Jaguar - The Last Classic XJ's E-Book

Taylor James

• Herausgeber: The Crowood Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 283

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

When Jaguar's XJ range arrived in 1968, it quickly established itself not only as a world-beater but also as the central model in the Jaguar range. Riding high throughout the 1970s, it was nevertheless losing some of its appeal by the time Ford bought the Jaguar company at the end of the next decade. These last three generations of the classic Jaguar XJ saloons closed an era in which Jaguar had symbolised the British approach to luxury motoring. That it no longer reflected what many buyers wanted by the end was a sad reflection of the changing times, but cannot take away from the excellence and desirability of the cars themselves. Today increasingly prized by enthusiast owners, these XJs in so many ways show the marque at its peak, and this book highlights why that is so.

Leseprobe

TITLES IN THE CROWOOD AUTOCLASSICS SERIES

Alfa Romeo 105 Series Spider

Alfa Romeo 916 GTV & Spider

Alfa Romeo 2000 and 2600

Alfa Romeo Alfasud

Aston Martin DB7

Aston Martin DB9 and Vanquish

Aston Martin V8

Austin Healey Sprite

BMW E30

BMW E34

BMW M3

BMW M5

BMW Z3 and Z4

Classic Jaguar XK – The Six-Cylinder Cars

Ferrari 308, 328 & 348

Frogeye Sprite

Ginetta: Road & Track Cars

Jaguar E-Type

Jaguar F-Type

Jaguar Mks 1 & 2, S-Type & 420

Jaguar XJ 1994-2009

Jaguar XJ-S

Jaguar XK8

Jensen V8

Lamborghini Diablo

Land Rover Defender 90 & 110

Land Rover Freelander

Lotus Elan

Lotus Elise & Exige 1995–2020

Lotus Esprit

MGA

MGB

MGF and TF

Mazda MX-5

Mercedes-Benz Ponton and 190SL

Mercedes-Benz S-Class 1972–2013

Mercedes SL Series

Mercedes-Benz SL & SLC 107 Series

Mercedes-Benz Saloon Coupé

Mercedes-Benz Sport-Light Coupé

Mercedes-Benz W114 and W115

Mercedes-Benz W123

Mercedes-Benz W124

Mercedes-Benz W126 S-Class 1979–1991

Mercedes-Benz W201 (190)

Mercedes W113

Morgan 4/4: The First 75 Years

NSU Ro80

Peugeot 205

Porsche 911 GT3 1999-2023

Porsche 924/928/944/968

Porsche Boxster and Cayman

Porsche Carrera – The Air-Cooled Era

Porsche Carrera – The Water-Cooled Era

Porsche Air-Cooled Turbos 1974–1996

Porsche Sports Racing Prototypes 1963–1971

Porsche Water-Cooled Turbos 1979–2019

Range Rover First Generation

Range Rover Second Generation

Range Rover Third Generation

Range Rover Sport 2005–2013

Reliant Three-Wheelers

Riley – The Legendary RMs

Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud

Rover 75 and MG ZT

Rover P5 & P5B

Rover P6: 2000, 2200, 3500

Rover SDI

Saab 92–96V4

Saab 99 and 900

Shelby and AC Cobra

Toyota MR2

Triumph Spitfire and GT6

Triumph TR6

Triumph TR7

Volkswagen Golf GTI

Volvo 1800

Volvo Amazon

First published in 2025 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

[email protected]

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2025

© James Taylor 2025

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

For product safety-related questions, contact:

[email protected]

ISBN 978 7198 4530 7

The right of James Taylor to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Image credits: Andrew Bone/Creative Commons, p.72 (top); Andrew Bone/Flickr, p.47 (top); Brian Snelson/Wikimedia Commons, p.118; harry_nl/Creative Commons, p.142; Jaimie Wilson/Flickr, p.27; Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust, p.17, p.18 (top and bottom), p.22 (bottom), p.47 (bottom), p.66 (top), p.92, p.101; Kieran White/Creative Commons, p.148 (bottom); Magic Car Pics, p.30, p.45 (second down, bottom left and bottom right), p.63, p.81 (top left and bottom), p.108, p.131, p.132, p.133, p.134 (top and bottom), p.135 (top and bottom), p.145, p.146, p.153 (top); Magnus Black/Wikimedia Commons, p.117; Michael Barera/Creative Commons, p.25; Pete Edgeler/Flickr, p.40; Rudolf Stricker/Creative Commons, p.83 (bottom); Stuart Spencer via AROnline, p.17, p.18 (top and bottom); Thomas Doerfner/GNU Free Documentation Licence, p.11; TinoCarPhotography, p.69 (bottom left).

