Jaguar XJ-S. Manual - part 4

 
 

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Silver coupe and a Silver convertible here in North Florida, both of which seemed to cycle through the dealer's used car 
lot fairly often as the Zytek system was hard to maintain and a frequent problem according to the dealer.” 

Steve Gallant cleared  up the discrepancy by reporting that, in addition to the 100 red and black cars, there were 4 silver 
“press” cars (three coupes and one convertible).  “Believed to be not part of the 100 since they do not have the silver ID 
plate on the console.”  He adds:  “Red cars have a cream leather interior, black and silver have a black leather 
(charcoal) interior.  The '94 and later Jaguar 6.0L XJS' have nothing to do with these cars” 

Jaguar offered the 4.0 XJ-S in the US in 1993 while the V12 engine was being reworked. 

 

INSIGNIA EDITION:  Brian Schreurs says, “Insignia was a limited edition special order.  The differences were: 

 

The wood veneer in any colour. 

 

The leather colour any which you wanted. 

 

Piping on the seats. 

 

Insignia Alloy wheels. 

 

Boot fabric was different, thick flannel.” 

John Goodman adds, “Not sure about the numbers produced but certainly not more than 100-200, documented 
information is very scarce.  Mechanically a standard XJS, but with the option at the time to choose a wide range of wild 
pearlescent non-standard body colours and customised interior colours/fabrics, including I believe the option of 
different wood veneers or grey stained (like the XJ sports sedans).  UK market had the quad headlights as well. 

“Basically, whatever the customer wanted Jaguar would try to do it!  Some colours were quite tame, some wild!  All the 
mechanical bits are standard so no maintenance worries.  May have the option of the sports suspension kit as well; 
depends, I think, on country.” 

Richard Mansell:  “The Insignia options were available by special order from October 1992 and it basically allowed 
you to personalise your car with a range of different finishes.  The Jaguar sales catalogue from around that period says: 

 

"Like all Jaguars, the latest XJ-S models provide a comprehensive wealth of equipment and appointments as 

part of their standard specification; there is no question of providing just a basic car and then charging extra for 
virtually every desirable refinement.  As a result, the list of items shown here as being optional at extra cost is 
quite small.  Nevertheless, there is one important development which must be mentioned.  This is 'Insignia', a 
service carried out by the craftsman of Jaguar Special Vehicle Operations.  Under this service they offer: 

Stunning, exclusive paint colours 

Soft, semi-aniline all-leather interiors, uniquely styled and trimmed in a range of special colours 

A choice of natural or tinted wood veneers to compliment and enhance the chosen paint and trim colours"

 

Mansell mentions that Jaguar Special Vehicle Operations “built the Daimler DS420 Limousine and other specials.” 

 

WEIRD CONVERSIONS:  Lots of Jaguars end up converted or modified, especially in the early years when 
convertibles weren’t available from the factory.  If you have something you can’t identify, Peter Cohen suggests:  “The 
answer should lie on your doorpost.  US federal law requires that a company that modifies a vehicle (such as a 
motorhome or convertible conversion) affix a label to the vehicle that says something to the effect of: 

"Modified by:___________  Date:_____________ 

This vehicle conforms to all applicable motor vehicle safety standards in effect on date of manufacture shown 
above" 

or something like that. 

“This should tell you who did the conversion, and, if you are lucky, it will tell you where they are located.” 

 

 
 

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PRODUCTION NUMBERS:  John Ratcliff provided these numbers from “a 60-page supplement to the June 95 edition 
of Classic and Sports Car, called ‘60 Years of Jaguar - A Celebration’.” 

 XJ12 

1972-73 

3228 

 XJ12 

SII 

1973-79 

16,010 

 

XJ Coupe (5.3) 

1975-77 

1855 

 XJ-S 

1975-81 

14,890 

 XJ12 

SIII 

1979-92 

15,918 

 XJ-S 

H.E. 

1981-91 

46,895 

 XJ-S 

Cabriolet  1983-88 

1143 

(3.6) 

  

 

3864 

(5.3) 

 

XJ-S 3.6 coupe 

1983-91 

9979 

 

XJ-S V12 convertible 

1987-91  12,771 

 XJR-S 

1988-93 

n/a 

 

XJS (4.0, 5.3, 6.0) 

1991- 

n/a 

 

V12 saloon (XJ40) 

1993-94 

n/a 

 XJ6/XJ12 

(facelift) 

1994- n/a 

 

HORSEPOWER:  Brian Schreurs:  “According to my library, these are the various horsepower/torque ratings: 

British-spec pre-HE 5.3L V12: 

 

285@5500/294@3500 

Federal-spec pre-HE 5.3L V12:  244@5250/269@4500 
 
British-spec 5.3L V12 HE:  299@5500/318@3000 
Federal-spec 5.3L V12 HE:  262@5000/290@3000 
 
British-spec 3.6L 6-cyl:  225@5300/240@4000 
 
British-spec AJ6 4.0L 6-cl:  223@4750/277@3650 (to summer 1994) 
Federal-spec AJ6 4.0L 6-cyl:  219@4750/273@3650 (to summer 1994) 
 
British-spec AJ16 4.0L 6-cyl:  241@4700/282@4000 (to present) 
Federal-spec AJ16 4.0L 6-cyl:  237@4700/282@4000 (to present) 
 
(no difference in market noted) 6.0L V12:  308@5350/355@2850 

 
 

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SHOPPING FOR A USED XJ-S 

 

If you are considering the purchase of a used XJ-S, there is one very important thing to do:  Insist upon having a 
compression check performed -- by an independent mechanic, if possible.  On a V12, one or two bad cylinders can 
easily go unnoticed on a test drive if you aren’t familiar with how the Jaguar should drive. 

