The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. There were three distinct iterations, with a total production of 115,413 units over 20 years and 7 months.
Originally developed by Chief Engineer William Heynes using the platform of the then-current XJ saloon, the XJ-S was noted for its prominent rear buttresses. The early styling was partially by Jaguar's aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer—one of the first designers to apply advanced aerodynamic principles to cars; however, Sayer died in 1970, before the design was finalised.
Its final iteration, produced from 1991 to 1996, was manufactured after Jaguar was acquired by Ford, who introduced numerous modifications – and eliminated the hyphen in the name, marketing Jaguar's longest-running model simply as the XJS.
Pre-HE (1975–1981)
The XJ-S was introduced on 10 September 1975.XJS History, www.classic-xjs-sales.co.uk Retrieved 29 August 2015 The design and development had begun in the late 1960s by the code name of project XJ27, with an initial shape penned by Malcolm Sayer, but after his death in 1970 it was completed by the in-house Jaguar design team, headed by Doug Thorpe. The design was radical for the time, with long overhangs and the 'flying buttresses' that swept down the rear of the roofline. A common misconception of these design details is that they were a leftover from a potential mid-engine layout, with the black plastic vents behind the rear windows being functional to that design. While a mid-engine layout was considered, it never made it past initial brainstorming. The buttresses were always meant to be merely a styling feature that improved aerodynamics.
Power came from the Jaguar V12 engine with a choice of a manual or an automatic transmission, but the manual was soon dropped as they were left over from V12 E Type production. V12 powered production automobiles were unusual at the time; Italian luxury sports car makers Lamborghini and Ferrari produced such models. The specifications of the XJ-S compared well with both Italian cars; it was able to accelerate to in 7.6 seconds (automatic models) and had a top speed of . The first series of XJ-S cars had a BorgWarner Model 12 transmission with a cast-iron case and a bolt-on bell-housing. In 1977, General Motors' Turbo-Hydramatic 400 transmissions were fitted. The TH400 transmission was an all-aluminium alloy case with an integrated non-detachable bell-housing. The XJ-S was originally supplied with Dunlop SP Super E205/70VR15 tyres on 6K alloy wheels; British police upgraded their Jaguars to a higher-performance 205/70VR15 Michelin XWX tyres.Paul Skilleter, Jaguar Sports Cars, pp.323 . At the end of the 1970s Jaguar started to fit the 205/70VR15 Pirelli P5. The Pirelli P5 was the tyre that Jaguar had asked Pirelli to produce to improve their luxury cars. European and Canadian spec XJ-S models were fitted with two molded headlights, while models for the US (until 1992) were fitted with four round sealed beam lights due to legislation. Early XJ-S models featured the lower section of the boot lid and taillamp trim pieces being painted black, although this option would be phased out by 1978 in favor of body-colour paint and chrome trim respectively.
Jaguar launched the XJ-S in the wake of a fuel crisis, when the market for a 5.3-litre V12 grand tourer was small. The XJ-S was a radical departure from the E-Type it replaced, having shifted from being a sports car to a GT and losing the option of a convertible roof. The buttresses behind the windows were criticised at the time as German authorities feared these would restrict rearward vision, and refused to give type approval to the XJ-S (and to the similarly designed Lancia Montecarlo) – requiring German XJ-S buyers to obtain road approval for each individual car upon registration. Sales remained stubbornly low, and production was halted for half of 1981, to allow unsold stock to be moved. Because of the slow sales, Leyland Cars had decided to discontinue the car but decided to give it another chance with a light facelift and engine revisions.
Italian styling house Pininfarina introduced a 1978 concept car based on the XJ-S, called the Jaguar XJSpider; which did not see production.
HE (1981–1991)
From July 1981, the XJ-S was renamed the XJ-S HE and received the new High-Efficiency V12 engine for much better fuel economy. A positive side effect of the more efficient "Fire Ball" combustion chamber designed by Swiss Engineer Michael May was that power output was increased to or in North America.Automobil Revue, catalogue 1982, p. 346. At the same time, the XJ-S HE received changes to its exterior and interior: new five-spoke "Starfish" alloy wheels fitted with 215/70R15 Pirelli Cinturato P5 tyres, chrome inserts on the upper part of the bumpers, and burled elm inserts on dashboard and door cappings.
Six-cylinder and convertible models
In 1983, the new 3.6-litre Jaguar AJ6 straight-six engine was introduced along with a new convertible model called the XJ-SC. The coupé's rather small rear seats were removed in order to make space for the removable soft top, making it a strict two-seater car. The XJ-SC was not a full convertible but was a fixed profile variant with a non-removable centre targa-type structure, fixed cant rails above the doors, and fixed rear quarter windows. The six-cylinder cars can be identified by a raised bonnet centre section.
Between 1983 and 1987, the six-cylinder-engined cars were only available with a five-speed manual transmission (Getrag 265), with a four-speed automatic (ZF 4HP22) offered from 1987 onwards (along with improved fuel injection as used on the XJ40). The V12 models continued to use the stronger Turbo-Hydramatic 400 transmission. The earlier manual models were not imported by Jaguar into the United States, which had to wait until the facelift manual 4-litre XJS coupé and convertible became available. A V12 powered XJ-SC was introduced in 1985.