CONTENTS

Introduction and Acknowledgements

Timeline, 1994–2009

CHAPTER 1 JAGUAR AND THE XJ RANGE

CHAPTER 2 DEVELOPING THE X300

CHAPTER 3 THE X300, 1994–1997

CHAPTER 4 DEVELOPING THE V8-POWERED MODELS

CHAPTER 5 THE X308, 1997–2002

CHAPTER 6 X350 DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 7 THE X350, 2003–2009

CHAPTER 8 X300, X308 AND X350 IN THE USA

CHAPTER 9 PURCHASE AND OWNERSHIP

APPENDIX I PRODUCTION TOTALS

APPENDIX II VINS (VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS)

APPENDIX III PAINT, TRIM AND WHEELS

Index

INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

B y the early 1990s, when the first of the models covered in this book was under development, the XJ range had become Jaguar’s most important product. It was what most people understood as ‘a Jaguar’, even though the hugely attractive XJ-S grand tourer was still available as its companion model.

When Jaguar sold out to Ford in 1989, its new owners rightly identified the XJ as fundamental to the survival of the brand. They carefully reviewed existing plans for the next-generation models, and with characteristically ruthless business sense, pointed the Jaguar engineers towards more readily attainable and cost-effective solutions. While not too far distant from what the previously independent Jaguar had wanted, the X300 range released in 1994 was both rational and much admired. Perhaps most important was that it embraced a dedicated high-performance variant, the XJR, which was entirely in keeping with the Jaguar tradition and enabled the marque to compete on an even footing with rivals manufactured in Germany.

Ford had got the first step right, and as a second step rationalised Jaguar’s plans for a range of new engines down to a single basic design. This single design, the company’s first-ever passenger car V8, rejuvenated the existing models, which became X308 types in 1997. Probably few people realised that these excellent cars were based on a platform and passenger cabin originally designed back in the 1980s, although the limitations that these imposed were eventually revealed as their Achilles heel.

For the next generation of XJs, Ford made a very bold commitment. Responding to proposals that came from within Jaguar itself, they funded the development of an advanced all-aluminium structure that used aerospace technology, and further funded the new manufacturing facilities to make the new X350 a reality in 2002. When Jaguar needed a powerful diesel engine a few years later, in order to remain competitive with its rivals in Europe, it was Ford who provided the basic design.

This period of Jaguar’s existence came to an end when Ford was obliged to restructure and to sell off its European marques. XJ sales had already been fatally wounded by world economic events, and Jaguar was already set on a new path with radically different replacement models by the time it was sold to Tata in 2008. The Ford-era XJs thus came to a gradual end rather than an abrupt one, but the three ranges of X300, X308 and X350 had proved how excellence could be maintained alongside Ford-style rationalisation.

Putting this book together has allowed me to discover more about these big Jaguars, which I have always counted as among the most attractive cars of their time. I am pleased to be able to acknowledge the help of very many people in assembling the story, and although it is not possible to list all their names here (and I would probably forget some anyway), I do want to mention those who were exceptionally helpful. My thanks go, then, to Joanne Shortland, Lavinia Bentley and Karam Ram at the JDHT archives, to Richard Dredge at Magic Car Pics, to Keith Adams at AROnline, and to Den Carlow, whose painstakingly researched lists of production changes were utterly invaluable.

Several photographs have been generously provided by those who make their efforts available through the internet, and I am very grateful to them, too.

Mistakes or omissions – and in such a big subject I know there will be some – can only be blamed on me, but those who want to propose improvements for a future edition of this book are very welcome to let my publishers know what these should be.

