Jaguar's Worst Car? - The XJ40 Story
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 มิ.ย. 2024
- Hello everyone! :D
While there have been many protracted car development stories, none have held so much promise than that of the Jaguar XJ40, a machine that was conceived way back in 1972, but wouldn't emerge onto the market until 1986 following 14-years of fragmented assembly, with numerous restarts due to the exacting demands of the British Leyland management.
However, the resultant XJ40, despite its initial acclaim, was a machine that was most decidedly a product of the time it was originally considered, as due to the conservative mindset of the Jaguar engineers and managers, the car looked old when it was new, especially when compared to the Lexus LS400 that was released only three years later.
This, combined with a plethora of build quality problems and reliability concerns, led to what has often been dubbed the worst car Jaguar has ever made, and even today holds a mixed reception among enthusiasts, praising its luxury and performance, but condemning its horrendous construction.
Chapters:
0:00 - Preamble
0:37 - Building on Perfection
3:38 - The Difficulties Start
6:26 - Putting things together
8:49 - Engine Trouble
11:57 - Entering Sales
15:03 - A Calamitous Stumble
18:18 - A Prayer for the Dying
21:22 - Conclusion
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The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.
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References:
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I think it’s misunderstood, in terms of the design. I’m one of few people who think rectangular headlights look better and aged extremely well, I don't get the hate.🤷♂️
Same, I dailyd a 97x300 and an early 80s xjs(basically a xj40coupe) both very reliable, the x300especially so. It was always absolutely faultless. The xjs suffered electric niggles , heater blowers that sorta thing but never failed to get me to where I needed to be. At the time I never liked the xj40 from a style view but it has aged really well, now I'm thinking of picking one up as a Sunday car!
I always liked the styling
I've always had a soft spot for the xj40... I was in Marbella last September and saw a Daimler version of the model parked. I went over to have a look and I was still impressed at how lovely the styling was outside and how plush the interior was. To be fair it was an immaculate example, nearly showroom. A credit to whoever owned it.
Yes, after the square-headlight XJ40 was the last futuristic looking Jaguar, after that they became VERY overtly retro in their styling.
I think they are quite attractive. And a logical evolution of Jaguar styling.
The XJ40 was the first Jaguar to have fault monitoring technology. The only problem was that every time an owner started his car, it told him there was something wrong with it.
Anyway, it looks as if JLR are about to kill off Jaguar. There will only be 15 dealers in the whole of the UK and they will have only one all-electric model to sell, and that will cost well over £100,000. They've already kissed goodbye to all current Jaguar owners and even those comtemplating buying a new one.
I owned an -87 Sovereign with the electroluminicent instrument cluster for 5 years. The only fault that erratically came up, was a warning for worn brake pads, which I traced to a broken wire in the trunk. I really miss that car.
I hope they don't kill off the Jag name. Surprisingly the XJ40 rusted out so quickly and the rooflining was an issue, and that 3.6 was no powerplant that Jag was renowned for. Shame Brittish manufacturers never worked to fix existing problems, rather than going for something new. That's what the S111 did. Worked on the S1 and improved over time which is why it was so successful.
I kept getting the bloody "Headlamp Bulb Failure" warning on mine. Here in Australia, 9/10 owners of these got the same daily warning about headlamp bulbs & absolutely NOBODY at the Coventry factory could tell us why Australian XJ40's with 3.6l engine kept doing this!
@@lukespector5550 I never got the error on mine, but I fixed it for a friend, who had a Daimler. It was just dry solder joints in the headlamp control module.
Just a bad earth usually on one of the units which controlled the headlamp, sorted my xj40 Daimler with a little fault finding over a few weekends 😅
Sorry to spoil the cliche, but I had two these XJ40s at a couple of years old and both were very reliable. Really enjoyed them. I've also had a few Mercedes - also great cars, but they didn't feel as special as a Jaguar....
My XJ40 was 20 years old when I had it and it was a reliable, character -filled car. I really enjoyed owning it! I can't wait to have a Jag again someday
When they got them right, they were good, but sometimes things looked like they were designed to fail. Air con drainage tubes that would drain away condensation, they would clog up because there was nothing stopping the crap of the roads blocking them, and then the footwells would flood. The fix was a cylindrical piece of foam, that only worked some of the time, Air con motors would fail with in months of the cars hitting the road, galvanic corrosion that make taking some of the pipes off in the engine near impossible, self levelling suspension valve block actuators on recall from day 1.
There's something about the 40s that didn't click with me, I found the series 3 shape more appealing.
To be fair, I don't recall many engine issues with any of the jag engines, if there were any rebuilds going on it was usually an older V12. I'd happily describe jag engines as quite solid, it was everything around it that was all bit slap dash.
@@ianscott947 yep. I agree with you that the series three was more likeable. Had one then too 😂
I love the XJ40 so much and I'm glad to read that since I plan on getting one. It is indeed a cliché, they're very good cars and as you say they feel very special.
It is a beautiful car. The quad headlights version is truly an estethic masterpiece
I still see a few XJ40s out here in Colorado. The dry desert climate keeps the electronics working, and rust at bay.
😢 as a X300 owner the title alone made me sad! Ford doesn't get enough credit for saving them! Love all your content BTW!!!
I too am a X300 owner and have been for 7 years. It was Geoff Lawson that designed our car and the X Type. The series 1 that I had in the early 70's was a remarkable car and William Lyons said it was the best car he had ever made. I alway thought that the series 3 alterded by Pininferrina and which was their best seller, actually spoilt the original design. Fortunately Geoff Lawson got rid of all the previous changes and went back to the original beautiful design. Now as for the XJ40 at least the square headlights matched the square tail lights. Which I believed was a copied from the RR spirit of the 80's and was encouraged by William Lyons who told John Egan to go ahead with it.
