I owned an 88' XJ40 some years ago. I purposefully sought out a later model XJ40 and recently found a 91' Sovereign with 56k miles in mint condition.

I came back to these because I have owned and driven every luxury car from Cadillac, Lincoln, Mercedes and Lexus over the years. No car in my opinion matches the ride quality and quietness of the 40's. These cars sail down highways and boulevards like their on a greased monorail. The driving position is so relaxed that the experience of driving them is nearly effortless.

The sloping bonnet and boot lines, along with slender A-D window pillars creates a full surround of impressive visibility. None I've seen of any large vehicle in the last 30 years. Very safe and maneuverable.

But now, combine this with very good handling they are amazing cars. Many car companies can design "soft" suspensions, but their cars wallow and roll you off the road in high performance situations. XJ40's hit curves remaining flat and composed up to high limits.

The fact that they are beautifully sculpted is the icing on the cake.

I said these things to say that: the little niggling maintenance issues are daunting to me at times. But I have concluded that the attributes of these Jags out way the maintenance issues if you get a good 40, and are little handy on DIY tinkering.

I've truly enjoyed driving these Jags more than the other vehicles I owned. Although the quality control of my Lexus LS 430 was impeccable, my Sovereign is addictive and sucks me to into its smoothness, class, style and mystic (as I yet work on another item on it to repair)!

Jagbro

 

They're not quite like any other car. I love mine and have had it for a long time now.

 

Yep, you won't find any detractors in this forum - we all love our 40's

 

My first Jag was an '88 XJ40 and I've owned a '93 for almost 19 years. I've also owned an '04 X350 for a few years now and don't really need the '93 anymore, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to sell it.

I don't know if it's that I'm just so foolishly attached to the '93, or the fact that I have personally replaced almost everything that ever needs to be replaced on a '40 and want to get my full money's worth out of all those new parts. Why should some lucky new owner benefit from all those countless hours and scraped knuckles?

I will say that while the '93 is superior to the '88 in many ways, with its 2.88:1 differential the '88 cruised down the highway at 500 fewer rpm, resulting in nearly Rolls Royce levels of quiet.

And while the styling was controversial in its day, it has aged quite well. I have no doubt that respect for XJ40s among classic car aficionados will only continue to grow.

Cheers,

Don

 

Agreed on all counts. This despite current niggling service engine light in the white car. The red car has a rebuilt title and despite all I have done to it, it still does not steer as it should but nonetheless I still cant get rid of it.

 

I don't think Ive ever considered anything else to be as good as an XJ40 and Ive had over 20 cars. All were lacking in something. The Jag does it right

 

I do have a liking for my '88 XJ40 and even though I've had it for only a few months,I'm managing to work out the few bugs it had when I bought it. Not quite sure how much different it will be after driving an X300 but it seems very similar in most areas, just a bit less developed as the X300 in some aspects. But I've always been a lover of Jaguars, and although the newer models that are on the market now are highly developed,they somehow seem to be lacking in that distinctive look that has always made Jaguar an attractive car. The current sedans seem to blend in with the rest of todays cars.