James Taylor

Oxfordshire

November 2024

TIMELINE

1994 (1995 MY)

X300 range introduced, 6 cylinders and V12

1995 (1996 MY)

X305 (LWB X300) introduced

1997 (1998 MY)

X308 range introduced with V8 engines

1998 (1999 MY)

Revised AJ27 V8 engines

2000 (2001 MY)

Switch to AJ28 V8 engines with steel liners

2001 (2002 MY)

X350 aluminium-bodied range introduced

2004 (2005 MY)

Long-wheelbase X350 introduced

2005, July

Last Jaguar built at Browns Lane

2005, August

Production restarted at Castle Bromwich

2005 (2006 MY)

X356 range introduced, including diesel option

2007 (2008 MY)

X358 facelift introduced

2009, March

Final X350 built

CHAPTER 1

JAGUAR AND THE XJ RANGE

By the end of the 1980s, the Jaguar XJ range of high-performance luxury saloons was firmly established at the pinnacle of its class. Yet Jaguar the company was not in such good shape. Despite huge efforts by CEO and Chairman John Egan to give it firmer foundations as an independent manufacturer after it had left the British Leyland empire in 1984, its finances were precarious.

In 1989, the company was put on the market. In 1990 it was purchased by Ford, and from that point on the American company set about turning this once highly focused company into its own answer to BMW. Reasoning that one big saloon (the XJ) and one sports model (the XJS) were not enough to maintain the right sort of presence in the marketplace, Ford encouraged Jaguar to diversify. Over the next decade or so, the range was swelled by intermediate saloon models – the S-type in 1999 and the X-type in 2001 – which gave greater depth to the Jaguar marque and increased its popularity.

The XJ, meanwhile, maintained its position among the world’s top saloons, but that position was increasingly under threat, and perhaps especially so in the USA, which was a vital element in Jaguar sales. The XJ was up against formidable competition from the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the BMW 7 Series and, from 1989, the Lexus LS. All three were products of large companies with vast resources, and without the support of Ford it is likely that Jaguar would not have been able to withstand the competition indefinitely.

The Browns Lane factory was the traditional home of Jaguar, and was where all the XJ saloons in this book were manufactured before July 2005.

The original XJ was a creation of Jaguar’s founder, Sir William Lyons. Lyons died in 1985, many years before work began on the cars that are the main focus of this book, but the company remained true to his principles.

THE XJ STORY

The first Jaguar XJs, then known as XJ6 types, were introduced in 1968. Their arrival closely coincided with the formation of the British Leyland group of motor manufacturers into which Jaguar was rather unwillingly absorbed. Their purpose was to replace all the existing Jaguar saloons, and their Daimler-badged equivalents.

The Jaguar range was certainly overdue for rationalisation by this stage, if only to keep manufacturing costs within bounds. When a smaller saloon had been introduced alongside the grand Mk VII models in the mid-1950s, nobody could have imagined how it would eventually spawn S-type and 420 derivatives in the following decade. This expansion led to a well-rounded but unsustainably costly range. The XJ6 reduced the number of different bodyshells to one, although different engine options ensured that there was still a Jaguar for the same range of customers as before.

The Series 1 Cars

These first XJs had Jaguar’s proven twin-cam 4.2-litre engine and a newly developed 2.8-litre version of it that was sized carefully to meet tax breaks in some European countries. Although a four-speed manual gearbox was standard for both engines, with overdrive as an option, most were probably bought with the alternative three-speed automatic, which helped to emphasise their luxury pretensions. Although an entry-level 2.8-litre with various deletions was advertised, it is doubtful whether any were sold: customers perceived the new Jaguar XJ as a luxury saloon, and this offering clearly did not fit the bill.

A big part of the XJ’s appeal from the beginning was its lithe new shape, drawn up as always by company chief William Lyons himself and unquestionably a Jaguar from every angle. Jaguar had convinced tyre maker Dunlop to develop a new tyre specially for it, and this became one of the earliest low-profile types. Stunning looks and superb performance (at least from the 4.2-litre models) made the early XJ6 a huge sales success, and by the end of 1970 it had fulfilled its mission of replacing all other Jaguar saloons in production.

There were Daimler-badged variants, too. Jaguar had bought the old Daimler company in 1960 and had perpetuated the marque with Daimler derivatives of its own saloon ranges. The car introduced in late 1969 as a Daimler Sovereign was essentially a badge-engineered Jaguar XJ, but was pitched as a more expensive and exclusive car, with equipment levels that reflected that.

The first-series XJ saloons established the parameters for those to follow. They earned immense respect for their combination of luxury with sporting performance. This is an XJ6 6-cylinder model; there were also Daimler-badged equivalents available and, from 1972, V12-powered types.

