Jaguar XJ-S launched in 1975 in the wake of a worldwide fuel crisis which resulted in little demand for a luxury grand tourer with a 5.3 litre V12 engine. All credit to those people at Jaguar who, over a period of 20 years, turned the ugly duckling into a swan. The comprehensive story of the Jaguar XJ-S written by one of the most prolific motor sports writer in the world. James Taylor remembers very well the disappointment among his pretrol-head friends when the XJ-S was announced in 1975. It was not a replacement for the legendary E-type; its colours were uninspired; and its interior was drab. All credit, then, to those people at Jaguar who truly believed in the car and, over a period of nearly 20 years, turned the ugly duckling into a swan. From the moment the XJ-S HE arrived in 1981, there seemed to be renewed hope, and from then on, the car went from strength to strength to become the much-admirred grand tourer it always should have been. The book contains a timeline of the key events in the history of the XJ-S and an overview of the evolution of the XJS from the XJ27 prototype. There are Appendices covering identification/serial numbers, UK showroom prices through the years and sales in the US by year. Packed with detail, James Taylor tells the complete story of the Jaguar XJ-S from ugly duckling into a swan A timeline of key events in the history of the XJ-S and an overvierw of the XJS from the XJ27 prototype. James Taylor has been writing professionally about road transport since the late 1970s, his primary interest is in those models that made the British motor industry great.