1986 Jaguar XJ6 Vanden Plas | Retro Review

The new for '86 Jag XJ6 is a timeless beauty, but so was its predecessor that many Jaguar loyalists favored...So, they were gifted the continuation of the older body style until 1992, albeit V12 powered only,
Show 621 | Original Airdate 04-06-1987
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[@HaroldCombs]

“Idle was a little rough” “Lucas ignition system” Ah, makes sense

[@palebeachbum]

I love the looks of the old-style Jaguars. So elegant and classy.

[@incyphe]

2:06 love how the entire panel wobbles on gentle press.

[@tkewrestler2662]

No one would accuse this model of being too reliable, but they still are lovely vehicles.

[@PhillyDee215]

When Jaguar was still Jaguar......

[@GeeEm1313]

I used to see tons of these in the DC area back in the 80s and 90s.

[@OuijTube]

$40,000 in 1986 would be $110,159 in 2023. Man these cars were EXPENSIVE back in the day

[@nwezetx1]

Nope

[@jmin8400]

You have it wrong and need to understand the context better, before even commenting. Model years are not even literal, to on the floor sales dates in real time. This episode was released in April 1987 and maybe taped in March 1987. It has nothing to do with 1986, so why are you referring to arbitrary 1986 numbers on inflation, when this car wasn't even for sale then? The MW staff member responsible for uploading this video, goofed on mislabeling the year on this video. It's the 1988 Jaguar XJ6 Vanden Plas, released in April 1987. Not 1986.

[@jmin8400]

​@@nwezetx1 LOL A lot of these people commenting on KZbin and MW videos are just really ignorant and miss obvious details. He's trying to calculate numbers on inflation, yet obviously doesn't even get it's not even related to 1986. And it's pretty obvious who are the dumb ones on average...

[@OuijTube]

@@jmin8400 thanks for the correction. $40,000 in 1988 would be $102,057.82 in 2023. The difference amounts to $8,101.18, or about 7.9% of the price. So yeah, a lot of money, but it doesn’t change the basic premise. These cars were shockingly expensive when new-something that I find fun to think about. After all most of us have only ever seen these depreciated to nothing.

[@jmin8400]

​@@OuijTube 1988 inflation numbers have nothing to do with the price in this video. A quick trip to the government CPI calculator and setting it to March 1987 against March 2023, spits out the numbers I already gave. I really don't like misinformation, if the evidence is out there for easy research. This car being released in March 1987 and the airdate of this episode being April 1987, is the only thing relevant to any inflation adjusted calculations. It's not shocking how expensive they were, as the last model was almost as expensive. These were flagship luxury vehicles and as a result, very expensive. Politicians rode in the backseat of these. My father's 2001 XJ8 Vanden Plas Supercharged (V8) cost $90k loaded and later Super V8s, all over $120k during the mid-late 2000s.

[@A320Pilots]

I had its successor, a 1996 X300 XJ6 for a couple of years. Still the most beautiful sedan I’ve ever owned and, in my opinion, together with the BMW E38, one of the most elegant sedans ever designed. Unfortunately reliability was a bit of an issue and I eventually got rid of it as it was my only car and depending on it to get to work every day was starting to become a gamble. I still think back fondly of it though, hopefully I’ll own one again one day.

[@johnpearson492]

You have excellent tastes. My family has had two BMW e38s and always wanted an XJ. We shied away from the Jag because there just isn't any dealer remotely close enough to potentially fix it

[@marial8235]

The x300 is actually extremely reliable.

[@nwezetx1]

​@@marial8235 That's what I thought, but you had to be very careful. My dad had a V8 Vanden Plas and a shady mechanic, destroyed it. It was replaced by a 2016 7-Series, since he didn't like the last XJ. It lasted 15 years.

[@marial8235]

@@nwezetx1 The x300 is the last of the AJ I6 engines, 95-97. After that was the x308 v8 4.0 which had trouble with nikasil bores and timing chain tensioners. The 4.2 is pretty reliable, 2004-2009. The 5.0 litre engine followed in 2010 that also has timing chain tensioner issues until 2013. My husband and I are Jaguar fans and have several.

