The feel is of a much more resolved sportscar

from JAGUAR MAGAZINE EDITION #213 - ESTABLISHED 1984

The XJ41 was being canned by Ford

nothing you couldn’t strap on to an XJS. Party frock it may be, but it is also a very pretty party frock.

XJ-S has controversial styling, but importantly on the Convertible, is devoid of flying buttresses. To me, the Convertible is the best-looking factory produced XJ-S. The Aston is more modern and very ‘resolved’, to use a stylist’s vernacular.

The use of day-to-day car parts is a little too obvious in the Aston, with Ford and Mazda switchgear and handles, and Citroen door mirrors, admittedly a favourite with most low volume producers at the time.

I liked it, and I am sure I would like TWR’s later V12 version too. That engine was based not on a Jaguar V12, but effectively two Ford Duratecs put together, although a large capacity Jaguar V12 was tried in TWR’s red testbench XJ-S which still exists.

Today prices vary widely for DB7s, the Coupés going from £11,000 to £50,000, the Volante version from £20,000 to £35,000. An XJ-S Convertible of similar vintage goes for between £7,000 to £45,000 at auction.

Whilst being a devout disciple of Jaguar’s V12, I have concluded that the four-litre convertible XJ-S might well be the best of the lot. The first six-cylinder

AJ6 3.6 was not a great engine, but the four-litre just got quietly better and better, particularly when matched to ZF’s 4HP22 Auto.

It’s a bit like the old XK Jaguars, the XK120 gets all the headlines and high values, the 150 was the fastest and most comfortable, but the 140, a bit of a wallflower, is probably the best all round XK you can buy. The XJ-S four litre is like that. Never got the headlines, not quite as powerful or refined as the V12, but when power to weight comes into the equation, it’s not far out. By normal standards it is very quiet and torquey, and more than enough grunt for normal road use. It is also so much less complicated, economical on fuel and has the reputation for being as strong as an ox.

The four-litre normally aspirated XJ-S makes a better Automatic tourer than the 3.2 Supercharged Aston, and I think the Coupé Manual Aston Martin would make a better sports tourer than an XJ-S four litre with manual transmission. I think for an Auto Coupé it would be totally down to the styling, the XJ-S more relaxed, the Aston more frenetic. So that is the objective conclusion. However, there is the ‘IT’ factor: 'I’m driving an Aston Martin.'

It’s hard to argue with that.