LIVING WITH
The X300 has attained modern classic status while you weren’t looking. What’s involved in owning one 30 years on?
OFTEN DESCRIBED as the product the XJ40 should have been, the X300 generation of XJ produced between 1994 and 1997 is one of those cars which has quietly gained classic status while you weren’t concentrating.
The detailing, especially the XJ40-derived cabin, might feel dated these days but a good example feels surprisingly modern to drive and the AJ16 engine is modern enough to offer sensible fuel economy should you wish to use the car regularly. They’re old cars now though, which means living with them can require a bit of sympathy and a fair bit of vigilance to keep them looking good and driving right – and with the cars slowly starting to become appreciated, it’s worth investing time and money in the right maintenance. Here’s what you need to know.
HISTORY
Regular readers will no doubt already be aware of the X300’s genesis so we’ll keep it brief. Essentially, acutely aware that the much-delayed XJ40 had reached the market perilously late, Jaguar had worked up an all-new saloon under the code name XJ90. Using more traditional Jaguar styling cues, the car was by all accounts a handsome creation but in 1991 shortly after the arrival of Ford, the project was stopped in its tracks on cost grounds.
The work wasn’t all lost though, since the nose and tail were successfully added to the centre section of the XJ40 and the result was the car we know as the X300. Clearly many more revisions were made at the same time, but the extensive changes carried out to the structure of the XJ40 bodyshell during its 1992 facelift made it an excellent basis for the new car, especially when Ford-influenced production quality improvements were factored in.
The AJ6 engine was also thoroughly revised into the AJ16, gaining coil-on-plug ignition, revised cylinder head, cams and pistons and a switch from cast iron to forged steel crankshaft. A full electronic engine management system was also added, combining injection and ignition and allowing communication with the electronic control of the ZF gearbox in order to retard the timing momentarily during upshifts in the interests of refinement.
The car was launched in 1994, the project having cost Jaguar and Ford some £200m and the first road tests were positive, especially when it came to the driving experience. “The inherent gruffness of the old AJ6 engine, much criticised at its launch and never completely exorcised despite numerous revisions, has at last been banished to history with this AJ16 unit,” commented Autocar, which reckoned the Jaguar was the driver’s choice even over the BMW 7-Series.
At launch in September 1994, the range consisted of the 3.2 and 4-litre straightsix, the supercharged 4-litre in XJR form and the 6-litre V12. The range