@@richardautenzio8117 Your comment reminded me of this lady who I brought this part from(ebay) that lives in The UK. Her husband designed or had a major role in the engineering of the AJ16. She sold me this bracket that repositioned the cps and advanced the timing. This part came originally on the XJR version. Def gave a few horses and better kick down response.
Have an x300 & it's my third.if I ever sell, it will only be to buy a series 3.
I did have an xj40.it was 14 years old at the time & was falling to bits.thesr cars fell into the wrong hands who didn't maintain them because they were so cheap
Had it not been for Ford’s purchase the Company would have been a rumor by the mid 90s.
I was actually among the Ford team asked to go to Browns Lane after we acquired the business. My area was vehicle electrical testing. At Ford of Europe we had developed our own system but Jaguar were using a system developed by Ferranti I think. Anyway, the plant was a completely different to anything I was used to at Ford... a real step back in time. The workers there did seem to have a lot more pride in what they were creating though when compared to our UK workers at least. That said, the task of making Jag a competitor for Merc, Lexus etc... was just jaw dropping. I believe it would have been easier for us to create a new brand from scratch - like Toyota did. I know I may be biased but I do believe that Ford did a massive amount for Jaguar - improving the product and giving it a chance. As you say, it's something we don't really get much credit for.
I worked for the old Plessey Defence company as a vehicle tech in our fleet workshop in Addlestone nr Weybridge, Our board members went from S3 XJ-6's to the XJ-40, Overall the XJ-40 was pretty reliable and well built and better to work on than the old S3 XJ, The only problem i recall having with them was the self levelling sensors used to fail on the O/S/F accumulator valve block and leak hydraulic oil, It was an easy job to rectify and some of our 40's exceeded 150K trouble free miles but we were anal on maintenance!
There weren’t many cars that were reliable back the coming out of the U.K.
In the late 90's had a 89 Sovereign then a 92 Daimler XJ40's Both were excellent drives, perhaps as i did alot of motorway driving & regular up keep ( oil, water, fluids, etc), neither gave any trouble & pleasure to drive.
Like them or not, even in the mid - late 90's they still turned heads & got respect on the road. Yes there's better engineered cars, but the look, stance, class of a Jag along with the ride are their edge over the Lexus's & German marques.
you cant drive any V12 Jag on German Autobahn because the valve seats drop, my friend ruined 3 new engines when car still was new and under warranty because he chased Porsches, BMW 635 Csi and Mercedes 500/560SEL on Autobahn with an XJS V12 H.E., any time when he started the engine a day later an exhaust valve seat clicked out. (Engine did not overheat due to age...the V12 just had Indian made Cylinder heads from the first day..(maybe the 6.0 V12 under Ford was better) Never use a Jag V12 !!!
@@Schlipperschlopper My xj40's were 6's not 12's. I've had 3 xjs v12 5.3s ( used) 100 -120mph was my limit - mindsets, speed, comfort, being able to stop, ( never have been a racer) never had issues with them either, even running them on 100 octane. (avgas). Compared to other makes, yeh xjs's were slow barges.
It's like anything from a toaster to a car it's how you use it, maintain it etc. Maybe i been lucky with my Jags ( minor electrical issues on 1, mechanically they never been a problem)
@@Schlipperschlopperwhat a load of crap your waffling on about the jaguar v12 is one of the greatest engines of all time.theyre extremely strong and robust,Indian v12,what are you talking about😂😂😂
You cant use the V12 on Autobahn, a friend of mine lost 3 engines due to dropped valve seats after chasing Mercedes and Porsches in 1987 with his XJS, technicians at Auto Becker Jaguar Dealer Dusseldorf told that the V12 heads are made in or from indian parts so they dont last@@ivanfernyhough3851
@@Schlipperschlopper My brother has a 1977 XJS with the original engine and never had any problems except the gearbox. He changed it out for a 4 spd auto in 2004 from the original 3 spd. He said the v12 just revved too high on the autobahn. Always serviced by himself on time. It did get a pin prick of rust in the drivers door which he had fixed. He said he can't remember how many times the odometer has gone around but thinks its about 3 times. So that's over 300,000 miles and never rebuilt. I drove it a few times and it sits at 100 mph at around 3,000 rpm. So yes it still revs high. I think it's red line is 3800rpm.
I have fond memories of my XJ41 V12 Jag, I bought it from an Isuzu dealer who had taken it in on trade and just wanted it gone. It cost me a fairly large amount of money to fix it up, but it was one of the best cars I have owned and it saved my wife's life when she was broadsided at an intersection hard enough to write off the car and she had a bruised wrist and walked away from the collision. So from my perspective one of the best cars ever made. I now drive a 15 year old Lexus GS460 and my wife has an RX350 also 15 years old, both excellent cars. Very well addressed Ruairidh, I enjoy your TH-cam content very much.
Regards Mac.
Those guys spray painting the cars must have had health problems later in life as, although they were wearing protective gear, did not have masks on.
I'd imagine it was electrostatic painting ? If it worked well all the paint should have gone on the car, not the sprayers airways.
I worked at a Jag dealership in the late 80s, and the warranty claims on 40s were shocking, everything that could go wrong, which was everything, went wrong and often, but the whole of Jaguars model range suffered from issues. Some cars came to us with paint jobs so bad they shouldn't have passed QC, and not to mention the recall for faulty actuator valves went on for so long.
I still see a red 40 out and about in South Wales, and I'm always surprised that it hasn't dissolved in the rain yet.