[@nwezetx1]

@@marial8235 Ours was made in March 2000 and delivered 4-5 months later. The nikasil liners destroyed by high sulfur content US gasoline, seemed to have affected AJ-V8s made from 1996 (97) to 2000. Problem is, what months were exempt in terms of 2000 production? My dad ended up giving up on big luxury sedans last year, feeling his 2019 750i lacked charm and was too complex. Did the timing chain issue last beyond 2000? I remember that the 2001 models got a small refresh before discontinuation. I'm guessing that's when they corrected the issue? I first noticed those on a November 2000 service visit by the new wheels, two-piece airbag cover, and rear parking assist sensors. Growing up, I initially didn't like the X300 and liked the X308 update. Kid in me just loved the rounded design & clear lights, as it represented new vs old and hated the remaining vestiges of XJ40 on X300, such as square front indicators and sidelights, plus smoked tails. The oval replacements on X308, newer interior, clear rear indicators made the design more tasteful to me. I've *grown to appreciate the X300 in adulthood and later XJ40, but it does sadden me that the X308 is not as reliable. Maybe the '01-03s are better.

[@theKevronHarris]

I like Jaguar's traditional J-shaped automatic transmission shift lever at 2:34. Looks unique!!

[@peterfaggella3120]

The "Randall Handle". I love it.

[@theKevronHarris]

@@peterfaggella3120 me too. A cousin of mine had a used 2000-03 Jaguar S‐Type 4.0L back in 2007 and it was horrible with an expensive repair bill.

[@realazduffman]

"Better quality control than ever before." What, they hired a guy for quality control now?

[@Samspianopage]

Naw it was just patchy all along Lol. My dad had a Series 3 although with John Egon in charge I think it did improve abit with the XJ40.

[@cromulentcommodore5896]

No, the old guy got new glasses.

[@rhydianedwards3457]

He's called Derek and only works Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Avoid a Friday or Monday car

[@bumfluffmcregor3730]

Nah seems they never bothered

[@jackdough8164]

@@rhydianedwards3457 lol it’s seriously a thing though. Not just for jags

[@Porsche996driver]

The XJ6 were all pretty low and swoopy. They were all around SoCal in the day. My buddy’s dad had a green one in the early ‘80s. Always a special design mold even as it was updated. Those early electronics - everyone was doing trial & error! 😮😅

[@DrCharlesMontague]

Once had a 1994 XJ6-the last year of this XJ40 body-and it was such a good car. Excellent and athletic to drive, loads of clever features, and surprisingly good on fuel (we routinely averaged 24 mpg). Miss that car all of the time.

[@TeamRogers7]

Old School Jaguars in the House, Hell Yeah!!!

[@tmolne117]

That Interior is way ahead of its time

[@jsz2619]

The Series III had a complex body structure. The hood was made of 17 panels and welded together. The XJ40 had two pressings for the hood. The early XJ40s had a lot of reliability issues since it was a clean sheet design. My '94 has dual airbags, seat memory, power lumbar in both front seats and even the front headrests are powered. Luckily my car has never been fitted with the rear SLS, self leveling suspension but the it has the X300 style with separate spring and shock absorber (they're not connected like struts).

[@nwezetx1]

Interesting, as the '94 is the best year.

[@alexandrecouture2462]

Lucky you, I have a 1991 XJ40 in Sovereign spec. 1991 isn't as bad as the early ones, but not as good as the later ones.

[@jsz2619]

@@nwezetx1 As Jay Leno stated, it's better to buy the last year of previous generation than the first year of the new one.

[@nwezetx1]

@@jsz2619 Well, not always. Automakers often decontent the last model year of a run, in determining what it is too much of a deal and removing it to increase profit margin.

[@anibalbabilonia1867]

Man that car was way ahead of it’s time! Still looks beautiful and classy!

[@stevevarholy2011]

Nothing rides like a Jag. Although my Rover/Sterling came real close.

[@devinbiz]

I loved this look in the 80’s/90’s

[@mikeisaacs2314]

When Ford took over they said jaguar was using equipment from the 60’s 😂

[@Chrisw678]

This car seems like 15 years ahead of it’s time minus it’s power numbers.

