of the car resulting in a cleaner rear profile when the roof was lowered. The later Jaguar full convertible had a heavier padded top that did not fold into as small of a bundle when in the lowered position.

In 1984 Tom Walkinshaw’s TWR team captured the Group A title in the European Touring Car Championship with their version of a racing Jaguar XJS. In 1985, XJS drivers John Goss and Armin Hahne won the James Hardie Bathurst 1000 motor race in Australia.

In 1988 and 1989, a special XJR-S version of the V12 5.3 litre car was produced by TWR to celebrate Jaguar's win at Le Mans. A numbered limited edition of 100 of these cars were made for European sale only. This car had a distinctive TWR-fitted body kit, special alloy wheels and suspension and handling improvements. Between 1988 and 1989 a total of 350 XJR-s cars were produced with the 5.3-litre engine. After September 1989 the change was made to a special 6.0-litre engine with a Zytec engine management system. This was different from the standard 6.0-litre engine used in the late XJS models

Jaguar did consider a luxury Daimler version, without the flying buttresses, but this vehicle was not put into production.

Throughout the life of the XJS, British company Lynx sold a high-quality four-seat full convertible conversion. Lynx also produced 67 hand-built two-door estate/shooting brake/station wagon versions of the XJS marketed under the "Lynx Eventer". [1] The Eventer was a very elegant model, which succeeded in the overall design because it removed the flying butresses, incorporating them into the estate design. Jaguar were urged to market their own version but never did. Most Eventers are believed to still exist although build quality, especially on the early versions, was at best variable.

The car was re-engineered in 1991 and renamed XJS, with a convertible waiting one year. The rear windows were enlarged, though the flying buttresses stayed, as designer Geoff Lawson argued that they were part of the car's character. The car got a new 4-litre version of the AJ6, and the V12 was upped to 6 litres in 1993. At the same time the car benefited from a revision to the rear brakes, they were now fitted with outboard rear disc brakes, instead of the more complicated inboard items on previous models. These changes begin the "face-lift" for the aging XJS. A 2+2 convertible was also introduced, as was a customized insignia line. In 1994 the car received more aerodynamic front and rear bumper fascias, which completed the face-lift. 1994 was the only year the 5 speed manual transmission XJS was exported to the United States. Exact production figures are unknown, though it is likely there are fewer than 10. In 1995 substantial revisions were made to the 4-litre AJ6 engine. The car was discontinued in 1996, after 21 years in production. It was replaced by the XK8.

Having been in production for over 20 years, the XJS today can vary in price from a few thousand pounds for an older coupe, to over twenty thousand for a late V-12 Convertible. The sweet spot of the market is often considered by enthusiasts to be the mid-80's coupes. While initial build quality is likely no longer a factor, these cars were greatly improved over the earlier models but are not nearly as expensive as the later cars. Over time, the XJS has slowly moved from "used car" status to collectable. More often than not however, these vehicles are in the hands of non-enthusiasts. Most cars on the market suffer not from mileage, but from age. Everything made of rubber is likely to have disintegrated with time if it has not already been replaced. This includes perhaps hundreds of small hoses, bushings, and seals. If these inexpensive, but time consuming to replace, parts are renewed the balance of the car is fairly indestructible.

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

The XJ-S has been featured on BBC's Top Gear television series several times:


Jaguar Cars, a subsidiary of Ford since 1989, road and race car timeline, 1940s-1980s  v • d • e  Next ->
Type 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Sports XK120 XK140 XK150 E-type S1 E S2 E-type S3 XJ-S XJ-S HE
Saloon Mark 1 Mark 2, 240, 340
S-Type XJ-C
420 XJ6 Ser I XJ6 Ser II XJ6 Ser III XJ6 (XJ40)
Mk IV Mk V Mk VII Mk VIII Mk IX Mk X 420G XJ12 XJ12 S II XJ12 Ser III
Supercar Jaguar XKSS
Racing C-Type D-Type E-Type XJ13 XJ-C XJ41
XJ42		 XJRs
Corporate ownership Independent BMH British Leyland Independent Ford


<- Previous Jaguar Cars, a subsidiary of Ford since 1989, road and race car timeline, 1980s-present  v • d • e 
Type 1980s 1990s 2000s
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Sports car XJ-S HE XJS XK8 / XKR XK / XKR
Compact exec X-Type
Executive car S-Type XF
Full-size XJ6 Series III XJ6 (XJ40) XJ6 XJ8 / XJR XJ8 / XJR
XJ12 Series III XJ12 XJ12
Supercar 15 XJ220
Racing XJRs C R1/2/3/4/5
Ownership British Leyland Independent Ford Unknown, Tata Motors possibly
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_XJS"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.