1989: 11, 213 an all time record in production
January
In 1989, Jaguar introduced a limited edition model produced only for the American market, the “Collection Rouge”. When the Collection Rouge was first conceived, it was going to be a Convertible model, however, the Tan hood was not approved by plant quality and it had to be scrapped. Instead of dismissing the concept all together, the company decided to introduce a Coupé model and this was approved. It was only available in one colour, this being “signal red”. Other features included: A gold coachline, unique badges on the rear, gold finish “XJ-S”, S.C.S alarm system, Magnolia leather interior with red piping on the front seats, Magnolia leather covered steering wheel and gearshift lever knob, Elm veneer woodwork, Mink colour carpets, Lattice alloy wheels with diamond turned rims, boss and spoke faces, with Signal Red painted inner spoke surfaces, Black brake dust shields, Gold plated bonnet badge and Unique bright wheel centre badges and surrounds.
In the early 1980s Jaguar started looking at a replacement for the XJ-S. The new cars were coded XJ41 or “F-type” (targa top coupé version) and XJ42 (convertible version). In January 1989 a number of XJ-S cars were produced as test vehicles for the XJ41/2. Examples of these are in the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Collection. The programme was cancelled in 1990 when Jaguar produced a much improved, facelifted, version of the XJ-S. Alongside XJ41/2, another XJ-S project was in development, a twin turbocharged, four-wheel drive with an AJ6 engine code name XJ72. One of the three is also owned by the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust. The four-wheel drive system was developed by Ferguson Formula (FF) Developments. Jaguar later took the development and design of a four-wheel drive system in-house and created its own innovative version. Extensive development work was necessary to ensure the twin Garrett turbocharged version of the AJ6 engine could be accommodated, this meant the engine had to be moved further back in the frame.
August
On the 23rd August JaguarSport announced the introduction of the 6.0-litre version of the XJR-S. This reached a maximum speed of 160mph (257.5km/h) with acceleration of 0-60mph in just 6.5 seconds (0-100km/h in 6.8 seconds) and 100mph (162km/h) could be reached in 15.4 seconds, a full 3.5 seconds quicker than the previous XJR-S.
The 6.0 litre XJR-S was a significant development for the JaguarSport team and Tom Walkinshaw commented:
“The new XJR-S puts us very much on the pace with competition such as Porsche and Ferrari. It illustrates very well our policy of producing cars which are amongst the fastest and most exciting in the world. We are setting our sights now on further improvements within the product range as well as developing overseas sales networks in key markets, having successfully established our franchise in the UK”.
December
From its low point of only 667 cars in 1980 when there were talks about dropping the model altogether, by 1989 sales had turned around and the range achieved an all-time record volume of 11,213 cars which equated to 23 per cent of total Jaguar production. The XJ-S had survived and thankfully created an endearing character of its own. The Sales and Marketing team worked tirelessly to understand the requirements of the customers. Their research data indicated that style, performance and comfort were the fundamental factors in the UK. American customers were more vocal in their attitudes to the styling, exclusivity and individuality, and this was the main reason for the purchase of a Jaguar.