[@RandallJT84]

Most cars were severely choked my US EPA standards and the Smog Nazis back in the 80's. People certainly didn't buy these cars for speed; as much as they did style & luxury.

[@robertallen6701]

I've been a Jaguar fan since I was a middle school kid in the early 1990s. I've owned Jags off and on for the last fifteen years, including my current daily driver, a 2009 XJ8L. In all that time, I've never heard the J-gate shifter referred to as a "Randall Handle." I guess Motor Week was trying to make it a thing, but it never took off.

[@jasonroberts9357]

I have loved old Jaguars since first seeing Edward Woodward driving one in the original(and best) Equalizer t.v. show. Thanks for this classic review Motorweek!

[@BusterWolf87]

I remember how magnificent these were while at the junkyards 😂

[@smartkid1201]

"Anti-Skid brakes" 😅 Oh the 80's...

[@jeremyanderson1139]

Ownership of the Vanden Plas trademark today is a tad ambiguous, since JLR owns the trademark in North America, and SAIC Motor (which owns MG) owns the trademark in other parts of the world

[@noseefood1943]

A friend had one super smooth when not broken down

[@tonychavez2083]

Sweet gauge cluster with digital 👍🏼 love that

[@patsyypatsyy6458]

Tail lights on the US version work totally differently to the uk versions tail lights, the wiring behind them was always messy

[@albear972]

1:54 Will you look at that? digital *voltmeter and oil pressure gauges!*

[@VortexGarage]

Maybe this was a pre-production car, but the XJ40 XJ6 didn't start in US until 1988. The Series III XJ6 (the one shown in studio at start of video) was available until 1987. Fun fact, that old style Series III lived on a few more years as the XJ12. The XJ40 engine bay was designed by Jag to be narrow during it's development so that British Leyland would be unable to force them to use the Rover V8...so it could not use the V12. So the only was the XJ12 could go on until the next generation in the 90s was to use the older Series III chassis

[@rgallen6782]

And in fact, rumor has it that Jaguar was going to drop the V12 altogether, but they got a "little surprise" from the Germans when BMW introduced an all-new V12, the E32 750iL. So much, that Jaguar was forced to keep production of the Series III XJ12, while at the same time do an extensive redesign of the XJ40's engine bay in order to fit a V engine in it. In fact, Jaguar was ready to introduce the XJ40 V12 in 1990, along with the facelifted models, but then Ford purchased the company in 1989 and saw that the engine bay redesign did not meet their quality standards, forcing Jaguar to start all over again and delay the introduction of the XJ40 V12 (now called XJ81) until 1993. As such, the Series III V12 was discontinued in 1992, in favor of the new model. As with the outgoing model, this one was also offered as the XJ12 and Daimler Double-Six. It was only produced for one year, because in 1994 Jaguar introduced the revised XJ40 model, now called X300.

[@jmin8400]

Not quite. My father owned several XJs and having worked for Jaguar myself much later, I remember it being that the XJ40 arrived in UK in October 1986, while USA was March or April 1987 for the 1988 model year. Model years are rarely literal in the United States, because the 1994 MY XJ-Series was split into two camps, instead of just calling the XJ12 in early 1993 a 1993 model. The early 1994 XJs (1993.5 really) initially had some differences, notably only a driver's airbag. 1994 models from Septemberish 1993 had a passenger airbag and several updates, developed for the X300 testing in camouflage at the time (1993).

[@jmin8400]

​​@@rgallen6782 Interesting, as BMW and Mercedes-Benz benchmarked Jaguar's Series III and for W140, the XJ40. MB wanted Jaguaresque car and as a result, W140 mockups in 1986 had a rather low roofline. It was raised in 1987, as tall executives couldn't comfortably sit in the backseat. BMW benchmarked the Series III, when E32 development started in September 1979. The idea was to develop a Bavarian Jaguar, splitting the line between British luxury and the highest levels of German luxury in modern form. A lot of people don't give Jaguar credit, when the reason why some competitors were so successful is because they benchmarked them in the first place with higher budgets. If I remember the x300 was never supposed to happen and was the product of problems in 1991 during XJ90 development, which was supposed to be a heavily revised XJ40 chassis, but with fully new body, like the X100 XK. XJ90 was initiated around 1988-89 and got stopped in its tracks, evolving into X300 design profile by November 1991. As you know, the X300 was the front and rear ends of XJ90 adapted to XJ40 centre section. XJ90 would've encountered less limitations compared to the X300. You can see how despite being based on XJS, the X100 XK got an entirely new tophat and this allowed for flexibility with a sizeable LCD color navigation screen by 1999. Not so much the case with X308 in 1999 having calculator graphics for GPS Nav. Anyway, in 1994 out of frustration, the X308 was rushed into development even before the X300 arrived at dealers in September 1994, to fit the AJV8 and newer interior. Much of X308 was already done by December 1994, arriving later in September 1997 as a '98 model.