The Double 6 were my fave, and still are.
@@Schlipperschlopperinteresting 👌✅
I had a dark green XJ40 (3.2 straight six - reg: M28 ALA) and it was a truly awful money-pit. When it ran right it was lovely, but, like you said, it was in the repair shop more often than it was on the road. I tolerated it for six months and then scrapped it off (and was glad to see the back of it). In retrospect, I should have first sold the number plate which would probably have been worth more than the car.
@@Schlipperschlopperyou no nowt about jaguars,has you have proven elsewhere bott.
It was 13 years old when you got it@@sputumtube , & who knows how well/badly it was maintained & driven before you got it, so probably not representative of when they were new or much younger example..
Lovely looking car it was a shame
I would like to know how many of those who like to criticise the XJ40 have actually driven, or for that matter owned one...
I for one am the very happy owner of an early series 3,6 which goes like a bomb and literally glides over the road like a flying carpet...
To each their own.
Owned two myself, 1989 3.6 Sovereign, Dorchester grey paint and grey leather interior, it was fantastic and bombproof the odd electrical issue but nothing major. Then a 1993 4.0 Sovereign, flamenco red cream leather with red piping another great car, absolutely zero issues.
Yes, the J-gate gear selector was nice to operate. The rear passenger lamps in the back of the front headrests were nice touches too. I couldn't hack the strange buffeting noise when the sunroof was fully open though. Did yours do that?
@@lukespector5550 yes, the buffeting is present between a fixed bracket of speeds... Not when going slowly or really fast. At times opening the rear windows helps.
The XJ40 was a great car mechanically. It handled and drove better than the equivalent BMW and Mercedes. The wood and leather were better on the XJ40 than it's replacement the X300.
Yet somehow Mercedes and BMW massively outsold it and those companies remain independent and profitable while Jaguar is rarely profitable and usually owned by another company.
Don't look through rose-tinted glasses much do you?
@@williamegler8771
Well, having own all 3 contemporary cars, the Jaguar was the most reliable 👌
@@williamegler8771 My dad bought a pre-owned 89 BMW 750iL at the approximate time my grandfather bought a second hand 89 XJ6. The 750iL was technically superior and outright faster when it wasn't suffering from electronic throttle problems that would cause limp home mode, the alarm sounding intermittently, or a bunch of other electric gremlins. The Jag, believe it or not, has never stranded us and is still with us. The big Bimmer had to go.
There was little or no difference in the wood or leather between XJ40 and the first 3/4 years of X300 unless you had different trim levels of each car.
@@Hattonbank Yep second this, also why I prefer the earlier X300 as IMHO the interior is MUCH nicer than the later ones. xj40 interior, aj16 engine (bulletproof) and by this time ford had got their hand on the electrics and sorted out all the lucas quirks.
I like the squared off lines and block headlights look, like the Rolls Royce silver spirit, but unfortunately the xj40 should’ve launched at the start of the 80s (like rolls did with the spirit) as originally planned in its development rather than the late 80s when it already looked a bit behind the times but cars dying in gestation and missing the stylistic mark was a common issue in BL in the 70’s; just look at the maestro & montego
That strong pound versus US dollar - wasn't just the car sales that were throttled, but it also caught out the Jag sales department who got carried away with currency trading (done normally to even out fluctuations, but became a source of profit in itself) and bet the wrong way. Independent Jag was far too small to succeed long term - even if the xj40 was a total success they wouldn't afford it's replacement. Ford did good things there, but maybe not the best name.
In late 79 I was working in an office in the workshop/shed that was also taking on Daimler limo prod after VDP in London was closed down. There was a senior chap - ex-Daimler bus - there who favoured use of the Rover V8 and looked into then newish ABS for many mouldings - both much to the disagreement of most of his colleagues.
I had a best friend in Farfield, CT whose grandfather bought a used 1994 XJ40, as a “retirement present” for himself. This was 2002.
The electrical faults were so bad that he couldn’t get it inspected for over 2 years as the check engine light was always on. It wouldnt shift correctly and things would short out like the power seats. He ended up mostly driving his wife’s turquoise Chrysler LeBaron convertible, as the Jag was always parked on the driveway, like a luxurious paperweight.
When Danny told me what he bought, (knowing I’m a car buff) I flinched.
His grandfather was gushing ‘how cheap it was’, and how he ‘got such a good deal on it’.
(My dad had an MGB that almost took his life on several occasions, so I was familiar with the reliability of Lucas electrics and atrocious British craftsmanship that made his driveshaft fall off on a Dallas freeway)
Within a week, it was back in the same shop it had normally gone to by the previous owner. I would have LOVED to have seen that mechanics face when the same finicky Jag showed up with a new owner.
Dannys grandfather passed away in 2011. He still had that Jag, but it was permanently entombed in the garage, last having run in 2005.
They called the same mechanic that had last worked on it, to “come get it out of here, and you can have it.”
He parted it out, and I just happen to come across its frame in 2016 in a Jaguar junkyard in Farmington, CT. (Correction: Plainville)
It was a sky blue with a maroon pin-stripping, so it was noticeable.
Beautiful car, too bad it never worked.
The later 93/94 cars were the best Jaguar had to offer. As an owner of both the XJ40 and the X300, I further the comments of others here. The leather and wood was a step above in the xj40 vs the later x300. I daily drive a 94 4.0 Sovereign. I keep on top of its servicing and it has been very reliable.
never use a V12 Jag because they drop valve seats the engines were made from Indian and Hongkong parts
Total BS, all engine castings and forging were from UK and European suppliers.@@Schlipperschlopper
Seeing as it was the Jaguar veneer centre that made the veneered components with the same materials and the same workforce, and the components for the X300 prior to its mid life facelify were almost a straight lift from the XJ40, why do you see a difference? The mid life X300 facelift had improved veneered components, more aestheticaslly designed, but still the same materials and workforce. The leather was carry over from model to model.
