Jaguar/Daimler:An Appreciation: An Appreciation of Production Models, 1960-70

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The end for the Series III V12s finally came in 1992, five years after the last of the ‘sixes’. Those were too heavy and too expensive to build compared to new XJ40s, which were nimbler and supposedly better-quality vehicles. Reluctant as many were to point it out at the time, though, these were nothing like as pretty as their predecessors – even if they were traditionally Jaguar in layout and feel.

Like every Jaguar four-door before it, the 1968 XJ6 was fast and refined beyond its price-tag, yet offered a modern interpretation of saloon-car elegance that would have floored the opposition even if the engineering underneath had not been so accomplished.Introduced in March ’79, the Series III cars were an unintended holding operation while the XJ40 was being developed. No doubt missing the input of Lyons (he retired in 1972), Jaguar turned to Pininfarina for styling tweaks that included a taller, more crisp roof and glass area, injection-moulded bumpers and flush-fitting doorhandles. Sadly, the coupé was a project that kept getting put to one side, not helped by the fact that pillarless side windows proved hard to seal against wind noise. That was why the first XJCs didn’t reach customers until 1975, by which time the arrival of the XJ-S had made it somewhat redundant. The long-wheelbase 4.2 was far and away the most popular, at 57,804 cars out of a total of 127,000 SIIs (all engines and bodies). Short- and long-wheelbase versions at first, after which the SWB was reserved for the XJC coupés with 4in-longer doors. All four-door V12s were LWB, but still on carbs until the 285bhp/147mph injected 1975 car, badged XJ 5.3. ‘Blazer button’ steel wheels with hubcaps or GKN alloys on SII. Greatest oddity of the SII was the 170 exportonly 2.8s, but the 1975 3.4, with cloth seats and other luxury items deleted, is much preferred.

In Series III Double-Six Daimler form it is still the most silky car imaginable to drive. From the outside, the engine makes itself apparent more by the whirring of fans and drivebelts than any true mechanical sound. From within the cocoon-like cabin, cooled by deliciously efficient air-conditioning, the V12 feels more like an electric motor than a reciprocating unit. You still have to swap between the 11-gallon pannier tanks in the rear wings, using a switch on the dashboard, but the HE (High Efficiency) V12s, featuring Michael May’s swirl-action combustion chambers, made 20mpg a realistic possibility for the first time. You slide down to assume a driving position that is close to perfect, the superb vision and the sense of isolation relaxing you immediately; it feels like coming home. The XK straight-six, at 20 years old, was still a magnificent engine and drew almost nothing but praise for its smoothness and torque. But Lyons was not satisfied. Keen to unleash his V12 secret weapon, it was with some reluctance that he had agreed to launch the car in six-cylinder form only, with the short-stroke 2.8 offered as a supplementary variant mainly for European markets, where engines over that swept volume were heavily taxed. A better-looking successor using 3.2- or 4-litre twin-cam ‘sixes’, voted ‘most beautiful car in the world’ by a panel of Italian style gurus. The XJR was the first to use Eaton’s M90 supercharger, meaning 0-60mph in 5.5 secs. For the 1997 XJ8 (X308), V8s replaced ‘sixes’ and V12s. The XJR 4-litre was then the most powerful Jaguar roadcar engine, boasting a supercharged 370bhp – with a rare Daimler variant called the Super V8.

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The 2.8, later infamous for burning holes in its pistons, was sweeter and freer-revving, but gave away a lot of urge to the burly 4.2. Since few wealthy European buyers cared about the extra tax on an already-expensive car, or the fact it got two or three extra miles per gallon, they tended to buy the 4.2 anyway.