[@RobJaskula]

​@@jmin8400huh! I didn't know that. In 2014 I owned a 1994 XJ6 for a few months and absolutely loved it. What were the other differences!? I'm trying to remember if it had a passenger airbag

[@jmin8400]

@@RobJaskula I'm trying to remember, but I think all 1994 XJ6 models came one way and shared early X300 components. Rearview mirror, front & rear suspension parts such as lower control arms and etc. Only the early USA XJ81 1994 XJ12s had no passenger airbag. The actual '94 XJ12s had dual airbags, like the '94 Vanden Plas and XJ6.

[@MrAjtaylor1]

Manual shift on the J gate and sport mode would wake this car up big time. I miss my 92 a little

[@raymondhaley6185]

That was a real jaguar❤

[@chrisheisey9654]

I had a 1990! It was a great car. It wasn’t super unreliable but apparently I was lucky

[@RobJaskula]

I had a 1994 and it was a great car! Had a coolant hose come loose once, a door and one window didn't work but that was it!

[@davidaubin3902]

1:25 John: BUT STILL NO POSITION MEMORY! LOL

[@1983jblack]

At least it had oil pressure and volt readouts 😂

[@jasperdilincoln2341]

I barely see Jags on the road nowadays. Like I did did back in the 80s and 90s. I seems Audi's have stepped their Game Up over the Decades. Its like Jags are kinda a thing of the Past .

[@shapiroshekelberg604]

“Better quality control” 😂

[@MrTaxiRob]

The XJ Coupe was the best looking iteration of the old XJs. I don't know why it wasn't popular in the US, since it was basically a late 70s muscle car (when equipped with the V12.) The XJ-S was a GT with a barely useable rear seat, and undoubtedly higher insurance rates.

[@mattt198654321]

Oh wow, that interior is REALLY nice. Looks like you could fall asleep in there. Not while driving, of course :)

[@RobJaskula]

They were very comfortable! These were great cars, actually. More electrical bugs than anything mechanically wrong with them. The 4.0 liter models were bulletproof

[@UraniumBullets]

What a coincidence, this is the car we are giving away at the Malaise Invitational in Oregon this June

[@dm5374]

The Jaaag won't leave you stranded - Lucas, a.k.a. the Prince of Darkness, will take care of that.

[@CarringtonHollister]

I love Jaaaags especially this Jag Me to Cheyenne: would you mind setting this while I go warm up the Jaaaaaag

[@lsswappednormalcars4807]

Perfect candidate for an L92 6.2 Ls motor

[@paulie-Gualtieri.]

US spec engine was strangled with emissions crap, The UK spec 3.6 had 221bhp and would smoke the rear wheels on hard acceleration, and would do 35mpg on a long run.

[@Aforementioned]

35 mpg Imperial perhaps, def not US gallons

[@paulie-Gualtieri.]

@@Aforementioned Yes

[@manofthehour6856]

Uh, the car that is profiled is an '88 US-market model. This body style was available in the UK in '86, but not Stateside. I suppose the title reference to a the outgoing Series III model in gold that John Davis stands next to giving the introduction, but is it not the red XJ6 (XJ40) model that is being tested here? Regardless, a pleasure to see this again!

[@jonnyfennessy9812]

I think of Shaun of the Dead. I do remember stealing the the hood ornament from it. I was young, it was the 80's lol.

