1 Nov 1997
By CHRIS HARRIS
The XJ6 was dead.
Jaguar’s subtle facelift of the nose and tail – including new rounded bumpers – and stiffening of the body and chassis for improved dynamics were overshadowed by new V8 powerplants built by Ford in Britain.
The incoming AJ-V8 family used a quad-cam 32-valve technology to produce 216kW of power and 393Nm of torque from a 3996cc 4.0-litre V8 mated to a new five-speed automatic gearbox.
A smaller 3.2-litre version delivered 179kW and 316Nm, and also utilised the five-speed automatic gearbox.
Meanwhile Jaguar also released a supercharged version of the AJ-V8 4.0, managing to extract 276kW and 525Nm.
Of course there were corresponding Sovereign versions of the Jaguar XJ8, in both regular and long wheelbase guises.
Daimler also used the extended model, as well as the supercharged V8s in the discreetly named Super V8 LWB edition.
All were discontinued in August ’03, when the truly all-new XJ350 models arrived.
