1991: A major facelift and the dash is dropped

May

The first major facelift was announced. The model needed bringing up-to-date, more in line with customer expectations and requirement. About £50 million was spent in re-designing the XJ-S; the styling changes were significant in scope yet subtle in character. 

There were over 1200 new or modified parts in the new XJS Coupé. The biggest changes were to the bodywork, the 3.6L engine was replaced by the improved 4.0L engine and most importantly, the dash was dropped from the boot badge and it became the XJS. 

Geoff Lawson, Jaguar’s Chief Stylist, explained:

 “The XJS has become a latter-day classic so we had to think carefully about changes. Our approach has been to freshen and refine the appearance of the XJS whilst preserving the unique character of the original. Our instincts told us this was the proper course and our customer research tended to back up this view.”

July

The new XJS range had been designed to make it easier to manufacture. The major panels were now sourced from Venture Pressings and this ensured better body panel quality and consistency. Substantial capital investment was made in the assembly process at the Browns Lane, Radford and Castle Bromwich plants. At Castle Bromwich £4 million was invested on a new framing facility would bring all of the panels together in a single computer controlled welding process. At Radford the automated engine test facility was modified to enhance the V12 engine. Browns Lane saw an investment of £1 million with major facility changes were made on Track 3, the volume production track. This included a new glazing facility, seat and trim facility as well as changes to the VETS (Vehicle Electrical Test System) and rolling road anti-lock braking system test facilities.  

Bill Hayden commented:

“The launch of the new XJS is important from the quality standpoint too. We are taking our first panels from Venture Pressings operation which will give us complete control over body supply. We have also invested in new manufacturing facilities so that we can achieve improved fit and finish as well as more efficient assembly. Our objective in all this is quite simple. It is to produce better and better quality products here at Jaguar. Our commitment to that objective will be rigorous and unrelenting.”

August

The new XJS was taken through a thorough development programme which involved both rig testing and environmental testing. These tests were designed to ensure the product performed well and reliably in all market conditions. Durability tests were run on cars that equated to hundreds of thousands of miles at the Timmins facility in Ontario where temperatures could be as low as -40°C and at the other end of the scale, temperatures could reach +45°C in Phoenix, Arizona. The total durability testing for this model exceeded 1 million miles. The components were put through their paces with extensive “runs” on the rig testing machinery, for example, the seats were attached to a system that simulated an occupant sitting down up to 1 million times. The wiper system was continuously tested for a period of 625 hours and this was equivalent to uninterrupted operation for almost a month. The new headlamp power wash was rig tested for 10,000 cycles and the memory seat switchpack for 50,000 cycles. Respectively, these were equivalent to once a day and five times a day for 28 years.

September

The biggest changes to the Face Lift were to the bodywork; of the 490 panels it took to make an XJS bodyshell. The change in body panels included areas of the boot, rear wings, doors, sills and Coupé roof.  The bonnet with the bulge was introduced on the 12-cylinder cars for the 1992 model year range so there was no longer a need to manufacture two bonnet styles. From the front there were minor trim changes: The wiper grille, immediately in front of the windscreen was body coloured and the windscreen was direct glazed and was completely flush with the windscreen panel.

From the side: The Coupé had new half door pressings without window frames and front quarter lights, these frameless doors gave a smoother look to the car. On the Coupé versions, the rear side window was revised and was directly glazed to the body. Although it looked like there was more glass, there was no difference in vision from the inside. The rear quarter glass area was completely restyled and enlarged. It had a black obscuration area with a simple “XJS” graphic printed on it. The Coupé and Convertible models had the 15in lattice alloy wheels as standard.

The most noticeable difference was to the rear: The rear window was directly glazed to the body. The angle of rake of the rear window had been increased to such a point that the lower edge extended rearwards to the leading edge of the boot lid. The rear lamps were designed to accommodate the wide variety of number plates in use worldwide. New neutral density rear lamps fitted into a new boot lid and the rear wing panels. The smallest change was the drop of the full stop in the XJ-S boot badge

Internally, changes were subtle but noticeable: The old instrumentation on the fascia was replaced with the traditional and clearer layout of two large main dials with four smaller supplementary gauges. The supplementary gauges replaced the previously used “barrel” type gauges. The dials and gauges were inset into a simulated veneer mask to match the burr walnut fascia. A new bank of “secret till lit” warning lamps were sited along the top of the fascia. New “box pleated” sport front seats were electrically operated on all models. The Alpine AJ9150 series stereo system. The system was designed to control the optional dealer accessory remote six disc CD autochanger which was neatly mounted in a specially styled boot compartment. On all cars, the wiring harness was designed to allow the optional fitment of the CD autochanger

The most noticeable change was the introduction of an attractive range of colour-keyed fascias. The burr elm was deleted and burr walnut was used for the veneer trim, the inlays remained the same on the Convertible models but the V12 Coupé version had a new veneer insert with matchwood inlays in the rear quarter trim panels.

Mechanically there were major modifications to the six-cylinder engine with the 3.6 litre being increased to 4.0 litres by lengthening the stroke on the AJ6 engine.

The XJS 4.0 litre Coupé automatic was equipped with a catalyst exhaust system as standard, but in the UK market it was possible to order a non-catalyst system as a no-cost option. There were two new transmissions designed specially for the 4.0 litre, a 5-speed Getrag 290 manual gearbox and a ZF 4HP 24 automatic gearbox. The new automatic gearbox the ZF 4HP 24 transmission, featured two pre-programmed modes of operation, these being “Sport” and “Normal”. 

September

The face-lifted 1992 model year XJR-S was launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show on the 11th September 1991, later than the standard models. For the 1992 model year the body kit add-ons were designed “in-house” by Jaguar’s team of designers headed by Geoff Lawson. It was powered by a catalyst-equipped 5994cc version of Jaguar’s V12 engine developed by the JaguarSport engineers from the standard 5.3 litre V12. The exterior of the XJ-S was considerably revised to create the distinctive XJR-S look. The deep front bumper treatment had been designed to match the more softly contoured rear end styling. Sculptured sill panels linked the deep moulded front and rear bumpers. The interior was also altered to give the car a distinctive feel. Soft fine Autolux leather was used extensively for the interior trim with the front and rear seat upholstery accented by hand-stitching in the contrasting colours.

December

The 1991 production figure dropped to 4,649 cars, which resembled the figure for 1983 where they made 4,699 cars.