www.jec.org.uk

I should know the answer to this as was working for Lex in the mid Nineties and although based at a Land Rover dealership we worked very much with the Jaguar Daimler dealership down the road and remember the run-out models of XJS. Anyway what makes a Celebration? I kind of remembered it as having different alloys and I thought a badge of some sort, and of course as with any manufacturers last run loads of spec as standard. My recently acquired 1996 is simply described on the V5, although raised by the manufacturer never the most accurate of vehicle descriptions, as an XJ-S 4.0 Auto, proving the point about descriptions on V5s not being to accurate as the hyphen was dropped years before. Interestingly any insurance paperwork, I assume driven by CAP data rather than DVLA data brings the car up as an XJS Celebration irrespective of which insurance company. My car has what looks like a high spec including air con, abs and electric seats. I recall all Range Rovers by that time featured the first two as standard but only the top model the latter. My wheels are a rather unspectacular painted alloy. So my question is would all run out XJS be termed as Celebration or just a select few?
Grateful for any thoughts

Simon,

The idea of an XJS Celebration being a limited or special edition model is a misnomer.

All XJSs after VIN 221855 are termed "Celebration" although it's only a name used in the brochure. There are no badges or V5 indications. It was just a marketing effort to continue to sell the XJS in its last year of production.

The spec was slightly updated from the previous year but not by much. Things like aircon, abs, electric seats were already standard fitment. There were a few changes to the veneer, embossed headrests etc, but not much.

Hope that helps.

Paul

Also, if your wheels are just painted, then they have been incorrectly refurbed at some point. The aerosport-type wheel typically fitted on Celebration cars should be diamond-cut with a lacquer finish.

Paul

Simon,

The Celebration model had numerous changes mainly because in 1991 Jaguar was owned by Ford. This model had everything thrown at it and indeed formed the basis of the Aston Martin DB 7 as they were also owned by Ford.
Ford invested tens of millions of pounds in new production lines and quality checks. Whilst the Celebration nomenclature meant sumptuous interiors they also had the new XJ [ADVANCED jAGAUAR} 16 engine which was a step up from the previous AJ 6 one.

Hope this helps.

In fairness, all the major changes including the AJ16 engine and integral headrest seats were introduced before the Celebration VIN range.

The only difference you'll see in a Celebration is the Sapwood veneer, the handbrake gaiter, embossed headrests and the wood and leather steering wheel.

Paul