Perhaps you had a higher trim level XJ40 than the X300, you would notice differences between the trim levels if that was the case..
@@Hattonbank It was not the same materials and the same workforce. Leather does not “carry over” from one model to another: Suppliers change and the amount of leather used also decreased. They cut costs like crazy with the x300. I have both cars now as in I own both of them side by side. The quality of the leather and quality of the wood is not the same. The dashboard wood in my xj40 is book-matched and mirrors the other side. Nothing even close in the x300. For reference I have a 2003 XJR.
Yes! My 1994 was an excellent car. The wood was one of the worst things about it, though
Ok, I have to add . I owned a 1996 Jaguar Vanden Plas. The car was daily driver for 15 years. The engine and drive train lasted 340,000,00 without any major issue. The car was the best purchase I did as a driver. I loved the car so much, that once I donated the old Jag as the car paid itself over like 3 times, I immediately replaced it with both 1995 Jaguar XJ6 and 1995 Jaguar Vanden Plas, knowing that I have dependable and well sorted out cars. My 1995 Jaguar Vanden Plas is my weekend driver with 170,000,00 miles on the engine and drive train. My 1995 Jaguar Xj6, daily driver has little over 95,000,00 miles on the engine and drive train. The car handles well and I have no issues whatsoever. I recently took it on a longer trip between Arizona and Utah and I had a blast. The car had excellent mileage with its 23 gallon tank, 329 miles with only 2 stops to rest and refuel on half a tank. I can attest to the durability of the X300 model. I maintain both my Jags myself, as most of the mechanics here in AZ have no clue how to work on British cars, let alone use correct metric tools. Yes,, we have some "upper class mechanic shops" here in AZ, like in Scottsdale or Mesa, that charge arm and leg for basic PMs on these cars, but knowing them how to service them and care for them by myself, gives me piece of mind and a smile on my face, knowing that I made the right choose of driving a classic 1990s Jaguar. I will keep with the brand, till the end. As for most of you who claim that the XJ40 was a troubled car for the brand, always consider this , even for the Series 3 and the XJS, when these cars came from the factory, they were trouble free, with each component checked and inspected. Once they reached the US, then the saga begins- adjusting ECUs, messing up settings to meet strict US regulations, incompetent dealers who absolutely have no idea how to properly service those cars with mechanics with little to no training even at the Jag dealerships at the time. To add on the owners who were unable to maintain the cars due to high cost (parts being overpriced on purpose by US parts suppliers/ to give space for US made cars at the time like Ford, Chevy GM products, etc) and skipping maintenance, resulted of very poor reliability of the model in the US. The XJ40 was no junk car, its technology was as advanced as the upper luxury brand of the late 1980s /early 1990s EU cars. What caused the chaos here in the US is that these care are simply neglected, just changing hands constantly and due to bad mechanics who always screw up (cut wires, strip bolts, damage harmonic balancers, break hoses, spark plugs, using incorrect torque settings ) etc caused customers thousand of dollars of repair bills and the cars never ran correctly. My old X300 in the hands of the previous owner was constantly acting up due to bad mechanics and Walmart pros who stripped oil plug drain not knowing that it is a metric and not SAE,( cut wires on the MAF sensor, dirty oil in rack and pinion, leaking rack and pinion, not enough coolant, damaged locking mechanisms, dry U joints, cracked coupler, ) In my hands the car lasted almost 400,000,000 miles being daily driven 120 miles a week, because I cared for it and made sure that all is up to specs and if something failed, I replaced it immediately . So no the XJ40 in the right hands can reach 500,000,00 miles and be as dependable as any Japanese or German cars from the same era. Of course, when you drive a classic be ready to live with it, If not, you can buy any other car of your choice.
Jaguar's worst car? Not by a long way. Absolute rust bucket? No worse than any car of the period or since. I have owned Jaguars for years - from a 420G, through S3 XJ6, XJ40 Daimler, S-Type, X-Type and XF. I still have the XJ40 and the XF is my daily. The S-Type and X-Type rotted to the point of scrap - the same with the S3 although there were way more issues with that than just rust (thanks to BL incompetence) and the 420G was sold on as too large. My XJ40? Sitting on my drive with its original metal and paint. A magnificent luxury barge with WAY more character and presence than any Japanese imitation or German attempt at 'luxury'. Sorry Ruairidh, your videos are great and entertaining, but with this one you appear to have just rolled out the usual tropes. No matter, I will still enjoy them. BTW - Read Sir John Egan's book "Saving Jaguar" - you will find the full background as to why the XJ40 took so long to come to the market.
My condolences to your bank account
Had a XJ81 for 12 years. It was far quieter than models with the lesser engines.
Note, they only started on a new model after the old one was on the market for 4 years. You should start the day it goes on sale, if not before.
Mass appeal cars spell doom for a marque. Of course, today, generic SUV (where they got "Sport" is beyond me) reigns. A bulky, poor handling, wagon is now the choice of the masses.....
Quality content as always ❤️❤️ thank you ❤️❤️
Love the red coupe at the end. Those would be really sought after now, if they had been produced.
