Jaguar World – July 2019

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FTHEREisoneareaofthe

classiccarmarketthat’s

boomingatthemoment,

it’scarsfromtheEighties.

Nostalgiahasundergonea

seachangeoflate,andwell-

preservedandsmartlypresentedcarsare

bignews,evenbread-and-buttermodels,

althoughthere’snothingbread-and-

butterabouttheJaguarXJ 40 orRover

827 .Intheirday,theyweredesirable

objects,competingattheverypinnacleof

theexecutivecarmarket.

TheXJ 40 wasalongtimeingestation.

WorkbeganontheXJSeriesreplacement

asearlyas 1972 ,andsomeofitsstyling

cueswerealreadyapparentonstudies

createdin 1973 ,awhole 13 yearsbefore

theXJ 40 madeitsmotorshowdebut.Its

protracteddevelopmentwasdowntoalack

ofbudgetandpoliticalinfightingwithin

BritishLeyland,Jaguar’sowneratthetime.

Jaguar’sengineeringteam,ledby‘Lofty’

England,hadboldplans.TheXJ 40 would

haveachoiceofV 12 orslant-sixengines,

thelatterderivedfromtheformer.

July 2019 \JaguarWorld|6 5

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