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Given the richness of its manufacturing heritage, it’s no surprise that the passing of almost every year sees the celebration of one Jaguar anniversary or another. In 2010, of course, the ‘big one’ is that of 75 years since the Jaguar name was fi rst used, and quite rightly so, but it’s not the only anniversary worthy of note. The Mk VII, for example, celebrates its 60th year in 2010 while a much newer classic, the XJ-S, reaches its 35th year. And the latter is one we’re marking in this issue with our ‘Ultimate Guide’. Of all the models Jaguar has built over the years the story of the XJ-S is one that’s particularly interesting, not because it was an immediate success, but precisely because it wasn’t… It’s a story that’s been well documented before, so much so that I won’t go into detail here. Suffi ce it to say that, unveiled in September 1975, the XJ-S was a far cry from the E-type that preceded it and with V12 power only – not hugely popular in the wake of a fuel crisis – the model’s initial reception was not what Jaguar had hoped for. But it survived and following the introduction of the HE V12 and then the six-cylinder models in 1981 and 1983 respectively, the XJ-S became a very popular car indeed with production fi nally ceasing in 1996 after some 115,413 had been made. But even more interesting are the model’s fortunes since then, for in just 14 years the XJ-S seems to have gone through an accelerated current model to ‘appreciating classic’ cycle, passing through the depreciating used-car and then enthusiasts’ choice stages very quickly indeed. How has this happened? Well, after the launch of the XK8 that replaced it, values of the XJ-S on the used market soon slumped, but in eff ect that gave it a new lease of life as it fell into the reach of many of us enthusiasts that had long hankered after one, but had never been able to afford it.