[@mikeyveloster7615]

The "XJ40" generation of the XJ was sold from 1987-1994 with an Inline-6 while the previous V-12 "Series III" generation of the XJ overlapped it from 1987-1992 until 1993 when the V12 debuted in the XJ40 version which was sold till 1994

[@suomenpresidentti]

Ahh... The ASB. Anti-skid brakes.

[@digitaldoc100]

Drove one of these a few times. While the inline six was super smooth, it was quite slow, and felt quite heavy in the handling dept. Can't say I was a fan.

[@thomasw3285]

44k in 1986? Wowsers!

[@jmin8400]

April 1987. It's a flagship luxury car meant to be an S-Class alternative.

[@MENQN]

The last of the British Leyland design

[@ic1815]

Oooh future Jag so fancy with partial DIGI DASH …with Lucas fuel injection… _great…_

[@johndrake2729]

I don't know why I kept thinking these came out in 1988 instead of 1986.

[@Tennesseestorm76]

Airbags... talk as if they were very soon to arrive on these cars... I think these ended up being one of the latest luxury car to receive airbags if I am not mistaken?

[@jackmcbride5966]

Nice jaggy.

[@Josh-er6oz]

90’ onwards were fabulous cars, bulletproof engines and the interior…. Opulent, up there with Bentley and Rolls Royce in the Sovereign models obviously

[@RobJaskula]

Absolutely loved my 1994. Great car. I'd never considered a Jag before but I was converted.

[@Cheezwizzz]

We pronounce it Jag-U-are over in Europe

[@Greatdome99]

$45K in 1986 is $126K today!

[@nwezetx1]

Nope

[@hawthornselitelevel1220]

181 bhp and 11 secs to 60!? That must be due to USA emission system sapping the power. In the UK these are more like 221 bhp and 9 secs to 60

[@SpikeRazzor]

Seen a lot of XJ6's with 350 swaps.

[@MrZdvy]

Weird they still mentioned radial tires in 1986. As far as I know radial tires were standard on most cars since the mid ‘70s or so.

[@nwezetx1]

It's not 1986, read the ep description.

[@matthewjones12181]

As of April 2023, adjusted for inflation, this car would be just over $124k.

[@nwezetx1]

Nope

[@jmin8400]

Stop ignorantly copying the video title and not doing actual research. It's not an '86 model, it wasn't released in 1986 in the United States at all, and it's a 1988 model. Your figures are wrong in relation to the actual price when this car was released in April 1987. A base 1988 Jaguar XJ6 cost $109, 049 with inflation per US government and the 1988 Vanden Plas cost $119,819. MotorWeek staff made a typo, yet you don't even bother to vet the main background info before commenting on other stuff like inflation😂.

[@jmin8400]

And to correct myself, it was March 1987 release.

[@averyparticularsetofskills]

That last line speaks for the quality then!! 😂😅😢😔😪😢😭

[@jaguarantony]

Soooo beautiful

[@yudhabagaskara98]

It's a jaaaag

[@jmin8400]

@MotorWeek, whoever you've hired to be in charge of uploading these videos, made a glaring mistake in inaccurately labeling this video as a *1986* Jaguar XJ6 Vanden Plas. The Series III XJ-Series ran through the 1987 MY for North America, while these were released in March 1987 as *1988* models. Elsewhere, it came out in October 1986 as an '87 or 1986.5 (per Euro registration) I keep seeing people in the comments *blindly* trusting the mislabeled title and even basing past pricing in today's dollars, on the wrong inflation adjusted figures. Most '86 MY cars were released in 1985 like the W124 300E, so quite a bit ahead of this 1988 model year Jag. Please correct this ASAP, so less viewers are confused.

[@delerium75]

This is a 1988 XJ6...not a 1986. '86 was the old body style, the new body style came out in 1988.

[@jmin8400]

Correct, but it didn't literally come out in 1988. Most cars sold in the United States have model years not literally identical to the year they're released in, as it's always next year's model in most cases. These came out in April 1987, just like the video description shows the air date. A staff member at MotorWeek made a typo and it's quite annoying because they do this quite often when it comes to older models. John cannot manage everything and it's clear some of the people who work for him need to do better.

[@jmin8400]

Correcting myself, it was March 1987.

