Jaguar XJ (XJ40)

Development

Throughout the 1970s Jaguar had been developing "Project XJ40", which was an all-new model intended to replace the original XJ6. Scale models were being built as early as 1972. Due to the 1973 oil crisis and problems at parent company British Leyland, the car was continually delayed. Proposals from both Jaguar's in-house designers and Pininfarina were received. Eventually, it was decided an internal design would be carried through to production and, in February 1981, the British Leyland board approved £80 million to produce the new car.

Jaguar historians claim that the XJ40 was the last car which company founder Sir William Lyons had contributed to during its protracted development phase. The previous generation XJ had been the final Jaguar to be developed wholly under Lyons' leadership - although he continued to take an active consultative role within Jaguar design, long after had retired from the day-to-day management of the firm following its merger in 1966 with the British Motor Corporation.

Designs for the XJ40 pioneered significant improvements to how Jaguar cars were designed, built, and assembled. Among these improvements was a 25 per cent reduction in the number of bodywork panels required per car (e.g. three pressings needed for a Series 3 door compared with one for a XJ40 door), resulting in not only a more efficient assembly process, but also a weight saving and a stiffer structure. Greater attention to panel gaps improved the drag factor (reduced from 0.849 Cd to 0.762 Cd), while also improving the fuel economy and lowering wind noise inside the cabin.

Mechanicals

Initially, only two engines were offered across the XJ40 models: a 2.9 L and a 3.6 L version of the AJ6 inline-six. In 1990 the 3.6L was replaced by a 4.0L model and in 1991 the 2.9L was replaced by a 3.2L model. In 1993, the XJ12 and Daimler Double Six (both equipped with the Jaguar V12 engine) were added to the available models.

During the development of the XJ40, British Leyland had considered providing the Rover V8 engine for the car, which would have eliminated the need for future Jaguar engine production. The XJ40 bodyshell was allegedly engineered to prevent fitting V-configuration engines such as the Rover V8 which British Leyland management had desired; this delayed the introduction of the V12-powered XJ12 until 1993 as the front had to be extensively redesigned.

The automatic gearbox used in the 2.9 L, 3.2 L and 3.6 L six-cylinder cars was the four-speed ZF 4HP22. On the 4.0 L, the four-speed ZF 4HP24 was used. A stronger automatic gearbox was required for the V12-equipped cars, and the four-speed GM 4L80-E was selected. The manual gearbox fitted to early cars was the five-speed Getrag 265, while later cars received the Getrag 290.

The automatic transmission selector was redesigned to allow the manual selection of forward gears without accidentally selecting neutral or reverse. This new feature was dubbed the "J-Gate" and has carried over to more recent Jaguar models.

Exterior

The curvaceous lines of the outgoing Series XJ were replaced by the more angular, geometric shape of the XJ40. The nose of the car would accommodate either matched pairs of round headlights, or rectangular single units; the latter were fitted to the higher-specification Sovereign and Daimler trim levels, and also to all cars for the US market.

The bumper is a visually distinct black-rubber-covered bar that runs the full width of the car and incorporates the sidelights and indicator lights. The bonnet is hinged at the front. Window frames are either chromed or black, depending on model. Rain gutters, door mirrors, and door handles are also finished in chrome. All XJ40s have a chrome surround for the windscreen and a single windscreen wiper.

Early low-specification cars were fitted with metric-sized steel wheels and plastic wheelcovers. From 1991, the wheels were changed to non-metric sizing.

Interior

The interior of the XJ40 was trimmed with either walnut or rosewood, and either cloth or leather upholstery (depending on model.)

Until 1990, cars were fitted with an instrument binnacle that used digital readouts. Instrumentation included a display named the "Vehicle Condition Monitor" (VCM), which contained a 32x32 dot-matrix screen capable of 34 functions. The VCM was able to alert the driver of bulb failure, brake pad wear, unlatched doors/boot, and low coolant level. From 1990 on, the binnacle was redesigned to use analogue gauges.

Early cars used a two-spoke steering wheel that was later changed for a four-spoke airbag-equipped wheel. The glovebox was removed on later cars because of the space occupied when the passenger-side airbag was introduced. Some XJ40s bound for the United States were fitted with automatic seat belts.

XJ6 1986-1994

The base XJ6 of the model range was modestly equipped; extra-cost options included alloy wheels, anti-lock brakes, air conditioning, leather upholstery, and an automatic transmission. The exterior featured two pairs of circular headlamps and black powder-coated window frames.