The XJ had always been intended to take the new all-aluminium V12 engine that Jaguar had been developing during the 1960s, and this was added to the range in July 1972 in models with the XJ12 designation. With a smooth power delivery right up to the car’s maximum speed of over 140mph (225km/h), the V12 was immediately a sensation, although its downside was a formidable thirst when the driver succumbed to temptation. Jaguar added ventilated disc brakes with twin servos to provide reassuring stopping power, and Dunlop again developed special tyres, this time to carry the XJ12’s extra weight. The 12-cylinder XJs had a distinctive radiator grille with a V12 emblem at the top, an XJ12 badge on the tail, and new wheels with ventilated rims. There were some changes to the interior, and air conditioning became a standard feature.

The V12 also went into Daimler models, which were by this time considered the top luxury variants of the XJ range, and these cars took the name of Double Six from a 1930s V12 Daimler. Then in September 1972, a new long-wheelbase bodyshell made its debut as the Daimler Double Six Vanden Plas, taking the second part of its name from a bespoke coachbuilding company that had been absorbed into the British motor industry many years earlier. A month later, long-wheelbase Jaguars also became available, with a choice between 4.2-litre XJ6 and XJ12 types; there was never a 2.8-litre model. However, relatively few were sold before the next evolution of the XJ range took over.

These first XJ Jaguars were hugely successful, and their excellence was acknowledged wherever they were sold. Their legacy was to have set new standards for luxury saloons, adding high performance to existing expectations. But equally important was that they had come to represent what most people now meant by ‘a Jaguar’. That the company continued to build its remarkable sports cars was a given, but it was the XJ range that had given the Jaguar marque an image that was more widely relatable. In more ways than one, the XJ saloons had become the most important of Jaguar’s products.

The Series 2 Cars

There were therefore very high customer expectations of the cars that would replace these original XJs. There were also new requirements to meet new US crash safety and emissions regulations so that the cars could continue to be sold in their most important overseas market. The Series 2 XJ models that were launched in August 1973 wrapped all these changes in a package that was visually an evolution of the original design. They came only as 4.2-litre XJ6 and 5.3-litre XJ12 models; the 2.8-litre car had been dropped. The latest US regulations required new emissions control equipment, too, which hit the power of the 6-cylinder engine particularly hard.

The Series 2 cars followed the initial formula, and improved on it. Once again, there were both Jaguar and Daimler variants, and both 6-cylinder and V12 engines were available.

The Coupé derivative of the Series 2 cars was a beautiful piece of work, but problems with door sealing marred its reputation and there were no further two-door XJs. This German-registered car has the 5.3-litre V12 engine.

The Series 2 had raised bumpers to meet those US regulations, but this and associated cosmetic changes actually made the cars look much sleeker than the Series 1 models. Less visibly, the bodyshell had been re-engineered with a new bulkhead and side-impact bars in the doors. All models now had the perforated disc wheels, too, along with ventilated front disc brakes. Inside, the cabin boasted new seats and door panels, plus a redesigned dash with better ergonomics and an improved heating and air-conditioning system.

All the XJ12s were long-wheelbase cars, and in fact the standard-wheelbase 6-cylinders were dropped after November 1974. But their floorpans remained in production for some new derivatives introduced in April 1975. These were the XJ6 and XJ12 Coupés, strikingly pretty two-door models using the saloon’s overall shape and all carrying a black Everflex vinyl roof covering. Promised at the Series 2 launch, they had been delayed by development and production problems, and in fact never would overcome their reputation for wind noise and water leaks. As a result, they were taken out of production in November 1977.

April 1975 also brought an injection system for the V12 engines, which boosted power a little, and Vanden Plas trim became available on the 6-cylinder Daimlers. At the same time came a new 3.4-litre XJ6, using an engine size familiar from older Jaguars but with the latest version of the 6-cylinder block. This car was deliberately aimed at fleet buyers, and was built down to a cost with cloth seats, no coachline, and other deletions. It did not sell as well as Jaguar had hoped: XJ buyers wanted luxury, not compromises.

The Series 3 Cars

As a small company, Jaguar could not afford major model changes as often as their rivals. They therefore had to remain competitive by rejuvenating existing models, and the original 1968 XJ design gained a third lease of life in March 1979 as a Series 3 type. The model was a courageous holding operation until an all-new replacement was ready, but it ended up remaining in production for thirteen years.

