The XJS History

The Jaguar XJS (codenamed XJ27) design started around 1965 with the first production car being sold in 1975.

It was primarily designed by Malcolm Sayer with input and control from Sir William Lyons. Although the public assumed the XJS was a successor to the very popular Jaguar E-Type it was in fact intended to be very different in that it would be comfortable and luxurious – less a sports car than a sports tourer. This allowed it to use the same suspension layout as the recently introduced and supremely cosseting Jaguar XJ6. Externally the Jaguar XJS is most noticeable for its ‘flying buttresses’ sweeping from the top of the rear roofline down to the rear of the wings. Some criticize this feature but in fact this was a common design for sports cars of the period such as Maserati and Ferrari. It also gave the quite large Jaguar XJS an excellent drag coefficient – better than the E Type and allowing the XJS easily to attain over 150mph.

Read more on our Introduction to the Jaguar XJS