HISTORY
Since this issue follows a modifying theme, it seems only appropriate to look at the work of SVO, Jaguar’s own in-house special vehicles division
ORIGINALLY HOUSED at the back of the Browns Lane plant, the Jaguar Special Vehicle Operations team can trace its roots back to the 1970s – though its best-known products are all 1990s creations. The Daimler DS420 limousine had originally been built and trimmed at the Vanden Plas works in Kingsbury, London – but British Leyland’s decision to close that site in 1979 meant changes that radiated throughout the group. Trimming of the Austin-Allegro based Vanden Plas 1500 would be shifted to the MG factory at Abingdon, while Jaguar would have to take both its Vanden Plas and DS420 saloons back in house.
A Limousine Shop was set up in a corner of the main factory at first, to continue creating the DS420. And it was the team behind the Limousine Shop that would form SVO in 1992, when the DS420 finally left production.
Left without a real purpose, the former Limousine Shop personnel we re-targeted by Jaguar into an elite team of concept creators – whether for internal evaluation or for the customer who wanted something a little bit special. Its first four projects were all based on the XJ40, though one also encompassed XJS.
Announced at the 1992 British International Motor Show at the NEC, Birmingham, Jaguar’s SVO department had a number of remits. The headline news was the announcement of the new Jaguar Majestic –a long wheelbase version of the XJ40 with a raised roofline, intended as a successor to the DS420 for the chauffeurdriven market and using a name from Daimler’s past. It might have been less spacious and less exclusive than the DS420, but it gave rise to the subsequent factorybuilt long wheelbase saloons which formed a staple part of the range from 1995 onwards.
Initially only planned to be available in Sovereign and Daimler specifications according to the Autocar Motor Show report, we know of a number of Gold Majestics as well as other models in the range which were adapted – at a cost of £8500 over the standard wheelbase example for any trim. The bodies were adapted from standard saloons by Project Aerospace, adding 5” in length and about 2” in height, before being returned to the former Limousine Shop for trimming. 270 Majestics were built in total, marking approximately 0.15% of total XJ40 production. The Majestic was available in all markets except the USA and Canada – the USA having received a special edition branded as Majestic but based on the standard bodyshell between 1989 and 1992.
Almost equally scarce were the models which underwent the Jaguar Insignia programme. A total of 319 XJ40 saloons and 64 XJS models were believed to have been ordered through th
