A new Jerusalem, or nothing but the same old story? DTW examines XJ40’s turbulent conception and asks, was this the last Jaguar?
Billed at launch as the Jag without tears; a high-tech culmination of an unprecedented level of proving in some of the world’s most hostile environments, the 1986 XJ40-series represented a new beginning for the embattled marque. XJ40’s 22-year career from conception to retirement encapsulates probably the most tumultuous period in the company’s history.
The tragedy of XJ40 has a number of strands. Throughout the 1970s, XJ40 became Jaguar’s talisman, the one hope a demoralised corps could cling to when their very future was at stake. Central to this were efforts of successive engineering chiefs within Browns Lane to maintain the marque’s identity, but success in this would come at bitter cost.
As much the story of Jaguar’s dogged resistance as it is of the car itself, XJ40’s lengthy gestation would mean the end result was viewed by some as a disappointment, yet this belies the enormous efforts made to ensure XJ40 modernised, yet maintained marque traditions. The first truly modern Jaguar, the model was critically acclaimed upon release, but the car’s reputation quickly became tarnished by an early reputation for build and component issues it has never quite overcome.
Despite being the best-selling XJ series of all, XJ40 still remains something of an outcast within the official Jaguar narrative, only beginning to be appreciated for its finer qualities and for its status as arguably the most ambitious and technically pure Jaguar saloon ever.
This original series has been revised and repurposed as a single (and rather lengthy) article in light of further information coming to light – in particular following a wide-ranging interview in 2016 with XJ40’s creator, the late Professor Jim Randle. This more detailed chronicle can be found by clicking the link immediately below.
To read the piece in full, CLICK HERE
You will also find a link (below) to a large number of XJ40 related articles on the site.
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