We’ve covered the XJ-S here a few times before, but it’s always interesting to read the perspective from a new car intro, when there are yet no accumulated experiences or opinions based on them. The XJ-S had a difficult mission, effectively replacing the iconic XK-E in the lineup. That already was a huge hurdle. There would be more.
Very 1970s!
Where can I find out where the CC crew going to be in Detroit on June 2nd?
An unpromising beginning, but continuous engineering and detail refinement – plus Jaguar’s extraction from the morass of British Leyland – produced a very fine car, worthy of its heritage.
There’s a lot of muscle car in the XJ-S. Long hood, short deck, flying buttresses…it’s practically a Charger. Still good looking. I don’t think I’ve seen one with the black around the plate like that.
Agreed. It’s funny that Mike Knepper said it was Italian in appearance, when it really could have been a concept car for the 1971 Dodge Charger.
Oh, what a treat it is to see this posting. On my first day back from vacation! Looking at the styling today, over forty years after it’s introduction, I think that it’s design has stood the test of time. The XJS was slow to develop a following but it became a pretty fair seller in the last third of it’s production cycle. Over 100,000 cars were sold during their 21 years of production, a factor, (among others!) that has kept their resale value quite low. There is no shortage of survivors (running or not!). I think the article addresses the market position of the car very well. More exciting, luxurious, and faster than the sporty coupes from Mercedes and BMW, the 450 SLC and 635CSI, but more comfortable and practical than those mid-engined Italian exotics. I really like the styling, kind of a late Sixties, Italian exotic flavor, long low and wide. When seen in person it’s pretty impressive looking. At least it was never restyled into those flat plane designs like the very 70’s looking Lotus, Ferraris and Lambos.
I know that Ashley has contributed her quite awful, actual ownership experiences with her purchased new, car and I have to respect those statements. Michael Ionno’s and Tom Klockau’s recollections, posted here were more favorable.
Either way these are just old cars now, liable to be found in any shape. Regular readers know that I got bit by an errant Jaguar and am now a “rabid” supporter and apologist for the marque. My own XJS is coming along quite nicely, my XJ6 has been a joy, and I have a third patriarch that I’m in the process of adding to the zoo.
Car & Driver compared an XJ-S, Mercedes 450 coupe, and BMW 630 in Dec 1977. They felt the BMW was not quite in the same league, though they like the cars about the same overall.
And I found the Detroit Blog!
The federalized BMW 3 liter engine had serious durability and dependability issues, but I would otherwise have considered the 6-series at least the equal of the other two. The 6-series interior was more luxurious than anything that was ever offered by British Jaguar.
The tail is busy and inelegant by Jaguar standards and those Merc vents on the C-Pillar whisper “Plymouth TC3”. At the time, it was hard to see it without comparing it to the XKE, no matter how stridently Jaguar explained the difference in market segment. Knepper’s assessment holds up for me, still. I had forgotten that the design was 5 years old when the XJS went into production, and that explains a few things.That’s five years of messing with details. For any current owners, of course, such complaints are softened, filtered through time and marque enthusiasm.
Foxbody Mustang Hatchback comes to my mind with the vents. Most of us are aware of the SLC crib of the Mustang coupe roofline, but the hatch isn’t any less – the drooping spoilerless tail of the hatch actually follows the lines of the Jaguar’s buttresses to a tee.
Thanks for posting this, I’ve always had an attraction to the XJ/S that many people clearly don’t and so much of the opinion pieces on them are from a modern vantage, after it’s looooooong production cycle thoroughly watered down it’s legacy. Personally I think the XJ/S is better looking than the E-Type * cue the firing squad*
What’s interesting to read is the perspective of the times, they basically found the car in it’s own niche in the mid 70s, too luxurious to be exotic like a Lamborghini and too sporty to be a luxury tourer like a 450 SLC. Today the expected level of refinement has basically morphed exotics into the XJ/S niche, with plushy interiors and much improved ride characteristics, while the same can be said for the more luxury touring cars having more sporting dynamics than ever. The old definitions of the segments the Jaguar didn’t quite fit are now extinct.
I tend to agree that this looks better than the E-Type, although I’m not a fan of the end of cycle refresh and I think the US specific (because of course it’s US specific), quad headlights just ruin it.
I think the thing that confused people was that it came directly after the E-Type so they think it would perform the same way, and were slagging the car when it didn’t meet up to those expectations. I think if you view the car more as a two door version of the XJ12, it would’ve made more sense. But again, I’m saying this with hindsight in mind.
I totally agree about the headlights, but pretty much every 70s European car was ruined by sealed beams, especially Mercedes Benz. I prefer the details on the earliest XJ/S, these were my favorite wheels used on it especially.
The XJ-S’ styling is a lot of bad decisions on top of flawless bones. The big wheels, long hood, and tiny cabin shout POWER.
I’ve never been a fan of the styling of the XJS. It’s fat and heavy-looking and details like the black bumpers, odd taillights, and the C-pillar trim look like they belong on a test mule. I prefer the 1992 and later cars – they appear more “finished” to me.
“Italian styling and British manners“…LOLROFL, like…hopelessly bad electrics? Unfixable oil leaks? An appetite for constant-flow electronic money injection at the shop? Pip pip, old bean.
The XJS appeared on Top Gear many years ago reviewed by James May. It was refurbished by a firm called Knowles Wilkins which rebuilt the electrical system and improve the ride and handling.
I remember an episode of Minder where Terry unwittingly helps Des “nick” one, believing
he’s on a service call.
I feel kind of bad every time I see one of those Jag’s. I inherited my grandfather’s ’79 XJS years ago when I was in my early 20s. It only had 20,000 miles on it. I absolutely loved the car but thought the car’s audio system sucked. No strong bass whatsoever. So I embarked on having a higher end audio system installed with amps and sub woofers in the trunk by a guy who did installations out of his own garage. One day while doing some shopping I came out of the store to see my beloved XJS engulfed in flames and firefighters trying to extinguish it. Turns out the fire started in the trunk by faulty wiring. I remember my uncle being so pissed off about the Jaguar’s fate. He scolded me saying that I should never have molested that car the way I did with that audio system. I guess he was right.