Despite the need for ugly collision-resistant bumpers, the restyled Series 3 XJ remained an elegant and rapid luxury saloon.

The Series 3 had been restyled with help from the Italian styling house of Pininfarina, but it was still readily recognisable as an XJ Jaguar. Most obvious among its new features were a raised roofline with larger glass area, and differently angled front and rear screens. A closer look revealed new flush-fitting door handles, black energy-absorbing bumpers, and a less prominent version of the rear-wing kick-up. The Series 3 cars had new stainless-steel wheel trims but could also be fitted as an option with the Kent alloy wheels pioneered on some late Series 2 models. They also had a distinctive new interior design that incorporated a number of improvements.

These third-generation XJs came as 3.4-litre and 4.2-litre XJ6s, and as a 5.3-litre XJ12. Both the sixes ran more quietly than before and returned better fuel efficiency, while the 4.2-litre now boasted fuel injection and noticeably more power. While the V12 models still came with only a GM400 automatic gearbox, the 6-cylinder cars made use of one of the benefits of belonging to British Leyland when they took on the new Rover-Triumph LT77 five-speed manual gearbox.

During 1981, the automatic 6-cylinder models switched to a new Borg Warner Type 66 gearbox, but altogether more far-reaching was the arrival of a more efficient Fireball cylinder-head design for the V12 engines. These were accompanied by a badging change to XJ12 HE, the new letters standing for ‘high efficiency’, but this description has to be seen in its correct context: the extra 2mpg (141ltr/100km) or so that could now be had did not make them in any sense economical to run.

There were more important changes in 1983. The Vanden Plas name was dropped from Daimler models destined for the UK market, and Daimlers became plain Double Six types. Later that year, the Daimler models were withdrawn from most export markets because of objections from the Daimler-Benz company, which was the parent of rival Mercedes-Benz cars. They were simply renamed as Jaguar Sovereigns. New ‘pepperpot’ alloy wheels arrived at the same time, but after that only minor trim changes were made until the new ‘XJ40’ XJ6 arrived in 1986.

Production of the Series 3 XJ6 stopped in 1987, but the XJ12 and Daimler Double Six remained in production because there were no V12-engined XJ40s until the 1993 season. Daimler models in fact remained available until December 1992, so giving the Series 3 version of the original XJ design a longer run than either of its predecessors.

The first-generation XJ platform had underpinned three generations of the range, and had successfully maintained Jaguar’s position as a top luxury saloon maker throughout. That made it a hard act to follow, but the Jaguar engineers rose to the occasion magnificently. What they did not anticipate was that the second-generation XJ platform would also have to form the basis of three generations of XJ Jaguars. The first was the XJ40, and the two later ones – the X300 and X308 – are covered in this book.

The XJ40

Jaguar had started work on an all-new XJ replacement model as early as 1972, but there were constant delays and the Series 3 cars were developed to hold the fort. The new model, developed as XJ40, received the go-ahead from British Leyland in early 1981 and was intended for a 1984 launch. However, Jaguar’s privatisation that year introduced a further delay, and strong sales of the Series 3 cars – especially in the USA – persuaded John Egan to hold the launch back until 1986. An unfortunate result of this was that the car dated quite rapidly.

The XJ40 came with new engines called AJ6 (Advanced Jaguar 6-cylinder), which had been developed to replace the XK engines that dated back to 1948. There was a dohc 3.6-litre, which had been previewed in the XJS, and a rather lacklustre sohc 2.9-litre. No V12 option was in the initial line-up. According to legend, British Leyland had tried to persuade Jaguar not to go ahead with their new engine but to use a Rover V8 instead, and Jaguar’s reaction had been to design the front structure so that no V engine of any type could be fitted. This decision came back to bite them when they had to re-engineer the front end to accommodate the V12 from 1993.

The performance aspect of the Jaguar saloon was emphasised by TWR conversions of the XJ40. These were the forerunners to the XJR models in the later XJ ranges.

Among the new technology was a redesigned rear suspension, which allowed the long-serving older design to be retired. XJ40 had a modern electronic instrument cluster, its manufacture was streamlined for improved efficiency, and it pioneered a J-shaped gate for the automatic selector. This was known as the Randle handle, after Chief Engineer Jim Randle. The styling, while readily recognisable as Jaguar, followed the 1980s trend towards more angular and geometric shapes, and was a key reason why the car dated so quickly.

