Based on the XJ Saloon, the Jaguar XJS was composed to be an elegant grand tourer with the task of becoming the E Type replacement. The luxury grand tourer was successful, although the sporty character of the previous E Type was never really achieved with the Jaguar XJS. Sales of the Jaguar XJS began in 1975, with a fruitful production run of 21 years, until 1996 when the Jaguar XJS was superseded by the Jaguar XK8.
The first variation of the Jaguar XJS was fast and powerful, easily stepping toe to toe with the quick sports cars of the day, with the Jaguar XJS capable of reaching sixty seconds from a dead start in six and a half seconds flat. The XJS was equipped with a V12 5300cc engine, and was firstly produced with the option of both manual and automatic transmission. The manual option of the Jaguar XJS was quickly retracted, however.
Sales of the Jaguar XJS, as with many high powered cars of the time, suffered greatly due to the fuel crisis of the 1970’s. The demand for the high powered V12 was low due to the economic climate, although with the Jaguar XJS appearing in a number of popular television programs aided the popularity and demand for the car. With Jaguar well aware of the venerability the 5.3 litre XJS to fuel issues outside of their control, the XJS had a new and improved fuelled efficient engine which not only was more efficient, but also increased the performance of the car. The new changes to the XJS engine in 1981 made the car the quickest automatic with a dead start to sixty miles per hour in 5.7s, and a maximum speed just short of 170mph.
A new variation of the Jaguar XJS was released ion the early eighties, with the introduction of the cabriolet, powered by a 3.6 litre 6 cylinder engine. The new variation had a removable hard roof, and only had two seats. Two years after the 6 cylinder cabriolet saw the release of the V12. Although another firm had offered the XJS cabriolet as a full convertible, Jaguar decided to offer the full convertible in 1888, and now also a manual version of the XJS was made available.
During the early 90s Jaguar increased engine capacity and power, with many cosmetic changes also made to the line. Parts for the XJS are sometimes still available from Jaguar dealerships, but there is an ever increasing number of owners clubs which make support for the XJS owners and collectors stronger.
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