2007 Jaguar XJ 3.0 V6

“ The Aluminium XJ personified the 'best car in the world' claim: Grace, Space and Pace. ”
Ex-Japan, so in typically exceptional condition, economical and ULEZ compliant too.

Background
Sir William Lyons, or “Mr Jaguar” as many would know him was the spiritus rector of Jaguar in the truest sense. It was purely through his drive, perseverance and hands-on ability that he was able to build a luxury and sporting car marque that would be known the world over. And all during his own lifetime. His magnum opus and swansong was not the E Type, or the XK120 or even the C or D Types but, in fact, the XJ6. Lyons would later say that the XJ6 was his "personal favourite" and "comes closer to than any other to what I always had in mind as my ideal car." Perhaps no surprise, then, that the 1968 XJ6 became ground zero for a model dynasty that would be reproduced in numerous forms until the X351 arrived in 2009.

The X350 iteration of the range debuted in 2003 to become the third variation on this successful recipe. Whilst retaining plenty of the original’s DNA, the X350 was all new and highly innovative. It was a bigger car than its predecessor, being six inches longer, two inches wider and a full five inches higher. Despite all this extra real estate, the X350 was claimed to be around 12% lighter. This feat was achieved courtesy of the decidedly space age stressed aluminium unibody whose construction was as complex as it was inspired. The process involved 284 stampings, 35 extrusions and 15 aluminium castings. These were bonded together with over 100 meters of aerospace-grade epoxy and 3,200 self-piercing boron steel rivets. The DNA might have been recognisable to Lyons, but not the manufacturing techniques.

A 2007 facelifted model provided a late life update for the car and, confusingly, became known as the X358. This was designed to tone down some of the earlier models retro inspired styling quirks and bring the lineage resolutely up to date. The X358 range would be produced until March 2009 when it was discontinued in favour of a very different XJ – the X351.

Overview
In a tangible sign of how far the world had moved on, the X358’s lighter construction allowed for the use of the popular the 3.0-litre AJV6 engine previously seen in the S-Type. This 2967cc 240bhp engine was sufficient to give the model a 0-60mph time of 7.8 seconds and a top speed of 145mph. These impressive metrics compared favourably with the original XJ12 of 1972. That’s progress.

This example was supplied new to the Japanese home market via the Jaguar dealer network in mid-2007. It seems the car was lightly and sympathetically used on the salt-free and well-maintained Japanese road network until the Summer of 2023 when the XJ was returned to the UK by a specialist marque connoisseur and enthusiast.

On its arrival in the UK the XJ was also converted to a UK specification. The conversion work included new number plate plinths, a radio frequency expansion, provision and uploading of a UK satellite navigation DVD and the fitment of a miles per hour speedometer. At this stage the Jaguar had covered around 35,000 miles.

Current keeper, Anthony, was the winning bidder of our original auction of this XJ back in February 2024. Since then the Jaguar has been lightly used with its digital odometer today sitting at a shade over 39,000 and hence retaining a remarkably low original mileage for such an able mile-muncher from 2007.

Estimate: £8,000 - £12,000

View Current Bid Price HERE