When first introduced, the car was highly praised; sales took off with a rush, and XJ40 was voted car of the year. In 1989, its sales of 50,000 examples set a new high for the XJ range. Unfortunately, tales of poor reliability soon blighted its reputation and did serious damage to Jaguar’s image as well.

The XJ40 was made available with several different specification levels, XJ6 and Sovereign being the basic Jaguars that were supplemented by a rare TWR-developed performance model called the XJR in 1988, and in 1993 by a Sport model and by Majestic luxury types. The top trim level was always badged as a Daimler, or as a Jaguar Vanden Plas in the USA. Engine sizes were increased to 3.2 litres and 4.0 litres in 1990; from 1992, the Insignia scheme was added to provide custom finishing (see sidebar); and from 1993 there were V12s and long-wheelbase cars, and all variants gained airbags.

The XJ40’s more geometric lines were controversial when it was new, and remain so. This was the car from which the X300 range was derived.

TRAVELLING COMPANIONS

The legendary E-type was Jaguar’s sports offering between 1961 and 1974. The car was on sale alongside the earliest XJ saloons and into the Series 2 era. Pictured is a 1961 roadster model; there were fixed-head coupé derivatives as well.

The XJS represented the sporting side of Jaguar between 1975 and 1996, and was in showrooms at the time of the Series 2, Series 3, XJ40 and early X300 models. This is a 1996 coupé; there was a cabriolet version, too.

Introduced just after the X300 was the XK8 sports model, which ran alongside all the XJ saloons covered in this book – and beyond. This is the convertible model….

….. and this is the coupé. Both were powered by Jaguar’s V8 engines.

THE INSIGNIA SCHEME

At the start of the 1990s, luxury car makers were increasingly feeling the need to offer bespoke versions of their products, and Jaguar followed the trend with its Insignia scheme.

Insignia was announced in autumn 1992 at the British International Motor Show that was held at the NEC in Birmingham. It allowed buyers to create a more individualised car by choosing from a range of special paint and trim options, including dyed wood veneers. Insignia was available for the XJS as well as for the XJ saloons.

Cars produced under the Insignia scheme were built to individual order, and in most cases cost considerably more than the standard production model. The actual work of painting and trimming them was entrusted to Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations division, which had been created by bringing together the craftsmen who had been working on the Daimler DS420 limousine that went out of production during 1992.

The scheme was discontinued in 1994, and was not carried over to the X300 models. Nevertheless, Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations division continued to provide a bespoke service to meet special-order requests.

THE FORD ACQUISITION

By mid-1989, Jaguar’s John Egan had realised that the company was approaching a turning point. It was too small to compete with the big German makers of prestige saloons, and yet paradoxically had grown too big to continue as a small-volume specialist car maker. From a business perspective, the best solution was to find a partner.

Egan’s initial soundings identified General Motors, who showed interest in taking a 30 per cent share of the company, but in October 1989 this offer was trumped by Ford, who offered £1.6 billion for the whole company. The British Government still held the ‘golden share’ in Jaguar that it had retained when the company was privatised in 1984, but offered no objection to the sale. In view of the difficulties that the motor industry had caused over the years, that came as no surprise to observers at the time.

The acquisition of Jaguar was part of a larger plan by Ford. The American company’s CEO, Jac Nasser, was acutely conscious of the success achieved by German prestige car makers, and he wanted Ford to compete with it – particularly in Europe. At the time, the top Ford models carried Lincoln badges, but the Lincoln name had no resonance outside the USA. Jaguar, however, was a well recognised brand that fitted the bill perfectly.

For the first time Jaguar now lost its independence. In the British Leyland days, Sir William Lyons had fought tooth and nail to keep his company free of outside interference, but Ford had no such plans. Jaguar would become a part of the Ford empire and would pool its resources while maintaining a degree of autonomy. The most obvious example of this over the years would be seen in the engines: Jaguar-developed engines would become available for other Ford marques to use, and new engines developed centrally by Ford would become available for Jaguar to use.

John Egan stood down, and Ford put in Bill Hayden as Jaguar’s CEO, fresh from a position as their own chief of manufacturing in Britain. One of Hayden’s first tasks was to review Jaguar’s future model plans, and in the light of cost constraints applied by the company’s new paymasters he had the unenviable task of streamlining the company’s future by cancelling several development programmes. One of those was for a new XJ saloon and was called XJ90.