[@walterarroyo5220]

Better quality control 😂😂😂

[@Akroness1445]

❤My father bought an '87 one of these used and it didn't look anything like this This looks the the '88 XJ-40 car which we never had Unfortunately the rocks and wheel arches rusted out and we had to scrap it

[@nwezetx1]

Yep, it's the person managing the channel.

[@jmin8400]

​@@nwezetx1 Exactly. MW needs better quality control, as John can't do everything and it's clear some of the staff are not on his level.

[@jmin8400]

Yeah, these came out in April 1987 for the '88 model year, just like the 1988 BMW 735i. European versions came out in late 1986, with USA being spring 1987 as early '88 models.

[@ys_a1659]

The real European luxury sports sedan. The benchmark. But everybody spoke/ speaks only about the beamer. The Jag was unfortunately not reliable.

[@jareknowak8712]

3.6L 24V 181hp 0-60 11.0sec

[@joelhenderson4450]

Toyota execs: We have a little surprise in store for you, so sell as many as you can because everything is about to change...

[@hazzaknox1069]

I was literally about to ask for this review 🤣🤣🤣

[@civlyzed]

I was about to figuratively ask for it, we both got lucky! :D

[@charliehmi76]

I was about to metaphorically ask for it

[@sjhudon386]

I need a Cadillac converter for my Jagwire. Can anyone help me?

[@wincrasher2007]

it was a terrible decision to remake every part on this car most folks would just consider a mid-model refresh. The next evolution was a much better car and had a better evolution of the design cues of the previous model.

[@landyachtfan79]

1987

[@MixingGBP]

Wow...I'll just leave it at that.

[@larrbaII]

I never mind working on a x6/x8 but let's be honest.. Electoral nightmare. 86 -88 .

[@jmin8400]

Electoral? Typo or just typical KZbin comments?

[@ce9345]

Spend all that money for a Jag, and all you get is a Japanese econobox sounding horn!

[@kamrankhan-lj1ng]

It is 1988 model. This episode came out in 1987.

[@jmin8400]

Exactly, I think they made an honest typo, but as usual all the stupid folks are commenting like they were born yesterday and quoting inflation numbers off of 1986😅. Anyone who knows cars, can easily deduce this came out for 1988 and for '87 in Europe.

[@3ducs]

Not an '86 XJ6, an '88.

[@cblizz730]

Adjusted for inflation this car is over 110k.

[@jmin8400]

Yeah, $109,049 for XJ6 and Vanden Plas at $119,819.

[@sebdupree1]

4:02

[@McBeamer94]

I love Jaguars, even if they mess up their designs midway through, but the steering wheel they had during that era looked like it came straight out of a Lada. Plain awful.

[@stratfordbaby]

They did the review wrong. Shameful review. The car is MUCH FASTER than 11 seconds to 60.

[@user-cj4sm8hv9y]

Rainbow War in Life

[@petrolbokehlicious]

Best luxury sedan money can buy? Mine rot to the ground after I stopped repairing the myriad things that broke one after the other. The worst car I've ever owned.

[@jareknowak8712]

What model year You had?

[@petrolbokehlicious]

1988

[@jmin8400]

Common now, you John just didn't know they were blowing smoke and had a long way to go.

[@jmin8400]

​@@petrolbokehlicious First model year then, so not surprising. They tried to fix some things for the 1990 and 1993 model years.

[@zillsburyy1]

and loaded with problems

[@jamesstuart3346]

Jaguar should have found a way to keep the tall vertical grille from the original XJ. The little squishy nostrils have zero elegance

[@buzzpedrotti5401]

Glad I dont own one of these. Wrenching cars is no longer fun.

[@rosendodominguez-dw4rt]

I DON'T LIKAM .

[@jmin8400]

Likam? Why does this remind me of Pidgen English lol?

[@tug1345]

Why can't Americans pronounce Jaguar properly

[@robrd9485]

They were made crappy just like any other British Leyland vehicle. Jaguar and Land Rover in 2023 still plagued with reliability problem. Buy German, Swedish or Japanese instead

[@cromulentcommodore5896]

The randy handy. Yeah baby . Shagadellic.