Passion of the Car`s: Jaguar XJS Sports

Some people say that beauty only fades with time but I don't think they have ever heard or even seen the Jaguar XJS, It was built as a replacement model to the already aging Jaguar E-Type which was in production from early 1961 to late 1975. The Jaguar E-Type was a huge success as it looks were simply amazing and the selling price was still within reach to the mass market. Not many cars enjoy a 14 year production run and is considered one of the best sports car of the 1960`s. Now back to the Jaguar XJS, The car was based on the same platform as the Jaguar XJ saloon something like how the latest Proton Saga is based on the Proton Savvy. The XJS was the first attempt for the British to enter into the powerful V12 market. When we hear the word V12 engine we often think of makes like Ferrari and Lamborghini but in 1977 a Jaguar became a V12 as well. Imagine driving a Perdana V6 but now you have double the cylinders and another 3400cc of power under the hood and to make things better your top speed is 229km per hour and you are back in 1977 when most people drove Beetle`s and Mini`s.

I have driven many classic and exotic cars in my time and to be honest the Jaguar XJS has one of the worst turning circles and a ridiculously long rear trunk which makes reverse parking a nightmare and there were no reverse cameras or sensors to help you back in the day .On another thought the Lamborghini Countach which was the most popular and successful Lamborghini in history needed the driver to open the door and look behind when the car needed to be reversed, So I forgive the XJS as with great beauty there is great responsibility. Thanks to our tax system owning a high capacity classic car is something like buying a packet of rice for RM15 but having to pay RM25 for the plastic bag. The Jaguar XJS that I have at the moment is a 5.3 V12 H.E which stands for High Efficiency, Don`t even for a moment think that it can compete with today`s Toyota Prius fuel consumption. The roadtax for a 5.3cc car in Malaysia is RM12,475.50 annually so in 1996 the 1st owner who is Royalty decided to downgrade the roadtax to around RM2050 annually so he could sell the car to an average Joe like myself who can afford to keep the car on the road. Now what engine around 3000cc(which is needed to pull the heavy body)and would feel more lively then the original V12 while being reliable too ?. The answer was simple, The Jaguar looks great and a Toyota is reliable. So my Jaguar runs today on a 7M GTE Toyota Supra Turbo engine.

Being a person who wants looks but also needs practicality this car was the best compromise between both worlds. Jaguar Enthusiast will condemn any classic Jag running on a Japanese engine but I`m not a Jaguar enthusiast and my heart still sings BMW. See Jaguar`s were never popular when it came down to reliability and maintenance as parts were expensive and it broke down pretty easily. I have not seen as yet anyone driving a classic Jag daily to work and back and most original Jag`s sadly only come out on Saturday nights or Sunday afternoon`s for a leisure drive.The Jaguar I have goes to KL during peak hours and also poses in Changkat during the weekends, Its like having a hot girlfriend which cooks and cleans as well. The Toyota turbo engine also produces 232bhp which leaves most boy racer cars still at the traffic lights.The best thing about this car is that you will never know its a convert till you open the hood. The interior is stock standard and all the original meters and switches work. This is a car that looks fast even in the parking lot.

Suspension setup for the XJS is more on the softer side and the original 15 inch wheels does not do justice for a car with was meant to tour the highways and feel stable at high speeds . So since its already a convert changing the standard 15 inch wheels to a set of 19 inch Breyton GTP's was not a hard decision. After the wheels were changed the classic tourer became a Lowrider(Like something from Pimp my Ride..)