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More Pictures of my Jaguar XJ-S

T his is a stunning car--but then again...consider the source! Anybody ever tell you that their baby is ugly?? So this is a subjective statement based in pride and prejudice. But I hope you agree, this is a beautiful car. Side View of the XJS Jaguar

I t is rare when a car looks good from all angles. This is one of those cars. Another characteristic of a great design, is that the shape grows on you. Honestly, when the XJ-S came out as a new line to replace the XKE (notice Jaguar historians, I did not say that the XJ-S replace the E-type), I was disappointed like a lot of us Jaguar lovers were. The new car, while aerodynamically sleeker than the E-type, did not take Jaguar to any new levels of design. But then again, it wasn't designed with that in mind.

T he model designation is "XJ" (like the sedan--XJ6 and XJ12), not "XK" (like the XKE and the new XK8). This car was designed to be a high-speed luxury GT cruiser capable of effortless speed. Not only did Rear Quarter View- XJS it achieve this goal, but the XJ-S is the longest running model of any Jaguar ever built (1976-1996). More XJ-Ss were sold than any other Jaguar. Yet, the press is quick to comment about "that old dinosaur, the XJ-S", or "the disappointing XJ-S" etc!! Well, history has proven them wrong. The XJ-S, when introduced, had some serious technical and aestetic flaws. The original ignition system was prone to failure and the Borg-Warner three speed transmission was not hardy enough for the massive amount of torque generated by the V-12. Also, the interior had an un-attractive trim design (based more on lack of money than poor design). It wasn't until 1981/1982 that Jaguar fixed the interior, modified the engine for better economy, and added wood trim to equal the traditional elegance of its sister XJ-6 sedan.

Jaguar Havana 59, Richmond Virginia & My XJ-S finally starting getting it perfected in 1988 with the introduction of the first factory convertible since the XKE Series 3. My prejudice is showing (again), but I think that as lovely the coupe is (with the handsome "flying buttresses"), the convertible is a timeless design. I hope you enjoy the pictures.