Came across an ad calling the XJ-S the S-Type, how long did this
last? I hadn’t heard of this before
http://www.pistonheads.com/pics/news/12153/1976_XJS_USad-L.jpg--
Thirdfinal
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I think this marketing faux pas has been discussed before but what interests
me even more is that the XJS is referred to as “the best handling 4
passenger car in the world”. I’m not sure what world they’re talking about
but obviously one where people riding in the back seat have shorter legs
than we do on planet earth!
Mike Kennedy
1977 XJC
Came across an ad calling the XJ-S the S-Type, how long did this
last? I hadn’t heard of this before
http://www.pistonheads.com/pics/news/12153/1976_XJS_USad-L.jpg--
Thirdfinal
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I had a shop manual printed in 1975 that said “S-type” on the cover.
As far as I know the “S-type” designation appears in only the very earliest
literature and was dropped about the time the car was actually released.
No doubt someone has researched a more definite answer and the info is in
the archives somewhere.
Cheers
Doug Dwyer
Longview Washington USA
1995 XJR
Came across an ad calling the XJ-S the S-Type, how long did this
last? I hadn’t heard of this beforehttp://www.pistonheads.com/pics/news/12153/1976_XJS_USad-L.jpg
// please trim quoted text to context onlyFrom: “Thirdfinal” pawdown@tds.net
In reply to a message from Doug Dwyer sent Fri 10 Oct 2008:
According to my book on the XJ-S, that is exactly right. The
earliest ads said ‘‘welcome to the new S-type’’, but it was
soon dropped. But then I’m looking at a 1989 ad put out by
Jaguar USA for the XJS convertible, and it refers to the car
as the 1989 S-type.
I think this is typical incoherent marketing from Jaguar -
their budget was virtually nil and Jaguar and Jaguar USA
frequently did different, uncoordinated stuff.–
1990 XJ-S V12 Convertible, Glacier White, 59K miles
Santa Clara, CA, United States
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In reply to a message from Thirdfinal sent Thu 9 Oct 2008:
The sales brochure for my 1991 Conv mentions it as the ‘‘S-Type’’
and ‘‘XJ-S’’ twice on the very same page.
Quotes from that page:
‘’… top down in a Jaguar XJ-S…‘’
‘’… the XJ-S Convertible…‘’
‘’… modified panels to the S-Type’s…‘’
‘‘The S-Type’s thickly padded…’’
From another page:
‘‘In the XJ-S…’’
‘‘The S-Type also…’’
Many Jaguar ad photos show the XJ-S with a license plate that
reads ‘‘Jaguar S’’ The letter ‘‘S’’ is stylised to look like a winding
road. I have one that I put on my Jag at shows. It creates
questions and comments.–
Don Neff 1991 XJ-S Conv. V12 5-speed
Novi, MI, United States
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All the way up to at least '91, eh? Well, so much for my answer 
Doug Dwyer
Longview Washington USA
1995 XJR
The sales brochure for my 1991 Conv mentions it as the ‘‘S-Type’’
and ‘‘XJ-S’’ twice on the very same page.
// please trim quoted text to context onlyFrom: “Don Neff” neffd@msn.com
I have a whole slew of old XJS advertising. Speaking in broad terms, I’d
say the UK advertising leaned towards a “high performance-luxury” theme
where USA was more of a “personal luxury car” approach, this being most
evident, I think, after the gloss wore off and there wasn’t that much by way
of “performance” to hang their hats on.
Doug Dwyer
Longview Washington USA
1995 XJR
I think this is typical incoherent marketing from Jaguar -
their budget was virtually nil and Jaguar and Jaguar USA
frequently did different, uncoordinated stuff.
// please trim quoted text to context onlyFrom: “Mark H” mark944s2@yahoo.co.uk
Don Neff wrote:
The sales brochure for my 1991 Conv mentions it as the ‘‘S-Type’’ and
‘‘XJ-S’’ twice on the very same page.
I didn’t realize those dipsticks kept making that erroneous
association that long!
Has anyone seen the Jaguar XJ-S referred to as “the S-type” in any
brochures that were NOT published by Jaguar USA? I suspect it’s only
the American distributors that would do something quite so stupid –
and keep up the stupidity for so long – but perhaps other markets
have idiots in charge of their PR as well.
– Kirbert
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Doug Dwyer wrote:
I have a whole slew of old XJS advertising. Speaking in broad terms,
I’d say the UK advertising leaned towards a “high performance-luxury”
theme where USA was more of a “personal luxury car” approach, this
being most evident, I think, after the gloss wore off and there wasn’t
that much by way of “performance” to hang their hats on.
Largely because the UK and Europe think of “performance” differently
than the US. Here in the US it’s all about burnouts and stoplight
drags – at which the stock XJ-S was abysmal. In Europe it’s all
about the left lane of the Autobahn, at which the XJ-S wasn’t half
bad.
– Kirbert
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Yeah, I can see that to a certain degree, but not entirely.