I have an X300 a fairly low mileage well maintained example. Some surface rust on some suspension components, no rot and never been welded. Supremely comfy and the AJ16 engine quietly wafts you along, the car smoothing out the terrible roads we have in the UK. Nearly 30 years old but still a lovely place to be. Much better than any earlier XJ6, Mk2 or S type, I have had them all, soft spot for the 420G though. Jaguars worst car? Hmmm. The guy down the road with a 150K miles late 4.0 XJ40 would probably disagree..
I remember seeing test jaguars being driven around Timmins, Ontario during winter, and enjoyed your clips of cold weather testing in Northern Ontario.
When I look at the XJ40 versus the Series 2 and Series 3, I'm reminded of the Chrysler developments going from the last of the A-body cars (Valiant, Duster, and Dart) to the F-body cars (Volare, Aspen) in the mid-seventies. The F-body cars featured all new sheet metal for the entire monocoque body, all new glass, all new interiors, all new suspension. There were plenty of parts-bin components but for the nature of automobile design of the era they were new cars on a new platform.
But when you park a Volare coupe next to a Duster, the styling is so similar that it doesn't really matter that it's an all-new platform. It doesn't look like an all-new platform. It hardly even looks like an evolution of an existing one to be honest. And worse, the F-body cars featured something like 30% more components to assemble them compared to their A-body predecessors, and Chrysler made some poor choices with the front suspension, using a new transverse-mount torsion bar arrangement to serve as both suspension and as the strut-rods for maintaining alignment of the lower control arms. This arrangement didn't do this well at all, many cars' front-end alignments couldn't be kept in-spec since there was so much play.
When I look at the XJ40 I don't see a new model despite the decade and a half of work vast sums of money spent on it. I see basically the same lines as the prior model, but now introducing a bunch of other technology that proved unreliable. Granted, this is through hindsight since I wasn't old enough when this car debuted to pay much attention. Either way though, from a styling point of view this looks like a car that could have been designed off an existing platform in a couple of years rather than closer to a couple of decades, and even if the underpinnings were radically different enough to justify a long development time, they still let the customers down.
My next door neighbor has a collection of Jaguars, frankly of his four-door models I like the looks of his Series II best, followed by his Series III.
👍😄 Wonderful old-school modern classic vehicles. Of which sadly we will never see there like again. Still possible to find a good example out there ,if you buy with your eyes 👀 wide open !!..
I had an XJ6, blue leather great car after a bit of work.
I owned an XJ40 4.0 for the summer last year, I loved that car super fun. Nice to drive and easy to tinker with. I don’t miss the nightmares I had at night that it was going to break expensively.
I've always loved the looks of Jaguars, but their reliability did not have a good reputation in the US. In the early 2000s a neighbor bought, I think, an XJ12 coupe. He drove it home and it died on the street in front of his house. He spent 6 months trying to get it to run again. One evening I came home from work and the car was gone and it never came back. I asked him about it once and he shook his head and said "man, that car hurt me!"
Keeping a 1975-1980 fuel injected V12 running was difficult. A joke in Seattle was, if you don't love your wife give her a V12 Jaguar to drive across one of the two floating bridges, the car would stop running mid span.
Keep up the content, I love your soothing quiet voice
Is that a person? I think all these videos are computer-generated. The tone and pace never change.
@@SWright1978 initially I thought that too till i watched till the very end of a video and the guy spoke in a much more human voice, I guess he's just really good at continuously talking in a monotone voice
I love em, had lots from nearly new and none BROKE DOWN NONE
Nice to see your own video work again included.
It was bad, but at least it had recognizable Jaguar DNA. The current lineup is so utterly bland and removed from brand heritage as to be Jaguar only in name. It’s a zombie brand that’s truly been squandered.
Modern jag saloons don't look good, there's no pomp about them, from the side and back they' just look ordinary, only slightly better from the front, but jag drivers are usually a certain type of older folk, so radical design is never going to work with them.
I had a 1994 in 2014 and it was a great car! Never had a problem with it. One rear door wouldnt open, the other had a window that didn't work. Drove it 6,000 miles and the only unreliability was a coolant hose that needed to be replaced. Grear car!
I Love the XJ40 series. from a distance they look angular but close up there's so much detail on the body. They drive really well too.
I worked for Jaguar Cars Inc in the USA 1986-2000. I could write a very funny book about coming to Jaguar from another European manufacturer and dealing with the Company’s culture, technology, etc. Yet despite it all I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for the Company and all its blokes & blokettes. They did their best, working from a long way behind the well funded leaders with what few resources they had. Ford clearly saved the old girl from the knackers yard, and forced us to face facts and deal with priorities. There was such hope come 1995, but changes in Ford’s leadership and short sided product decisions killed the promise of what could have been. Sadly it looks like Rover has simply decided to kill the brand off. Pity.
Hi Rory I have researched a story you might want to tell, which is tied to the UK and Japan, that of Tommy kaira. There's not many chronicles on it, so information is not as detailed as for other stories from mass manufacturers
A good looking and great driving car, a result of top heavy management and too many fingers in the pie, the replacement x300 which was basically the same car was in my opinion the best jaguar model ever. British car firm managers have always been busy fools, lots of activity with no achievement
A perspective from the USA: I was managing a Jag dealership just at the model change that finally drove a spike thru the XJ 40's
heart. Perhaps Americans were less tolerant of poor quality, antiquated or unproven new technologies, but by the time the 300 launched, many Jag stores in this country were literally driven out of business by the cars they struggled with. It had gotten to the alarming point that we could not attract new customers, and our long term loyalists were inevitably growing older, then dying.
The 300 fixed that very quickly. I've always had great affection for the marque, and breathed a sigh of relief.....
