This S-Type was among the first cars officially imported by Jaguar Croatia, even before registered as such (tentative company name was Auto 2000), the service book is in German.

It has manual gearbox, perforated leader sport seats and the sign SPORT on the side of the front doors.

I am curious to find if it was standard to place such a sign on the doors upon request of the customer? Otherwise, I am interested in any information about this model, please.

 

Neven,

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to S-Type forum. Members here with the same model will be able to help.

Did you buy the 1999 XJ8 3.2 V8 or go for this S-Type instead?

Graham

 

Hi Graham,
I bought the S-Type V6 instead of S-Type V8, kind regards, Neven

 

Hi Neven,
Jaguar did release a Sport model of the first generation car - actually with the 2001 update, which included the ZF steering rack. It should have the perforated seats, leather but thicker steering wheel, colour-coded external trim in place of chrome and the 18" BBS Monaco wheels. Mechanically they were the same as the standard cars but the 4.0 V8 Sport had CATS as standard. I don't remember the door strips with the Sport logo. It was with this update that the door strips were removed.

The "Driving" chapter of Honest John's review is of the 3.0 V6 Sport manual: https://classics.honestjohn.co.uk/re...-x200/driving/

Ignore the bit about the Super Unleaded - In Germany at that time there was a RON 91 - plain unleaded!!!

I took a look on TOPIX and got this:

VIN: YFL61873
Model: S-TYPE / X200
Model year: 2000
Engine 3.0L NA V6 Petrol
Transmission 5 SPD MAN TRANS GETRAG-221
Emission requirements 96 EEC CAR REQUIREMENTS
Air conditioning ATC AIR CONDITIONER
Drive LHD
Version SERIES 10
Body style 4 DOOR SEDAN-4 LITE

So it looks like a real first-gen car (actually MY2000.5) before the Sport was released. The Sports should be model year 2001, I believe with a VIN from around L86902.

 

Thank you very much for the valuable information dear neilr, it has 17" wheels, lot of chrome outside, wood inside, but perforated leather sits.
One more thing is its height about 1400-1410 mm, instead of 1447, as usually mentioned to be appropriate for the S-Type. Do you know why is it so?
Kind regards, Neven

 

Hi Neven,
It was possible to order quite a mixture of options even in those days. Those wheels are called Sports and were an option.
The seats are the optional sports seats.
In Germany, the wooden steering wheel usually suggested the SE version with memory seats, sunroof, parking sensors and automatic gearbox. You could have the manual box as a no cost option but that made it a bad deal
I wanted a manual so speced a base car with the sports seats, the sunroof, parking sensors, and a few other bits. It somehow came with the memory seats for free! Later I found some nice Jaguar BBS Melbourne wheels so it has ended up like a SE/Sport hybrid.
No Idea about the height difference. The pre-facelift cars only had one spring as standard. However, in the intervening years, those springs could have sagged or even been changed. I would check that they are not broke though, just to be safe.

Btw, it looks like a nice example,
Neil

 

Dear Neil,
Thank you very much for the comments, which support my assumption that this is the S-Type "custom-made" for German/Austrian market, as requested by the new dealer Auto 2000 (afterwards Jaguar Croatia), as kind of their company or demo car version. I assume they also requested the door strip with the SPORT logo, which makes it looks somehow special for promotional purpose.
The height is specified as 1411 or 1401 mm in the owner's manual of the car, but I found it also online https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/vi...n-jagrepaircom (please, check the page 5). It is very unusual, but I think that was a kind of experiment done in 2000.
Thank you also for the nice remark about the appearance of my S-Type. This car is a fulfillment of mine and my son's wish (I am fond of Jaguar, especially of the S-Type, while he is a fan of classic Mustang, but not those from 80' and 90'), as I believe that this car is almost a "hybrid between Jag and Stang", from historical and technical reasons, would you agree?
Kind regards, Neven

 

Hi Neven,

Very few S-Types were catalog- standard. Most were built to order adding the options that the owner wanted or the dealer thought would be easy to sell.
My handbook also mentions the lower heights. Maybe one is a misprint. I wouldn't read much into it. Actually, the original cars also referred to the CATS electronically controlled dampers as "sports". If yours has wires coming out from the tops of the dampers, it has the CATS suspension.

I'm glad you are enjoying your new car. I have had mine for almost 20 years now and I'm not likely to part with it. Just wish I had more time to drive it

Btw, if you are looking for parts info, this is a good resource: https://parts.jaguarlandroverclassic.../brand/jaguar/

Cheers,
Neil

 

Thank you Neil, I will check it for the weekend, when I will have a chance to drive it (also too rarely).
Kind regards, Neven