I've never owned a 911 or a Grand Prix, Mustang, etc. But I can say, the XJS is a posh sportster compared to the MGs I had. The MG's were novel, and a rush in a club run. The Jag - is a complete rush.

 

Seems I've kinda derailed this topic from "collectable or not" to "handling or not".

I've already addressed the lack of a rear anti-sway bar as proof of the XJS as a not quite as serious handling road car. I'm kinda wondering if anyone knows if the suspension is equipped with single load rated springs, or variable rate (some call them progressive rate) springs. If it has single rate springs, I might concur...a bit.... If it has variable rate (some coils are stiffer than the others, the softer coils give a soft ride but you have to bottom those out before you get to the stiffer ones), then I'm still leaning into the "personal luxury" camp.

Any car can be improved. Some may have noticed the 1973 Mach One in my signature. The 71-73 Mustangs are laughable being considered "pony cars"...big behemoths they were. I spent considerable money on that car over the course of 29 years I owned it. In 1988 I rebuilt the front and rear suspension and steering. Replaced the variable rate springs with stock height single rate springs from Meyer Racing Would knock the fillings out of your teeth on rough roads. Replaced the front 7/8 inch anti-sway bar with a 1 1/8 inch and installed a 7/8 rear bar (both with poly bushings) from Addco. Koni adjustable shocks. Replaced the 14 inch wheels and tires with 15 inch (reason I didn't go with the 1 inch lower springs from Meyer Racing, worried about tire rub....good thing because the drivers front tire did do a little rubbing on lock to lock turns).

No twisty mountain roads here in South Florida, but that car was a blast on interstate exit and entrance cloverleafs. Enter the turn, tromp the pedal and take it to the verge of breaking the front tires loose in understeer (being a car with most of the weight over the front wheels, it always wanted to understeer). Usually with one hand on the steering wheel, because the stock seats and shoulder/lap belt were completely useless for any kind of sideways support, so I was usually bracing myself in left had turns by holding against the passenger seat....right turns I'd just lean against the driver's door.

A stock XJS probably handles better than a stock Mach One. My Mach One probably handled better than a stock XJS. A modified XJS may or may not handle better than my Mach One. But it doesn't matter, because what will determine if the XJS becomes more collectable is the publics perception of it.

I still think Joe Q. Public sees Jaguar as a luxury make, hence the perception of the XJS as a personal luxury automobile.

howlinowl

 

Heh heh.....now we have to define "good handling" !

If zero body lean in corners is the goal, well, any car's suspension can be stiffened up to do that. The obvious next question is "what happens if you hit some rough road in the middle of the corner?" Ahhhhh.....that's where compromise comes in :-)

The rear anti-roll bar appeared/disappeared/reappeared a few times during the XJSs production run. I'm not aware (could be wrong) of any of the last (1992-later?) cars having one which does indeed suggest that Jaguar felt the buyers on the intended market segment wouldn't appreciate the improvement. Hard to say what Jaguar was thinking but saving a few dollars per car almost certainly was a "plus" for them :-)

But, even lacking the rear bar, XJSs are stable, controllable, and predictable in the corners and rough surfaces do not upset any of this.

In any case, I think it's fair to say that overly-stiff suspension has never been considered acceptable to Jaguar on any model, even "R" models and current sporty XK cars. Any road test you read today on any Jaguar model will echo exactly what you've read 10-20-30-40-even 50 years ago: Jaguar has *always* leaned (no pun intended) towards the softer side of the compromise when compared to competitive makes.

Cheers
DD

 

I agree.

And for many years, decades really, Jaguar itself promoted their cars as elegant, luxurious, prestigious things and virtually abandoned any performance heritage or pretense. Only in the last few years has that been reversed and we're seeing a return to "Jaguar" being a name associated with speed and performance.

Cheers
DD

 

Grace, space and pace

 

Beat me to it...............that's the slogan I remember from my childhood....

 

I feel I must amend my observation about the handling of an XJS. Not perfect in the 911 sense but for a 4,000 pound car they do very well. My previous special car was a Lincoln Mk 8. Same weight, air ride suspension but not nearly as stable in twisties. I do consider the AC system in the later XJS cars to be a detriment to their value. The 4.0 inline engine, however has, thus far been more dependable than the 4.6 litre 32 valve Ford engine the Lincoln had in it. Just MHO.
RagJag

 

I recall reading that the rear sway bar was actually detrimental to the handling in these cars, causing them to lose traction in the back and slide uncontrollably?

 

Yes.

No.

:-)

The rear bar does increases the XJSs tendency to get tail happy on low traction roads. Otherwise it is generally accepted that the rear bar makes a good overall improvement in the balance and feel of the car thru corners.

Legend has it that Jaguar track tested the car with/without the rear bar and found that it wasn't any faster with the rear bar versus without. Quite possibly true. But what is preferable on the track isn't always what feels best in the real world.