Over the years I have subscribed to various UK and Euro car magazines and if
they are a barometer of public opinion, I’d say Brits and Europeans are
certainly as interested in 0-60 acceleration as we yanks, and, if the photos
tell a story, are equally amused by a really good burnout :-). Of course, as
you say, they are also interested in the Autobahn type stuff which generally
doesn’t interest Americans.
Early advertising of the XJS, UK or USA, boasts the 0-60 acceleration times
so the stoplight grand prix stuff was at least perceived to be important to
all audiences. It seems to me that the USA advertising stopped mentioning
this sort of thing in the later years. In its earlier days the XJS was
competitive. In the later years, not so much
All just speculation on my part. I don’t know what they we thinking. Given
the quality of Jaguar advertising over the years its hard to say.
Doug Dwyer
Longview Washington USA
1995 XJR
Largely because the UK and Europe think of “performance” differently
than the US. Here in the US it’s all about burnouts and stoplight
drags – at which the stock XJ-S was abysmal. In Europe it’s all
about the left lane of the Autobahn, at which the XJ-S wasn’t half
bad.
Doug Dwyer wrote:
I have a whole slew of old XJS advertising. Speaking in broad terms,
I’d say the UK advertising leaned towards a “high performance-luxury”
theme where USA was more of a “personal luxury car” approach, this
being most evident, I think, after the gloss wore off and there wasn’t
that much by way of “performance” to hang their hats on.
// please trim quoted text to context onlyFrom: “Kirbert” palmk@nettally.com
Is it possible that the UK cars had a different rear end ratio than the US?
My understanding was the 2.88 diff was required to meet US mileage requirements.
I do know that when I swapped a 3.31 diff from a '77 XJ-S into my '86, it made a world of difference.
Regards…Jim Kocmoud----- Original Message ----
From: Doug Dwyer dougdwyer1@comcast.net
To: xj-s@jag-lovers.org
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2008 7:24:42 PM
Subject: Re: [xj-s] S-Type?
Yeah, I can see that to a certain degree, but not entirely.
Over the years I have subscribed to various UK and Euro car magazines and if
they are a barometer of public opinion, I’d say Brits and Europeans are
certainly as interested in 0-60 acceleration as we yanks, and, if the photos
tell a story, are equally amused by a really good burnout :-). Of course, as
you say, they are also interested in the Autobahn type stuff which generally
doesn’t interest Americans.
Early advertising of the XJS, UK or USA, boasts the 0-60 acceleration times
so the stoplight grand prix stuff was at least perceived to be important to
all audiences. It seems to me that the USA advertising stopped mentioning
this sort of thing in the later years. In its earlier days the XJS was
competitive. In the later years, not so much
All just speculation on my part. I don’t know what they we thinking. Given
the quality of Jaguar advertising over the years its hard to say.
Doug Dwyer
Longview Washington USA
1995 XJR
From: “Kirbert” palmk@nettally.com
Largely because the UK and Europe think of “performance” differently
than the US. Here in the US it’s all about burnouts and stoplight
drags – at which the stock XJ-S was abysmal. In Europe it’s all
about the left lane of the Autobahn, at which the XJ-S wasn’t half
bad.
Doug Dwyer wrote:
I have a whole slew of old XJS advertising. Speaking in broad terms,
I’d say the UK advertising leaned towards a “high performance-luxury”
theme where USA was more of a “personal luxury car” approach, this
being most evident, I think, after the gloss wore off and there wasn’t
that much by way of “performance” to hang their hats on.
// please trim quoted text to context only
// please trim quoted text to context only
AFAIK, the earliest USA cars had the 3.31 diff, changed to 3.07 in '79 or
so. When the HE was introduced the 2.88 diff was standard for all markets.
Of course the USA cars always had de-tuned motors which blunted performance
considerably.
Doug Dwyer
Longview Washington USA
1995 XJR
Is it possible that the UK cars had a different rear end ratio than the US?
My understanding was the 2.88 diff was required to meet US mileage
requirements.
I do know that when I swapped a 3.31 diff from a '77 XJ-S into my '86, it
made a world of difference.
// please trim quoted text to context onlyFrom: “Jim Kocmoud” jimz_jag@yahoo.com
In reply to a message from Doug Dwyer sent Mon 13 Oct 2008:
How does the 3.31 effect top speed?–
The original message included these comments:
AFAIK, the earliest USA cars had the 3.31 diff, changed to 3.07 in '79 or
so. When the HE was introduced the 2.88 diff was standard for all markets.
Of course the USA cars always had de-tuned motors which blunted performance
considerably.
–
Thirdfinal
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Thirdfinal wrote:
How does the 3.31 effect top speed?
The original message included these comments:
AFAIK, the earliest USA cars had the 3.31 diff, changed to 3.07 in
'79 or so. When the HE was introduced the 2.88 diff was standard for
all markets.
If anything, it probably increases it. There is little chance that
the car will get anywhere near redline with any of these final drive
ratios, so switching to the lower ratio (larger number) merely means
that the car will climb a little farther up the tach before it runs
out of oooomph.
– Kirbert
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