If any cylinders read lower than the rest by more than 10% or so, be aware that an engine overhaul will cost thousands. 
 You will probably decide to pass on the car unless it is really cheap and you plan on engine work anyway. 

Note that it is unusually difficult to pull the spark plugs on this car, so a compression check will involve a couple hours 
labor on the part of your mechanic.  Money well spent. 

One other noteworthy comment regards mileage.  If properly maintained, the Jaguar can easily pass 200,000 miles 
before any major renovation is needed.  So, the prospective Jaguar buyer would be well advised to pay a little less 
attention to what the odometer says and a little more attention to the completeness of the maintenance records. 

As far as everything else on the car is concerned, it’s pretty much the same as buying any other car.  Bodywork and 
repainting are always expensive, and are more so on a Jaguar.  Rust is always a call for concern.  Apparent bodges or 
slipshod repairs are signs of trouble. 

If you’re really a careful shopper, read this entire book first.  It will give you a really good idea what pitfalls to look for 
in a used car. 

Don Marlin notes that you can check out the Kelley Blue Book WWW page at: 

 

 

http://www.kbb.com/

 

Or, of course, you could actually buy a Kelley Blue Book.  There is another similar product by the National Automobile 
Dealers Association (NADA).  Both come in both a consumer and a dealer version. 

Mike Wilson adds another source of value estimation: 

CPI Value Guide 
P.O. Box 3190 
Laurel, MD.  20709 
1-800-972-5312 

 

RELIABILITY CONCERNS:  Is the Jaguar XJ-S a reliable automobile?  I think that, based on a review of any of the 
available statistics, the short answer would have to be no.  However, the real reasons for the poor reliability record are 
probably not those commonly offered.  It’s not really the fact that the engine has 12 cylinders, although this does affect 
the cost of repairs. 

There are really two basic reasons for the poor reliability record.  The first is that there were a few minor glitches in the 
design of particular components, which is not all that unusual in automobile design, but while most automakers try to 
correct such problems in a timely manner Jaguar apparently allowed many of these problems go unaddressed for 
decades.  This is arguably because Jaguar was suffering management problems as well as financial problems for a 
considerable portion of the production life of this car. 

The second reason is a long and shameful history of consistently incompetent service from Jaguar dealers, specialists, 
and everyone else offering to work on these cars.  Obviously, when a common problem becomes apparent in the design 
of a car, competent service providers would determine the corrective action necessary and offer such repairs to owners. 
 But, as noted in many places in this book, service providers have not helped and have even exacerbated many 
problems, and apparently continue to do so to this day! 

Fortunately, the problems of the design of the XJ-S are all minor and easily corrected, which can render the car very 
reliable indeed.  When looking for a used car, make sure to select one that hasn’t already been seriously damaged by 

 
 

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poor maintenance (notably overheating), and then promptly read the page titled “IS THIS A REFERENCE BOOK?” at 
the front and check through all the items listed.  Be sure to actually take the corrective actions recommended; don’t just 
read about them! 

Some prospective owners are reportedly even scared off by the size of this book!  As the author I’m clearly biased, but 
I’d suggest that anyone who spent more than ten years compiling information on a Chevrolet Camaro or Ford Mustang 
or any other model that’s been offered for more than 20 years would end up with a book at least as hefty as this one! 

 

DURABILITY:  Durability is really a different concept than reliability.  Reliability is all about a car’s tendency to quit 
and leave you stranded or cost you money, while durability is about how long you can drive the car before it’s worn 
slap out and needs to be completely renovated or replaced.  The two concepts are often confused, and in fact are 
somewhat related; as individual components wear out and break down, they render the car unreliable.  But when talking 
about true durability, the Jaguar XJ-S is a standout among automobiles.  One being worn to the point of requiring 
renovation is almost unheard of.  If the car has the problems noted in this book addressed and the owner replaces items 
such as rubber seals, belts and hoses, and normal wear items on a timely basis, the Jaguar XJ-S could easily be 
considered a car to last a lifetime.  There may be a few other cars with comparable durability, but one that’s this much 
fun to drive is truly rare! 

The one notable exception to the car’s durability is probably the original paint.  The paint used up until at least the mid-
80’s was lousy, usually fading, crazing, and otherwise looking really terrible.  If such a car hasn’t been repainted 
already, purchasers should probably budget about $3000 for a complete strip and repaint as part of bringing such a car 
up to acceptable condition.  The 90’s cars supposedly used better paint.