Start with what the Jaguar XJS is: a 2-door coupé with 5.3 , built from 1975 to 1996, as the oil crises and the first emissions rules rewired the industry. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Malcolm Sayer (early design) / Geoff Lawson (facelift).
The story
The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. There were three distinct iterations, with a total production of 115,413 units over 20 years and 7 months.
Originally developed by Chief Engineer William Heynes using the platform of the then-current XJ saloon, the XJ-S was noted for its prominent rear buttresses. The early styling was partially by Jaguar's aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer—one of the first designers to apply advanced aerodynamic principles to cars; however, Sayer died in 1970, before the design was finalised. Its final iteration, produced from 1991 to 1996, was manufactured after Jaguar was acquired by Ford, who introduced numerous modifications – and eliminated the hyphen in the name, marketing Jaguar's longest-running model simply as the XJS.
What is underneath
The engine is 5.3 . On the scales it comes to 1800 kg. Drive goes through a 4-speed manual / 3-speed BorgWarner automatic / 3-speed GM TH400 automatic. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 102 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
In the Jaguar line-up the Jaguar XJS has a clear place: it replaced the Jaguar E-Type; it handed the line to the Jaguar XK8; the factory was Coventry, United Kingdom. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Hyundai Pony, the Volkswagen Polo, the BMW 3 Series. Nearby in the Jaguar catalogue sit the F-Type and the Vanden Plas.
Owning one today
EPA combined economy is 21 mpg, about $4,450 a year in fuel at the EPA's assumptions. Condition, mileage and specification move any single car a long way from a headline figure.