Pics of '80s XJS replacement

Its code name was XJ41. The project was cancelled by Jaguar's first Ford Chairman, Bill Hayden because it was hopelessly outdated even before release, overweight and underpowered. XK, which is really the successor, wqas given the green light shortly thereafter. As for XJ41, it lives on today as none other than the Aston Martin DB7. Aston was given the development at its existing stages and allowed to proceed. They did a nice job with it.

Thanks for the info. I was looking at a DB7 recently and remembered it was Jaguar-derived - I wondered how the two compared visually.

Did the XK exist as a prototype before the XJ41's demise?

No. It came about as a result of cancellation of the XJ41. A lot of folks won't remember that XJ41 was supposed to be an additional model line along with XJ and XJS. It was originally supposed to be a lightweight, high performance car, thus the "F-Type" rumors, which was never its official name. However, by the time Ford bought the Company it was years behind in development, XJ40 having sucked off most resources, and had become every bit as heavy as the XJS.

Bill Hayden came along and ended the project because Jaguar's product plan was in disastrous shape. The XJ40 replacement was mostly a pipe dream, and XJS facelift, launched in '92 was a mess. Given the state of XJ41 vs. the other cars there was no justification to continue development. The best that could be said of the XJ41 is it was visually reminiscent of the E-Type, so they lifted some of the visual cues and accelerated the X100 project (X100 became XK8).

There's a great deal of info on this in the offical book that was released with the XK8 launch back in '96, including some prototype photos of XJ41. I can't recall the books title, but Jaguar Heritage Trust may be able to guide you in it. (FWIW, I worked for Jaguar in the States from '86 - 2000.)

Although my memory is extremely hazy on this, I remember seeing a new Jag sports car in the early-mid 80s at a motorshow in the UK.. it was a silver and there were elements of the XK in the design (most notably the front, IIRC). I guess this must have been the XJ41 you are talking about.. what would have happened to that prototype of it - presumably in a museum somewhere?

Ian

sports car in the early-mid 80s at a motorshow in the UK.. it was a silver and there were elements of the XK in the design (most notably the front, IIRC). I guess this must have been the XJ41 you are talking about.. what would have happened to that prototype of it - presumably in a museum somewhere?>

Doubtful it would have been the XJ41, as it was very closely guarded and had it hit the auto show there'd be photos everywhere. That being said, I'm not sure what it was you might have seen, perhaps an early XJ220 prototype from Walkinshaw.

Might that have been the the XJ Spider?

Still wish I could find some XJ41/42 pics...

As an aside to this thread Vauxhall have just shown a roadster based on their VX220 lpatform and it looks remarkably like an F-Type

Nick