Jaguar XJS celebrated 50 years on in Coventry where it all began

Classic British car the Jaguar XJS is being celebrated in the city of its design and manufacture, 50 years after it first rolled off the production line.

The sports car has got prime position at this year’s scaled-back MotoFest, in Coventry city centre.

Lucy Rackliff, owner of a 1996 XJS convertible model, said how proud she was to show off “such an important part of Coventry’s motoring heritage”.

“My husband Toby bought her for me, and I said to him earlier, ‘You think you know how much I love the car, but you don’t, I love it more than you’ll ever know’,”.

Mrs Rackliff said she had grown up in the city, working for a time at Jaguar’s Browns Lane production site while she was a student.

“I was filling vending machines with soft drinks, and you would see bits and pieces of cars around,” she said.

“When I saw the XJS I thought it was the most beautiful car I’d ever seen, and it still is.”

Mr Rackliff said he had bought the car for his wife to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.

“It was registered four days before we were married, so it felt like fate when we saw it,” he added.

The couple had attended MotoFest previously, but never with their own vehicle.

“When we saw an XJS you could always see the little green envy light in Lucy’s eyes,” Mr Rackliff said.

“When you drive around in it you can see people looking, ” Mrs Rackliff added.

“But when you’ve got the roof down you can hear people saying, ‘Look at that car’,”.

The model was introduced by the Coventry-based company in 1975 and was initially not as well received as its predecessor the E-Type, said Dave Rooney of the Jaguar Heritage Trust.

“I don’t think it was in the same league as the E-type but it was a different type of car,” he said.

He had joined the company in 1980, five years after the car’s launch.

“It wasn’t quite as nice, but we improved it through the years,” he added.

Cars on display outside Coventry Cathedral over the weekend include a 1987 Cabriolet which had been the personal car of Diana, Princess of Wales.

A striking pink XJS, used to launch a range of Barbie toys can also be seen.

“It’s grown into a car that’s become more loveable,” Mr Rooney said, adding that the 50th anniversary of the model “just makes us feel older, that’s all”.