One of my friends had one that was purchased brand new. He had a lot of problems with it and got rid of it after the rear end differential ceased at 36,000 miles. Instead of securing its grease with a solid nut Jaguar only provided a rubber stopper which led to its failure. He had it repaired and purchased a Mercedes S-Class that he drove for eight years before buying his next car.
S class rotted
Thought this was a far nicer car than Luxo German stuff. It maintained a traditional grace in its styling . The engine was excellent and , if maintained accurately, was capable of incredible high mileage.
Worst car? Have you ever actually driven or tested one?
Yes. They’re great as cars that don’t need to travel wide distances regularly if you have the time and means to attend to them as a hobby if you have another vehicle to use at your disposal. They’re high maintenance bitches. I’d rather be married and I choose neither.
In some ways the last real Jaguars.
The XJ40 2 door prototype was BEAUTIFUL. The car should've gone into production.
Listening to the failure of the british automotive industry and their other industries is the purest example of a train crash that just keeps going and you cant take your eyes away.
Its truely remarkable how badly everyone everywhere blundered it.
Even now in 2024 there are still articles about what industries are left closing up shop.
In 1995 I bought a rear-ended write off XJ40 XJR 4.0. Bright red, cream interior. It was a £18,000 car at the time and I got it for £5,000. Cost £1,400 to repair and drove it for 8 years.
The first time I was driving it hard up the M3 I came up behind a big Beemer, the passenger turned to see what the driver had seen in his mirror, it was "WTF, Move over!". 😅😅
The Beemer moved over and gave way to me in my bright red XJ40 and I just swept past. It Never let me down, and I would have it back any day.
I put 200,000 miles on it, regular oil and filter change saw me keep the same engine with only one head gasket change needed. I sold it to a friend at 279,000 miles and he loved it.
A friend's father had a new E plate 3.6, it was forever draining its battery.
Another chums father had a 3.6 Daimler , which gave good service.
I test drove over a weekend the new 3.2, which was a lovely car.
I had an 86 XJ40, and I found this to be a very nice reliable car. I don't think the quality issues are as bad as people made them out to be.
I currently own a xj40 4litre s. Pretty rare version of this classic jaguar. Lovely car that ticks all the boxes. I think they are becoming pretty collectable now in the days of big cars disappearing due to the large influx of electric vehicles on our roads. The xj40 stands out in the crowd nowadays and will become a very sort after motor car in the coming years.
Thank you for making this video. I owned an xJ40 back in the 90s which I bought as a used car with about 60k miles but the full main dealer service history. It was extremely comfortable and other than a few annoyances with electrics such as it seeming to need a lot of bulb replacements and falsely telling me at random that I was out of screen wash, it was actually very reliable. I sold it in part-exchange for a Vauxhall Cavalier for my wife.
This is the body-style of Jag Keyser Söze slid into at the end of _The Usual Suspects_
While the foregoing body style (late 70's - mid 80's) was beautiful & timeless, this one had - at least visually - a level of class that set
itself apart from the earlier variant. In spite of the fact that the overall "lines" of the car were almost identicle.
I would love to have a black on black 1993 XJ with an LS6 motor.
Ruairidh, (I've got no idea how to pronounce that, by the way), One thing I like about your videos, especially now that some of your sentences are getting a bit shorter, is that you cover both technical issues and political / management / personnel / market issues. That range in scope is very important for understanding the broader environment in which things happen the way they do and getting a fuller picture. Your videos about BMC / British Leyland substantially changed my perspective about who was at fault for what happened, and I'm appreciative of that. Please continue.
Ruairidh is pronounced just like Rory...
my surname is McGrory and Id pronounce that Rooree @@jimihendrix991
A friend had one of these when it was about 8 years old. Once the steering and real leveling suspension was sorted out it was an excellent car. I would say they were just as reliable as the contemporary rivals of the time. In my opinion, none of the rivals were better at all in an overall way. They were just better in their own ways.
At the time I used to say: A Jag if you you wanted a luxury experience getting from A to B, a BMW if you wanted to enjoy getting from A to B, and a Merc if you were serious about getting from A to B.
It was actually a much better car than the predecessor, and got an unfairly bad reputation for no particular reason. I’ve had 12 of them, and simply wouldn’t have spent as much time on them as I have if they weren’t utterly superb.
Great video, Ruairidh. Some of those early proposals really did look like 4-door XJSs, which would have been quite a jarring change for most Jag customers.
You mentioned General Motors losing out to Ford in the race to acquire Jaguar, but GM might have had the last laugh, as it was one of their automatic transmissions that Ford wound up buying for every V12 Jag and Daimler made (TH400 3-speed for all 5.3L models, and 4L80-E 4-speed for the 6.0L cars plus the X300 XJR) on top of the 35 million quid Dearborn had to spend to make the XJ81 a reality.
For me also the rectangular design looks cooler and far more stylish. Also the 1990 XJ40 held up better with the years than the later models and we got them all in the family. Designwise it is something special in the Jaguar world and because of that it will always be a controversial which is good. And as mentioned being 30 years old it has less faults than my very well preserved X300 or our X308. Those like to annoy with electronic niggles..
I miss my dad’s XJ40 Sovereign. Yes it was full of problems (monowiper had random ideas on where to stop on the windscreen, head gasket leaked, oil pressure sender had to be replaced twice, rear suspension one day went Exxon Valdez on us and spewed mineral oil everywhere, one tailight decided that the reverse light was a turn signal)… but we loved it nonetheless. Sadly it was taken away from us too early after a distracted driver totaled it 😢
Ride leave rear suspension was a chronic warranty issue on earlier cars until Jaguar finally realized it was not needed and deleted it starting in 1990 on some base cars such as my 1990 owned since new. Body rust was also an issue on earlier cars even into the 1990 model year until Jaguar incorporated more galvanized body panels. Steering racks were a warranty issue until Jaguar fired their long term supplier and bought ZF ones which were trouble free.
