1989 Jaguar XJS - Ultra Clean

The XJ-S was launched on 10 September 1975. The development, directed by William Heynes had begun in the late 1960s as project XJ27, with an initial shape set byMalcolm Sayer, but after his death in 1970 it was completed by the in-house Jaguar design team, headed by Doug Thorpe. Power came from theJaguar V12petrol enginewith a choice of amanualorautomatic transmission, but the manual was soon dropped as they were left over from V12 E Type production.V12automobiles were unusual at the time; Italian luxury sports car makersLamborghiniandFerrariproduced such models. The specifications of the XJ-S compared well with both Italian cars; it was able to accelerate to 60mph (97km/h) in 7.6 seconds (automatic) and had a top speed of 143mph (230km/h).The first series of XJ-S cars had aBorgWarnerModel 12 transmission with a cast-iron case and a bolt-on bell-housing. In 1977 GMTurbo-Hydramatic 400transmissions were fitted.The TH400 transmission was an all-aluminium alloy case with an integrated non-detachable bell-housing. The XJ-S was originally supplied withDunlopSP Super E205/70VR15 tyres on 6K alloy wheels; British police upgraded their Jaguars to a higher-performing 205/70VR15MichelinXWX.

Jaguar's launched the XJ-S in the wake of a fuel crisis, when the market for a 5.3-litre V12 grand tourer was small. The styling was buttresses behind the windows were criticized. German authorities feared these would restrict rearward vision, and refused to give the XJ-S, and the similarly designedLancia Montecarlo, type approval — necessitating German XJS buyers to obtain road approval for each individual car on registration.

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