66 |JaguarWorld/July 2019
TWINTEST
XJ40vROVER 800
Thefirststumblingblock,ironically,
wasRover.AlsoownedbyBritishLeyland,
thebrandwasdevelopingitsownXJrival
beforeJaguarwasdrawnintothefold,
andthefirstdecisionthatBLhadtomake
waswhichonetogowith.Rover’sP8
wasalongwheelbasesaloonwithstyling
reminiscentofthepopularP6,but,much
totheannoyanceofthecompany’ssenior
management,BL’schief,DonaldStokes,
decidedtoditchtheprojectashedidn’t
wantthetwobrandstocompetedirectly.
BythetimetheXJ40appearedin 19 86,
Jaguarwasonceagainanindependent
entityandRoverreturnedtoitsprevious
statusastheflagshipbrandofthenewly
renamedAustin-RoverGroup.Justupthe
roadfromBrownsLane,atCanley,Rover’s
engineeringteamwasworkingonamassive
projecttoreinventthebrand.Themission
hadbegunin 1981 withtheTriumph
Acclaim,whichwasessentiallyaHonda
Ballade,rebadgedandmanufacturedatthe
formerMorrisfactoryinCowley,Oxford.
TheAcclaimwasthenreplacedbythe
Rover2 00 ,consigningtheTriumphbrand
tothehistorybooks,andthistimethere
wassomeRovermechanicalengineeringin
there,too,althoughthecarwasessentially
stillthenextgenerationBallade.The800,
though,wasthefirstprojecttobewholly
developedasacollaborationbetweenthe
twobrands.
ItsJapaneseequivalent,theHonda
Legend,sharedthesameplatform,
electricalsystemsandpowertrains,butthe
twocarshaddifferentbodywork.Under
thebonnet,RoverprovideditsM-Series
2.0-litrefour-cylinderengine,andHondaa
choiceof2.5-or2.7-litreV6s.HadRovernotrushedtheCowley-built
800 intoproduction(againstHonda’s
advice),itwouldhavebeenabrilliant
car.Thestyling,pennedbyRoyAxe,was
brilliant:simple,cleanandexceptionally
modern,withwell-balancedproportions.
Theinterior,too,lookedgreat–atleast
inpictures,wheresomeofthecheaper
plasticswerelessconspicuous.Andwhile
itwasnowherenearascomposedasthe
XJ40todrive,itwasstilladecentsteer.
Bothcarshaveafollowingtoday,the
XJ40havingfinallycomeofagetobe
considereda‘proper’Jaguarevenbythe
mosthardenedtraditionalists,andthe 800
asaniconoftheEighties.Thechallenge–
asmuchnowasthen–ischoosingbetween
thetwo.