I bought a new 1990 XJ6 & drove it cross country with no issues. After relocation I experienced one electrical issue after the other & the last straw was when the driveshaft came loose. I traded it for a 1992 Lexus ES300 & never looked back!
From 1988 til 1996 my father owned the 3,6 version with 6 cylinders in grey metallic, with black leather trim and fine wooden panels on the interior. I enjoyed driving it, too. The car had the ZF 4-speed automatic which I also loved to use in manual mode. I remember the gear switch was U-shaped with the manual gears on the left side. Very smooth and easy to drive. The comfort was excellent, but due to its elegant low lines it wasn't that roomy and spacious. Despite driving at a good pace I often managed to get the fuel consumption under 11 litres per 100 km (25 MPG) which was considerably good for an 80's car. Despite its classy and conservative look the XJ40 was equipped with a modern bord computer which reminded me a little bit of the much more expensive and exclusive Aston Martin Lagonda. The red LED's looked a little bit dated like the first quarz watches. Overall, a beautiful car - in our case without any reliability problems.
My dad once had an old 1989, 3.6 sovereign. It was lovely. I even liked the digital dash.
I owned an -87 3.6 sovereign between 1999 and 2004. I really miss that cat.
My Favorite was the 2005 -2009 XJ. It was Like the 1990s BMW E38 7-Series.
I never understood why Jaguar never grasped the idea of doing small engined, low end versions of its cars. I had a 2002 Jag S-Type with the smallest engine they fitted, a 3.0 while BMW and Merc happily did a 2.0 base model in the 5er and E-class. They weren't going to set the world alight but they sold hand over fist.
I had an '88 3.6 sovereign, i loved it. it always felt so much more special than an LS400.
I remember the 3.2s being quite cheap coming in around the same price as a Scorpio cosworth. The later ones were quite good with Ford having ironed out a lot of the quality issues.
Well, this makes me so sad.
In Australia I owned an Australian delivered 1993 XJ40. It was a lovely car in many ways but it ended up a nightmare because of electronics issues. As usual, the Poms tried to be too clever, instead of just keeping it simple.
The electronic schematic of the XJ40 changed every year of its 7 or 8 year production run as far as I am aware.
I eventually sold the car for a pittance just to get rid of the trauma.
Back in the day I took a look at the XJ40. I really liked the style, but the cabin interior space was much to tight for me at 6‘3“
Agreed on the cabin space. Jaguar addressed that with the X350 and then people said it looked too much like a Ford Crown Victoria.
I was working in parts at a Jaguar dealership in Bellevue, Washington when the 1988 3.6 XJ6 and VDP's came out. They looked great and much better to drive than the Series 3 to drive. The 1988-89 cars had complicated hydraulic system which used green fluid, same as Rolls Royce and Citroen I believe. The hydraulics had major problems with oil leaks. The rear suspension was self-leveling. It became normal to see these cars going down the road with the rear end bouncing up and down. Later 1989's got passive motorized seat belts which were terrible. Those seat belts were used until driver's air bag came out, 1992 or 93. 1990 and newer cars had a much-simplified more reliable hydraulic system, no green fluid. 1990 cars now had a 4.0 engine. 1993 and 1994 cars were great. The 1993-94 XJ12 was amazing and rare. I got to drive quite a few of these cars and enjoyed them. I did see customers with early cars try to keep them going and saw them parked in residential yards and driveways, never to run again.
As an original owner of a 1990 XJ6 4.0 the passive belts have performed well for 33 years. Most of the issues IMHO were due to customers not knowing how to use them properly. Ride level suspension was a bad idea and an unnecessary feature that should never have been fitted.
From divorce circumstances I bought one for £500 not from choice just a convenient necessity. It was a 3.6 twin round headlights . The ride was luxurious the automatic was incredibly responsive and the engine always made me smile. Fond memories of the car you are slagging off.
I wasn’t keen on the looks at the time but they’re growing on me. 4.0 automatic good to drive, 4speed smoother than later 5 and 6 speed boxes
This is really the Series 4 Jaguar and Daimler XJ range, but when launched in 1986 with straighter lines, the 5.3 litre V12 and Daimler Double Six continued in the shape of the Series 3 because the big engine would not fit under the bonnet.
At the same time, better looking than both his predecessor and successor.
Sir, I always do appreciate you productions in various domains, eg ralways . But I drove two xj40 sovereign (4ltrs 6 cyls), although the ceiling was as disaster and some rust (common on every car of this period), those saloons were without comparisons with continental cars (safety cruise control and even consumption). So, dear Sir, this (and two xj40) drives me to be in a complete disgreament may be not with very story of Jaguar but at least with the title of your contibution. I have to add that the last car and by this I mean british car, was a daimler X308 (4ltrs v8 long chassis). And as I live in the countryside my garageman find the kind of vehicules always a mechanical pleasure to repair. With ragards.
So bad that Jeremy Clarkson bought 3 of them! This is utter bollocks! My 1994 XJ40 4.0 is still alive and well-as were the previous 5 XJ40’s I’ve owned! 🤬
Well, Jeremy Clarkson is 62 years old and he looks almost eighty. He’s no judge of longevity.
The early poposed design with the XJS-style front looks way sexier than the final product, which seems rather more conservative by comparison.
