Jaguar World Magazine SERIES 3 XJ • Maintenance July09 Back Issue

While the argument that ‘original is
best’ is one regularly trotted out
when it comes to discussing the
evolution of specifi c models of car,
in the case of the three XK-engined XJs and their
V12 conterparts, you might fi nd yourself on a
sticky wicket were you to take such a stance.
Yes, anyone would be hard pressed to argue
against the ‘Series 1’ of 1968 being the purest of
the XJ line – and to my eye at least, it’s visually
the most attractive – while the Series 2 has many
great strengths too, not least its improved levels of
comfort, but it’s the appeal of the Series 3 XJ that
seems to have endured to the greatest degree in
the hearts of enthusiasts due to its seamless blend
of performance, style and luxury. That, and the fact
that it’s a model reaching its 30th anniversary this
year, makes it a car certainly worthy of celebration.
So that’s just what we’re doing in this issue.
Of course, as we recount elsewhere, that the
Series 3 XJ was so successful – just over 177,000
examples were built, more than either Series 1
or 2 – is rather ironic given that it only came into
being because of long delays with the development
of the XJ40 (the length of those
delays is put into perspective
when you consider that
the Series 3 remained in
production from 1979
to 1987 in six-cylinder
form, while the last
XJ12 example didn’t
roll off the production
line until 1992!).