In most cases owners who are really concerned about cornering behavior will absolutely want the rear bar and feel a bit cheated by not having it. Those not so concerned could care less :-)

Cheers
DD

 

WOW; i'm glad this ones settled, must be full moon , everybody had an opinion!

well i for one wish and hope XJS prices go up, i got close to 30K in mine, its 600lbs lighter than stock, it has over 100 more HP and torque, it has upgraded Wilwood brakes, bigger front bar(no REAR) polybushes , Good gas shocks, 18-10 wheels, good tires,ETC.

shows as a 9.9 car at shows(not snooty jag shows), they dont know the difference between comp.ratio and gear ratio.

 

While I am a big advocate of the XJS, I don't think they will ever be truly "collectible" - far too many of them were built for that. Having said that, I think there will continue to be a good market for the best cars.

IMO, the XJS convertible is one of the best looking cars on the road.

The XJS makes a very good "modern classic" - a distinctive car for the person who doesn't like all of the technology found in today's look alike cars but still wants a "modern car". I don't particularly think the styling is all that dated, especially the late face lift cars.

As I see it, and I know no more than anyone else, the cars in the best condition and having sensible upgrades will have a steady market. Those of us who own top quality cars must do all we can to demand a good price when it comes time to sell. The "bottom feeder" cars are best sold off to be forgotten projects or sent to salvage yards. It will take a few years still to get them out of the market, but once gone prices for the best will increase. We won't get rich, but we won't lose money either. Compare the care and feeding of a top quality, upgraded twelve cylinder XJS to the other available twelve cylinder cars...

To continue with my pontificating...I would bet that half of the 115,000 built have gone on to that great highway in the sky. So that leaves 55,000 still on the road. Of that 55,000 let's say half are in a somewhat neglected condition. Now we have the original 115,000 cars down to 25,000 to maybe 35,000 worldwide that are in fairly good shape... should attract the $$. When that E Type isn't available an XJS makes a nice alternative.

 

It's impossible to say what will be collectable in the future.
One things for sure with classic cars, it's the earliest of the breed that usually attract investors and enthusiasts. Did any 'e' type ever look as good as the original 3.8 series one ?
The longer they stay in production they often just get fatter , uglier and less attractive.
As far as the XJS goes my investment money would go on the very first
black bumper PRE HE models. Good manual examples are already heading north of £ 15k in the UK.


Not sure I quite understand the too many made and too many variants made to be collectable argument.





5,378,776 of these were made in every variation imaginable and this recently took a shade under £ 30k at auction.
Even well restored basic versions are rising past £ 15k






I think they also made a few of these

 

Anything half decent will always command a premium over the bog standard stuff.
Really good examples of late models are going for strong money and that will sooner or later filter down to the less perfect model.
Check out ::::::::::::::::::CLARKES JAGUAR XJS:::::::::::::::::::::::::::: for an interesting spread of prices and models.
Having said that I don't think that we are any where near the place whereby you are going to make a profit restoring a ropey one; you are much better off restoring or repairing it for your own pleasure; and the pleasure for everyone else who gets to watch you burble along in your pride and joy of course!
Steve

 

The proof of the pudding is as ever in the eating. In my corner of the world there is at the moment a surplus and even good ones go relatively cheap because everybody is jumping the XK8 bandwagon. In the UK the really good ones are climbing. Lots of bad and mediochre ones have dropped from sight over the past few years. So I believe the good ones are set to climb in a few years time.

The press always hammered the XJ-S for its looks (except the convertible) but lots of enthusiasts love the unique look. After all, more than 100.000 people were willing to shell out for a brand new one. So presumably there are enthusiasts who like it even today.

As for road behaviour, a good one (in particular upgraded or well kept SportsPack) is rather like a V12 roller skate. Remember Bob tullius' words: He took a bog standard one out on the track before he started to work his magic on what became the Group 44 XJ-S and reported that it was rock stable right up to 150mph. How many other cars were like that out of the box?

Then there is of course the V12 magic which hits both ways. It scares lots of people away, while for the like of me a six is a castrated XJ-S. An XJ-S can never be anything but a V12 for me

 

I feel the same way! No offense of course to our 6 cylinder brethren - we're all still on the same team!

 

I feel very strongly both ways :-)

I loved my V12 and think that any real car guy ought to have a v12 at least once in his life.

OTOH, "straight six" and "Jaguar" traditionally go together like hand in glove.

Cheers
DD

 

As long as it's not a V8 I don't care either way.

But I do love the V12, and while I don't ever think these will really be collectible, I think the day will come when so many V12s were scrapped or swapped that a well-sorted V12 will be worth something. I'm pretty sure I won't live to see that day, though. And I'm not very old.

 

when the majority of XJS's have rotted to pieces, the remainder will be worth something to collectors.

 

+1

There are variants in the interpretation of "collectible".

A Mercedes Gullwing or Maclaren are investment grade collectible because of their uniqueness. Not many people relate them to some incident in their personal history.

But lots of people of a certain age can remember a Cooper doing a smoky burnout somewhere. The fact that they were a possible personal driver of the time makes them desirable in later years once funds are available for personal indulgence.

They might not be investment grade ... but they sure are fun

 

I have 2 of them. Don't plan on ever being without one, so, I guess i am collecting :-). Don't know if the price will go up or not, lately there seems to be more interest than in recent years, but the prices still hover at about the same levels.