Miguel Sánchez
PHOTOS JAGUAR XJ: JAGUAR MEDIA
The Jaguar XJ was the last model presented by Sir William Lyons, the founder of the brand. Since then, 50 years have passed in which many things have changed. The first is that Jaguar -authentic hallmark of the proud United Kingdom- it became the property of the North American Ford in 1989 and, 19 years later, was bought by the Indian industrial consortium Tata Motors. Something that seems devised as a kind of poetic justice, acquiring companies from former British colonies one of the "Crown jewels" of the old metropolis.
However, there is something that in this half century has not changed: the XJ designation for the saloon that represents its top of the range. And it is that although to lovers of Jaguar sports cars it always sounds like models like the D or E-Type, the truth is that it has known how to light high quality and luxury sedans, at the height of the Rolls Royce or the Bentley.
Although the version introduced in 2009 - which lasts until the present - meant the replacement of the typical horizontal shapes and straight lines by more voluminous and modern ones, Few vehicles for 50 years have been able to create a saga faithful to the identity that gave birth to it.: to offer a spacious, extremely comfortable saloon, equipped with a clear English style and possessing the best technology of the moment for its segment.
FROM I SERIES TO XJ40: 18 YEARS OF JAGUAR XJ
Released in 1968 The Series I of the XJ combined in a single car the three saloons of the brand, namely the MKII, S and 420. According to W. Lyons, it was "The best Jaguar ever made", which combined the proverbial XK6 engine with the best technology of the moment, such as the Borg-Warner 8-speed automatic gearboxes. It was offered in short and long chassis variants, and was marketed under two names: Jaguar XJ6 and Daimler Sovereign, the latter more luxurious.
In 1972 came the XJ12 version, armed with Coventry's 12 hp 5.3-liter V276. Thanks to this mechanics, which in the model in question gave some other cooling problem, the Jaguar XJ became the fastest saloon of the moment. His little brother deluxe it was the Daimler Double Six.
Just a year later the XJ received its first "update" with the appearance of the Series II (1973-79), already manufactured by the ominous British Leyland. Quality dropped and the short chassis version disappeared, which became the platform for an ephemeral and attractive coupe, the XJC, marketed between 1975 and 1978. The XJC was characterized by the absence of a B-pillar and its vinyl roof. , of which the gossips say that it concealed an excessive torsion of the body.
Finally, in 1975 the XJS appeared, a beautiful coupe and convertible that, although it was developed on the XJ platform, does not belong to this family directly.
1979 saw the appearance of Series III (1979-92), with a marked continuity character in the aesthetics and in the engines (although with the novelty of the Bosch / Lucas injection). The Jaguar saloon, like the rest of English cars, was becoming outdated although it even incorporated computers. So much so that, with the fourth generation - XJ40 (1986-1994) - Jaguar launched an all-new saloon with new 6-cylinder engines and self-leveling suspension.
REINVENT YOURSELF WITH A RETRO STYLE?
The truth is that By the 90s the style of the XJ40 posed a dilemma, because although it was already a symbol ... Something more had to be done to update the cat's saloon. At that time, Jaguar's design department - already controlled by Ford and therefore under pressure to invent something else that would increase sales - had to pull an ace out of its sleeve. That ace was… the look of modernity under the umbrella of “retro” design.
With the XJ X300 (1994-97), far from drawing something different, they simply reinterpreted the classic lines by modernizing them, in the manner of what BMW did with Mini or Ford with Mustang. And it seems that the thing worked, because the decaying Jaguar began to take flight. They even launched an XJ R version, supercharged and connected to the MKII of the 60s. In 1997 the X300 was replaced by the X308 (1997-2003), which replaced the traditional engines of the series with a new V8.
Already in 2003 the X350 arrived, with an even more refurbished aesthetic, aluminum bodywork, new V6 gasoline and diesel engines and air-based suspension. And in 2009… TATA changed everything with the X351, a stately saloon that no longer looks like an XJ, does it? 😉
