Living with a Jaguar XJ-S V12
What the V12 XJ-S is actually like to own. The engine is closer to a Rolls-Royce than to a Ferrari, and forty years on it still feels like a luxury car.
People come to the V12 XJ-S expecting one thing and find another. They expect noise. What they get is smoothness.
The engine
The Jaguar V12 is not a screaming sports engine. It does not sound like a Ferrari and it was never trying to. It is closer in character to a Rolls-Royce V12: quiet, unstressed, and delivering its power in one continuous push rather than in a rush at the top of the rev range.
You still get a note from it. The engine and exhaust together produce something deep and unmistakable, particularly with the roof down. It simply arrives as refinement rather than drama.
The practical effect is that the car flatters you. Power arrives smoothly enough that you rarely notice how quickly you are travelling, and there is no point at which the car demands to be driven hard. It is a grand tourer doing exactly what a grand tourer was meant to do.
It still feels expensive
The XJ-S was an expensive car when it was new, and the detail work has aged better than the reputation. Nearly forty years on, the seats, the switchgear, the wood and the general sense of isolation from the road still read as luxury rather than as period charm. That is unusual. Plenty of cars of this era feel their age the moment you sit in them. This one does not.
People notice it
The thing nobody warns you about is the attention.
Wherever you stop, people look. Not just enthusiasts, and not just people old enough to remember the car when it was new. Younger drivers photograph it as often as older ones do, and you will get waves from people who could not name the model but recognise that the shape is something.
If you want a car that goes unnoticed, this is not it. If you enjoy talking to strangers about cars, an XJ-S will give you the opportunity most days.
Who it suits
Someone who wants to cover distance comfortably, who values smoothness over sharpness, and who does not mind the car being noticed. It rewards long routes and open roads far more than it rewards being hurried.
Common questions
Does the V12 sound like a supercar?
No, and that is the point. The Jaguar V12 is a quiet, smooth engine with a deep note rather than a high revving scream. It has more in common with a Rolls-Royce V12 than with a Ferrari one.
Does it still feel like a luxury car?
Yes. The XJ-S was built as a grand tourer rather than a sports car, and the sense of isolation, the seats and the interior fittings still read as luxury nearly forty years on.
Does an XJ-S attract attention?
Consistently, and from a wider range of people than you might expect. It is a car that gets waves and photographs from all ages, which makes it an easy conversation starter wherever you stop.
