In fact, not bad at all, Paul. In the US the XJS did great during the last production stretch with the:

> Facelift cars
> Convertibles (very strong in California)
> Straight six AJ6 engines as an alternative to the terrible V12 reputation in the US and specifically pointed out by the sales fellows (I'm a witness, btw).
> WOMEN kept the sales very strong with an amazing 50% of the last four years' sales purchased by the ladies.

Yes, the XJS became fairly strong in the US at the end of those 21 production years.

Cheers

 

Reinaldo,

Tks for your compliments. My 1994-built car is from that short 11-month window from May 94 to April 95 after the AJ16 engine was introduced and before the cars were designated "Celebration". As mentioned, Jaguar decided that in the US, the 6 litre got the body-coloured look, whereas for the rest of the world, the 4 litre was marketed as the sportier vehicle with the body-coloured look for those 11 months. The 4 litre also does have a body-coloured grille although it probably looks black on the photos of my car. The 5-spoke wheels were diamond-cut, not chromed, during that 11-month period.

In the UK, rear spoilers were not fitted as standard on any XJS other than the XJR-S. I have had one painted up and ready to fit for the last 10 years! Also, the fog lamps were an extra option fitted on my car by the dealer before delivery. Bizarrely, the plastic covers fitted to protect the foglights now seem to be worth a ridiculous amount of money! Trip computers were also not standard in the UK. I sourced and fitted mine some years ago. I also have a US Celebration wood and leather wheel (+ US airbag) ready to be fitted but I need to source a US steering column splined adapter (I'll probably post something on here to get help with that!). When I fit that, I'll also fit a rare genuine Jaguar cruise control kit that I've had for 10 years.

I really like that body-coloured and mesh grille that you've fitted on your car! It cleans up the grille area really well.

Cheers

Paul

 

Your words about the front finish are much appreciated. Those grilles were started at 4:30pm and finished at 6:30am the next morning about 16 years ago. I don't even want to think if I ever destroy it in a fender bender, I'd probably just go back to stock, too much work. - It's too bad about the the rear spoilers in the UK because they really make a big difference and I think that you must install yours because it makes the car far more impressive than it already is. I mean, so many times I go into a store and when I come back out there are about three guys hanging around the car, admiring it, I mean, you know what I'm talking about right?

The Celebration S/W will certainly add a nice touch in there. I wouldn't know why is the US spline necessarily different.

Good luck with the projects!

 

And if you follow the history of XJS advertising over the years it's apparent that Jaguar began to change the marketing from a sports/GT/performance theme to more of a 'personal luxury car' theme. It worked. Ironically, the later 6 cylinder cars were very good performers and the 6.0 V12 version was a gutsy powerhouse

Cheers
DD

 

I'm pretty sure my kitty is a Celebration model. VIN 222668, contrasting piping etc.
Can the assembled wisdom of the forum confirm? Also does that make her more valuable, need to make sure my insurance is properly valuing her. TIA

 

AllyCatXJS,

The Celebration isn't a separate XJS model. It's just that Jaguar called all XJSs built from VIN 221855 "Celebration", probably because they knew that was going to be the last year of production.

Cheers

Paul

 

lets not forget the special nose growler badge with gold leaf and green enamel inlay

and extremely hard to obtain or restore

BB

 

Ive had two of these cars and only knew that the growler was gold....no green inlay.

Do you have a picture of what it might have been?

 

Vee,

In UK & Rest of World markets at least, the bonnet badge on 4 litre Celebrations is like this:




Paul

 

Ahh, that's an odd coincidence!! I actually saw one from a junked XK8 and put it on my car! Wasn't gold though....

 

There seems to be a lot of confusing about the Celebration model XJS. These cars ran from 1995-96
Some folks think this was just a standard XJS with added bits & pieces to clear the last of the range.... Totally wrong.
Admittedly the car had some visual updates... Wooden steering wheel and gear shift knob some have a map pocket in the front of the seats and towards the end some had embossed headrests, while the odd dealership offered an extra brake light, others had a spoiler.
The XJS was Jaguars most successful model ever spanning over 20 years and most of the changes on these latter models happened under the skin.
These last cars with the XJ16 engine sporting 24 valves covered with a domed top with green logo ( Made from a Magnesium Alloy ) had over 100 modifications... A totally new and thicker engine block, 10/1 pistons, improved sports camshafts... the list goes on.
This last of the big six engine is now deemed the finest engine Jaguar have made.
While the body again had a major redesign with a stiffer chassis and side members...all now galvanised. again a very long list of improvement for just 2 years of production.
All in all with the plethora of improvements and upgrades these last cars totalling around 4,000 have to be the next collectable.

 

Moody336,

I can't really agree with your description above. The Celebration just had a few spec changes from the previous year. And there were no major changes under the skin. The bodyshell didn't have a major redesign at all. The galvanised panels were already part of the production. The AJ16 engine wasn't new; it had been fitted a year previously in the XJS, well before the idea of a "Celebration" name was conceived.

The Celebration is a nice spec and, as the last of the XJSs will always be collectable. But apart from a few trim items, it's very little different to the MY car produced immediately before it.

Cheers

Paul

 

I'm quoting from Jaguar's own detailed literature found online... which helped me decide whether to invest in another XJS which I've done.
I must say the 4.0L car seems a bit perkier that the V12 I bought new in 1986 both are great Grand Tourers... I did take the V12 briefly up-to the limit all those years ago which was quite undramatic.
I've just got to wait for the Portuguese Customs to get their act together before I can start touring.