Sovereign 1986-1994

The Sovereign model came equipped with significantly more features than the base XJ6. Included was air conditioning, headlamp washers, a six-speaker sound system, rear self-levelling suspension (SLS), anti-lock braking system, and inlaid burl walnut wood trim (pre-MY1991). The headlamps fitted were the rectangular single units. The window frames were made from stainless steel

Sport 1993-1994

Late in the XJ40 run 3.2S and 4.0S, in 1993-1994, Jaguar introduced the Sport model. It was available only with the six-cylinder engine, and featured rosewood interior trim (as opposed to the walnut trim of other models.) Both the door mirrors and radiator grill vanes were color-keyed to the body, which was decorated with twin coachlines. Wider-profile tires were fitted, mounted on five-spoke alloy wheels.

Majestic 1993-1994

A rare long-wheelbase model named the "Majestic" was produced in 1993 and 1994 (only 121 built). These vehicles started life as a SWB body which was then taken away from the standard production line and stretched by Project Aerospace in Coventry, before being returned and fitted out by Jaguar Special Vehicle Operations. This meant the Majestic carried a significant price premium over the standard models. There was also a limited edition (527 built) version on the regular wheelbase for the US market in 1990, called the "Vanden Plas Majestic". These cars featured special equipment and were all finished in Regency Red, except one example in black which was kept in the United Kingdom for the Prime Minister. A Majestic can be identified by the fourth letter of its VIN, which should be an "M".

Gold 1994

The Gold model was introduced in 1994 with a limited set of features and options, and for a modest price. It was available in fewer exterior colours than other models, and was identified by a gold-plated badge on the boot and gold growler badge at the top of the radiator grille. Gold cars were fitted with the "Kiwi" style wheels and painted with twin coachlines.

Insignia

In 1992, when Jaguar closed the DS420 Limo shop, all the craftsmen were left standing idle. Jaguar devised "Insignia": a bespoke service for the XJ40/XJ81 (see below) and XJS, where prospective owners could specify special paint, trim, wood and wheels at additional cost in any given combination. 318 XJ40 Insignias were produced, most of them can be identified by the oblong gold-on-black "Insignia" badges on the front wings, and by their above-standard interiors. All of the interior trim was done in leather (two-tone colouring being an option), opposed to the leather-vinyl combinations used on regular-spec cars. Special paint colours were introduced for the Insignia: Mahogany, Amethyst Blue, Mineral Green, Primrose Pearl, Crystal Blue, Saturn Orange, Peppermint, Sandstone, White Pearl and Lavender. A number of Insignias were put onto the Jaguar demo fleet to do the round of the dealerships to show all the options available in the Insignia line.

XJR

The XJR, introduced in 1988, was a high-performance model that was finished by the Oxfordshire-based JaguarSport company, a dual venture by Jaguar and race team TWR, at TWRs Kidlington-based factory alongside the XJ220. Based upon a Sovereign model, it was fitted with uprated suspension with unique Bilstein dampers, a revised power steering valve to increase the steering weight by 40% and special exterior paint and exterior styling touches. Early examples were fitted with a 3.6 L AJ6 engine in standard tune but later models had a TWR tuned version of the 4.0 AJ6, with new inlet manifolds, uprated cams and a tweaked ECU. Some examples are also fitted with a larger bore JaguarSport exhaust system.

The XJR differed cosmetically from other XJ40 models with its body coloured bodykit, consisting of new front and rear valances and side skirts, all from fiberglass, a black grill with a JaguarSport badge in it and unique Speedline alloy wheels with wider tyres. Later models had ducting fitted to the front valance to feed cool air directly to the brake discs. The interior featured a leather MOMO steering wheel, JaguarSport logos on the dial faces, leather shift knob, and seat headrests embossed with the JaguarSport logo.

The XJR model was introduced in 1988 and ceased production in 1994. In 1991 the appearance of the XJR changed when it switched to the square headlights of the Sovereign model and was fitted with a different design of bodykit. Only a few hundred of each variation were produced, making the cars rare today.

XJ12 and Daimler Double Six (XJ81)

Given the model code XJ81, the XJ40-based XJ12 and Daimler Double Six were introduced at the Amsterdam Auto Show in February 1993 and powered by a 6.0-liter version of Jaguar's V12 engine. This was mated to a GM 4L80E 4-speed automatic gearbox. It could be identified by the XJ12 or Double Six badge on the rear and a V12 emblem on the glovebox. The XJ12 used the two twin-headlamp pairs, black radiator grille vanes, and a gold "growler" badge on the radiator grille top, while the Daimler received the rectangular headlamps. Early cars used stainless steel window frames, on later cars they were changed to black.

Daimler / Vanden Plas

The Daimler-branded cars represented the highest trim level, and were sold as their Vanden Plas model by Jaguar dealers in the United States. Like the Sovereign, it was fitted with the single rectangular headlamps. Cosmetically, it differed from other models with its fluted radiator grille surround, boot-lid plinth and detail finishes. A Daimler interior features fold-out picnic tables for the rear passengers and a 2-passenger rear seat versus the 'flat', 3-passenger item on the Jaguars.