14 EDITION 198 JAGUAR MAGAZINE
FROM THE WORLD OF JAGUAR
NEWSFRONT
Lives lived well
Jim Randle
1938 - 2019
Former Jaguar Director of Vehicle Engineering,
Jim Randle, has died. He visited Australia
twice, but had been out of the public gaze
for some time after falling out with his fellow
Directors. Jim was in Australia with XJ
for the Australian Grand Prix in 1989 when
Jaguar was sold to Ford. It was something he
vehemently opposed, and behind the scenes
the Board delayed his return to the UK and the
deal was done when he got back.
He is most publicly recognised as being the
father of the XJ220 and XJ40 saloon, but he
was apprenticed at Rover. His serious career
began at Lode Lane, still home of Land Rover, when he was selected by Senior Engineer,
Spen King to lead development of the 2000 TC and six-cylinder (P7) versions of the
acclaimed P6 saloon. He accepted a post with Jaguar in 1965 as Development Engineer on
the XJ6 saloon project, prior to leading the subsequent XJ12 programme.
By the age of 35 he was elevated to deputy and protégé to Engineering Chief, Bob Knight,
and in 1980 succeeded him as Director of Vehicle Engineering. As one of the most
formidable engineering brains in the UK industry, it was from Knight that Randle was
introduced to a methodical, scientific approach.
He also witnessed first hand Knight employing every ounce of intellect to successfully
subvert British Leyland’s plans to eliminate Jaguar’s engineering nerve centre as it engulfed
the leaping cat. Randle took on the mantle of keeper of the Jaguar flame, living and
breathing the marque - often risking internal censure to further its cause.
The Jim Randle skunkworks became legendary within Browns Lane, and from there several
production designs, along with innumerable clever concepts and innovations which never
saw the light of day, were created with a small cohort of dedicated engineers, stylists and
artisans. They all worked out of hours – Randle inspiring this level of loyalty and devotion.
A subtle, quietly spoken and brilliantly clever man, the cars he became most associated
with also met this description - the 1986
XJ40 being perhaps the most ambitious
Jaguar saloon of all, definitely the
most technically interesting - certainly
the least understood. The 1988 XJ
became watered down to an almost
unrecognisable degree from the advanced
concept he created, and perhaps most
significantly, the ambitious XJ41/
sportscar fell victim to product strategy
miscalculations and, it would seem,
political skulduggery.
It was the political post-Ford acquisition
that announced his departure from Jaguar,
a matter which caused him considerable
personal pain. RIP a great Jaguar man.