Funny, I always thought as the XJ40 as far more modern than the W126 S-Class, perhaps not as modern as the e32 7, but with an interior that put both the Germans to shame. That said, I never owned one (I was a child when it came out and frankly the reliability issues scare me to this day) but I do have a late w126 to compare it to. As I gathered, like so many British cars the style succeeded until the warranty claims and subsequent reputation sank the car. Yes there was Lexus, which was truly a vision of the future and hurt ALL competitors makes, but if it were my money in 1989 or thereabouts the only thing standing between me and a Jaguar XJ40 would have been the reliability issues.
You would have more reliable issues with an old Mercedes than an XJ40 now. Late XJ40s are very well sorted cars, and most problems are known and easy to fix.
Sick man era for British Auto industry.
I had one. One of the last XJ40's with the 3.2, and a ZF auto. I loved it totally, but I wasn't blind to it's faults.
The Ford re-engineering had worked thoroughly well by then.
Gone were the stupid Lagonda inspired digital instruments, in favour of regular dials, and in so many ways it was a wonderful car that I managed to keep going on extremely limited funds.
It had weak points, and seemed to chew head gaskets at about 100,000 miles without fail, but luckily I had bought a good warranty.
Mine, being so late, had the later X300 rear axle, which did knock badly when driven, but I changed that myself - hell of a job, mind.
The only thing that killed it was the fuel consumption - 19mpg around town and at best 26mpg motorway cruising.
One thing that Jaguar never got right was the door handles... At the end, only the driver's door one hadn't snapped.
As one reviewer rightly said of them... "These cars have POWER - only your bank manager will ever catch you!"
That was an interesting documentary thank you
I did some work at Brown's Lane in the 90's. It was a dump then, leaking roof etc. 😮 Expensive equipment had perspex over it, to deflect the drips.
The predecessor XJ6 was a beautiful, timeless sedan. Some have called it the most beautiful sedan in the world- an opinion that has some strong merit.
But…
The XJ40 is possibly at least as beautiful. Heretical to some, but Jaguar managed the impossible- to design a successor sedan that echoed the previous one for visual family image and continuity, an updated modern look for the times, and yet distinctive look in the marketplace.
Another great video for my breakfast viewing.
Those Lexus 400s are a thing of beauty, they still hold up after all this time.
hi whats the most reliable jaguar is it xe/xf/xj ?
What a shame about the unreliability because the XJ40 was one of the most beautiful cars, inside and out, ever made. To this day I gawk at one on the road.
you cant use any V12 Jag because valve seats fall out
Mine is 34 years old and to me, is still a fantastiic car.
I like to old footage from BL. You can almost taste the uselessness that surrounds this whole failure.
IIRC it was the XJ40 Sovereign trim that came with the rectangular headlights and was independent of the engine size.
lol, my 32 year old XJ40 looks and runs as new. The leather quality inside is unsurpassed. The same can’t be said for much newer cheaply built Jag models (the list of those goes on)….
I wish I still had my excellent XJ40; the only issue I had with it was a diff failure which a friend replaced.
I very nearly bought one in the late 1990's. But even then I was struggling to find one without rust in it. The most obvious place being the rear wheel arches.
Have owned one of these 1990 XJ6 4.0 versions in California and Oregon since new, A relatively reliable car overall but there is no ride level fitted. Disappointed that even in a dry climate west coast USA climate and car always garaged, rust developed in lower corners of rear window, Fixed correctly once and returned 20 years later. I attribute it to some body design flaw and lack or galvanized body panels.
If only BL had the money to spend on the model ten years earlier!!!
And if only BL had the money to spend on both Jaguar & Rover at the same time, each using their chassis for other models.
Jaguar using the SD1 platform for a 5 Series model battler and Rover using the XJ platform for a 7 Series battler!
When did the picket lines start?
I'll never forget CAR Magazines front cover at the time that had an XJ40 and trumpeted: "The finest saloon car in the world is British"....Lost all respect for the mag after that ridiculous comment!
Terrible management practices seem to be a reoccuring theme throughout British manufacturing, BL is just the best poster for it. The thing is Management style is a culture. The Japanese have an attitude of engineering reliability, quality and integrity of the product right from the design stage right through to the QC of components, calibration of manufacturing equipment to final assembly. The Japanese engineer quality into the production line. The idea and understanding of quality will vary between cultures, but the British were hopeless in many ways. The British management have a habit of creating anamosity between themselves and the actual people building the products, this will always end in poor industrial relations and a badly assembled profuct. Every place I have worked has had a big disconnect from management and coal face workers, it is like an us and them dysfunctional class system. Btitish workers under foreign management seem to do well??
Somewhat agree but the BL never took feedback from the US market place and ACTED on it to improve the product. From a veteran of 32 years in the industry in the USA.
Arguably the xj40 was very nice I have had series 1.2.and3. Then a xj40 .the only problem I had was the drain tubes under the air intake blocking which resulted in a fireworks display on the dashboard but other than that it was a nice everyday driver.
Apparently the AJ6 engine was basically like one side of the V12, the 2.9 head being the same as (the head of) one side of the V12. One wonders if the 24V 3.6 DOHC head will fit one side of the V12. I s’pose one can then have a mirror image billet head made up for the other side. That’s the problem with OHC V engines, the 2 heads are mirror images, where as pushrod V engines, the heads can be the same on both sides, just flipped around. That is unless they design the OHC ends with castings on both ends of the head that cam drive assemblies can be fitted to.
The Jaguar V12 with the quad cam heads would have been much better. Those AJ6 twin cam engines were great, very strong, and reliable.
18:08 … this was an XJS replacement prototype!? Wow.
The square headlights only pissed off the purists. It fits the design perfectly and has aged magnificently.