The two-seat XJ-SC targa-type model, never a great success in the marketplace, was replaced by a two-seat full convertible in 1988 which proved to be a great hit.
XJ-SC
The first XJ-SC was produced on June 28, 1982, the last January 26, 1988. In all 5013 XJ-SC Cabriolets were built. These cars were different in that they had a Targa/Convertible body style with removable Targa panels over the two seater passenger compartment, similar to T-tops, plus a fabric rear section including the rear window; there was an optional hard top for the rear section. Approximately 1598 Right Hand Drive and 3416 Left Hand Drive cars built. Whilst there are a small number of the XJ-SC cars with the rear seat conversion, Jaguar Cars only produced one such car which was specially built for Princess Diana. The rear roof section on this car was fully secured in place and could not be removed. This conversion was later carried out by several aftermarket companies on owners cars, not with the approval of the works.
Hess & Eisenhardt convertible From 1986, a full convertible version was available through some dealers, modified by Hess & Eisenhardt in the USA. The Hess & Eisenhardt coachbuilding firm was located in Ohio, USA, and built convertible modifications for the XJ-S under contract from Jaguar, before the official Jaguar-built XJ-S full convertible became available in 1988.
The Hess & Eisenhardt convertible differed from the later Jaguar-built XJS convertible as its un-padded top folded down deeper into the body structure of the car resulting in a cleaner rear profile when the roof was lowered. To accommodate this design element, the Hess & Eisenhardt convertibles have two separate fuel tanks, positioned to allow for the roof to fully retract. The process of converting the stock Jaguar XJS coupé into the H&E Convertible included the post-production removal of the roof, cutting the body in several sections, the addition of steel reinforcements behind the driver's seat, and weights placed just behind the headlights to eliminate harmonic resonance caused by the significant modifications to the car. H&E XJS convertibles are easily identified by the lower folding top, as well as two small badges located just behind the front wheels. The later Jaguar full convertible had a heavier padded top that did not fold as low as the H&E convertible, but retained nearly all of the original components of the coupé.
The number of H&E Jaguar XJS produced is unknown, partly because a fire at the Hess & Eisenhardt factory destroyed most of the records pertaining to the Jaguar XJS conversions. According to some sources, a total of 2,100 cars were converted.
Police demonstrator
In 1984, a Jaguar XJS with a 3.6l engine and manual transmission was converted by Jaguar Special Vehicle Operations into a Police Special demonstrator vehicle, fitted with a police lightbar on the roof, a police radio in the centre console and plastic interior trim including cloth seats to replace luxury furnishings. The Police Special XJS demonstrator was loaned by Jaguar to a number of police forces across the United Kingdom, including the Warwickshire Constabulary, Greater Manchester Police and the Metropolitan Police, however no orders resulted from the trials due to a lack of interior space for traffic police equipment or for passengers. After retirement from demonstration services, the XJS was first donated to the Greater Manchester Police Museum before later being handed to the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust, with whom it would become an exhibit vehicle at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire.
XJR-S
From 1988 to 1993, a special high performance XJR-S version equipped with the HE V12 engine was produced by the newly formed JaguarSport, a separate company owned in a ratio of 50:50 by Jaguar and TWR Group Limited specialising in developing high performance Jaguar sports cars. The car had a distinctive body kit, special 15" alloy wheels, 235/60R15 Pirelli P600 tyres, a unique suspension system utilising modified coil springs and Bilstein shocks, a luxurious interior with Connolly Autolux leather along with walnut wood trim, and handling improvements. The first 100 of these cars were named "Celebration Le Mans" to commemorate Jaguar's 1988 win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and were only sold in the UK. Between 1988 and 1989, a total of 326 XJR-S cars were produced with the engine which has a power output of . After September 1989, the displacement of the engine was increased to and it was now equipped with Zytek fuel injection and engine management system. This was different from the standard 6.0-litre engine used in the late XJS models and was unique to this model. The power output was raised to at 5,250 rpm and of torque at 3,650 rpm due to a higher compression ratio of 11.0:1, a new forged steel crankshaft, increased bore and forged alloy pistons. A modified air intake system and a low loss dual exhaust system was also standard on the model. The engine was mated to the 3-speed GM400 automatic transmission utilising a recalibrated valve body and had faster shift times. The car was equipped with 16" Dunlop D40 M2 tyres for better grip. These modifications resulted in a top speed of . During a comparison test conducted by Motorsport magazine in 1997, the XJR-S outperformed the other competitors which included a BMW 850i, Porsche 928 GT and a Ferrari Mondial.
A total of 787 coupés and 50 convertible cars were built for the world market. In the United States, to commemorate the XJ220 launch in 1992, a limited number of 100 XJR-S coupés and convertibles were produced. Based on the facelift model, these were for the American market only. These included 22 Signal Red coupés, 22 Signal Red convertibles, 22 Jet Black coupés, 27 Jet Black convertibles, 2 Flamenco Red coupés, and the Silver Frost 'Press Cars' of 4 coupés and 1 convertible.