THE XJ90 PROJECT

During its time as an independent manufacturer under John Egan, Jaguar had set about planning for a new XJ range to replace the XJ40 that had reached the market in 1986. When work started shortly after that launch, the plan seems to have been to carry over as much as possible of the XJ40 platform, but there was also a parallel programme for a new range of engines, and no doubt these were to be integrated into the forward models plan when it became clearer how soon they would be ready.

As plans progressed, Jaguar strategists highlighted the benefits of platform sharing and power train sharing with other planned new models, and so it was that the XJ40 platform was adapted so that it would suit both the XJ90 range and the X100, which was the planned replacement for the XJS. Meanwhile, the styling team under Geoff Lawson started work on early schemes for XJ90, and Lawson appointed Howard Guy as lead designer for the project. Guy had previously been with Rover Cars, and joined Jaguar in 1987.

Several considerations affected how the styling team approached XJ90. Not the least of these was a change of model strategy. It had been the practice for several years to design the Daimler models (and their Jaguar Vanden Plas equivalents for the USA) as better equipped top-end Jaguars, but the new idea was to re-establish the Daimler identity – much like Rolls-Royce were already doing very effectively with their Bentley marque.

This was to be achieved quite simply: the standard-wheelbase cars would be Jaguars, and the long-wheelbase cars would be Daimlers or, for the USA, Jaguar Vanden Plas types. The standard-wheelbase cars were designated XJ90 and XJ91 (base-model V6 and better equipped V8), and the long-wheelbase models were XJ92 and XJ93 (V8 and V12 derivatives respectively).

The early plan was for the Jaguar derivatives to have paired round headlamps and the Daimlers to have styled rectangular lamps, but there would be other sheet-metal differences as well, and contrasting tail-light treatments would be designed. XJ90 would also meet customer wishes for more interior room by having a longer wheelbase than XJ40.

The styling brief also called for a move away from the flat-panelled, angular style of XJ40 to more rounded traditional XJ6 lines. The Jaguar team sought a counterpart to their own early ideas by calling for proposals from Pininfarina, who had, of course, contributed to the shape of the Series III XJ range, and from Ford-owned Ghia. Over the summer of 1988, Jaguar reviewed several design sketches from the two Italian styling houses and chose one to be turned into a full-size clay model. However, it was an in-house design that was eventually selected to be taken forwards in August 1989.

The chosen design promised a very sleek-looking car. In a 2004 interview for Jaguar World Monthly, former Jaguar Technical Director Jim Randle described the car as ‘slightly taller [than XJ40], slightly longer, a very pretty car,’ and the few pictures that have surfaced confirm this. A guiding factor in the work that was led by Senior Design Manager Fergus Pollock was the reinstatement of the traditional design cues that were missing from the XJ40, such as a sculpted front end with four round headlights, an angled bootlid opening and more curves in the body sides. Bill Hayden is said to have loved it.

This proposal from the Ghia studio reflected the search for more rounded lines.

The Jaguar XJ90 was cancelled under Ford, but much of its design was carried over to the X300. This is the full-size clay model in the studio. The slim headlamps suggested an attractive new direction.

XJ90 had reached an advanced stage of design before it was cancelled. This full-size mock-up shows the long-wheelbase car, which would have been badged as a Daimler and in this case is wearing Double-Six badges. Much of the X300 shape is already evident.

The X300, X308 and X350 were all designed under Geoff Lawson.

All this work was proceeding on the assumption that XJ90 would be launched as a 1996 model, although as things progressed it became clear that the long-wheelbase models would not be ready until the 1997 model-year. The engines would all come from the new AJ26 family, and as part of the strategy, there would be an interim facelift for the XJ40 at the start of the 1994 model-year.

All that came to an abrupt halt in 1991, when Ford reviewed the proposed model strategy. In essence, they concluded that the XJ90 project was taking too long and that its budget would be better spent elsewhere. Focusing on the wider health of the company, they reached the conclusion that Jaguar needed to put resources into improving build quality as a top priority. Ford was not prepared to fund a new model until this was done, and so XJ90 was cancelled and its budget was diverted into new production facilities at Jaguar’s Browns Lane factory.