Lot details

Year: 1994
Make: Jaguar
Model: Sovereign (6.0 litre)
Registration: L908 SGW
Chassis No: SAJJKKLS3AP688167
Engine No: 8C12461SC
Odometer: 73,100km

The XJ40 is Jaguar's difficult second album; after the lithe XJ series cars, the angular XJ40 of the late eighties and early nineties found few friends. Code-named 'XJ81', the fact that Jim Randle, the XJ40's chief engineer, deliberately made the engine bay too narrow to fit the time-served Rover V8 engine meant the outgoing Series III V12 remained in production long after the six-cylinder cars had been culled from the firm's catalogue. However, contrary to the predictions of Jaguar's senior managers, demand for larger engine's persisted, which meant extensive revisions were needed to shoehorn in the wonderful six-litre V12 engine. It took until 1993 before the V12 engine arrived and it was so powerful, its installation caused yet another headache. Jaguar's owners at the time, didn't have a gearbox strong enough to cope with the V12's torque, so it had to turn to rival firm GM for the four-speed automatic solution. Manufacture ended in June 1994, which made the XJ81 had one of the shortest production runs of any Jaguar.

This lovely example from Japan originally, is presented in grey metallic with a grey leather interior. It comes with electric windows, cruise control, original toolkit, a V5 registration document and a current MoT test certificate which expires in May 2026. Its interior is in good condition with the driver's seat showing some patina and being a Japanese car originally, it has the addition of rear picnic tables. This was Jaguar's flagship when produced in 1994 and is still a very comfortable drive today. Consigned by James Good