Guys
This is absolutely fascinating. It is all about aspects of developing and testing the XJS before its launch, written by one of the men who actually did the work. Just come across it, a must read.
Ed's XJ-S Page

 

Wow to read something as important as that was. 44 years after the fact, by the man who did it. Is awe inspiring. I always wanted a job thrashing cars, to help in their development. My father told me they hadn't made a car, I couldn't break. I've broken several, took them home, and kept rebuilding it, until I couldn't find any more weak links in the chain, so to speak. Great memories, and I did it all for free. To have had a job paying money to do it, would have been a dream come true.

Jack

 

Thanks for posting that Greg.

Whenever I get mad or puzzled by the XJ-S, I shift my thinking to how it came about, what was going on in the UK at the time, how small Jaguar was as company by today's standards, etc. etc.

If you take everything into consideration, it was an audacious effort and an extraordinarily great car for it's day and circumstances. I mean these guys were using slide rules, paper, and working in aging moldy and freezing buildings.

Cheers

 

Thanks Greg, bookmarked to read when I have better fluid than coffee to drink.

 

Thanks for the posting, a great read, and booked marked for future reading again, and again

 

100% right. Mac. The Jaguar facilities were astonishingly bad! It just shows what talent, dedication, love of the job, and terrifically high standards can do. I often used to remind people I lectured to, or employed, when they complained about no this or that etc etc: Michael Farraday (or insert name of any other 19th century scientific or engineering great pioneer) found out more about his discipline than you will ever know, and he started by taking a piece of copper wire and using cotton thread wound it round the wire to insulate it. It is not, ultimately about facilities, it is about human application to achieve something. Nowadays we have anonymous clone cars, largely indistinguishable one from another; I wonder why.
Incidentally, when Ford bought Jaguar in one of the most overpriced and mis-timed purchases in takeover history, they only sent the manufacturing engineering guys in afterwards. They were horrified how bad and outdated the factory was! Worse than the worst they had seen behind the iron curtain, apparently; but, even so, look what they had turned out up to 1990!