Victoria's Secret

I recently visited my brother in the city of Victoria, Vancouver Island, in the province of British Columbia. Vancouver Island is almost the size of England, but with a lot less traffic and rain. It has great natural beauty even in winter, you can look across the straits to majestic cone of Mt Baker and the snow-covered mountains in Oregon. Victoria, and in particular the community of Oak Bay where my brother lives, is much like the England of the 1950's. It has old pubs and the local butcher and baker's shops that have been Wallmarted out of existence in the US. Oak Bay is home to many ex-pats, and abounds with british cars actually being driven. I saw several '50s MGs, '60s TRs, Morris Minors, and of course Jaguars.

The Jaguar blokes hang out on Sunday mornings at the local marina, to drink coffee and kick tires. On a brisk but sunny day, I met Merritt Chisholm sitting in his beautifully restored 1965 S type saloon. I had forgotten how nice these cars can be, they are technically more advanced than the Mk 2 saloons. Two of the Mk 2 weaknesses were the solid rear axle, which made it hard to put the power down, and lack of luggage space. Lyons restyled the rear to accommodate the IRS from the E type, and squared off the boot. The result was functional but somewhat less aesthetic, and the S type has suffered in regard, S Type values being 50% or less than the Mk 2. I found this out to my cost after discovering a RHD 1966 S Type with 4 speed and o/d in a Richmond garage after 25 years off the road. The car was solid and the engine started up after I replaced the seized water pump. It was original and remarkably rust free with the exception of the crows foot at the front. With the help of friend Jim Cox the car was soon drivable. I rashly put it on e-Bay instead of using the JCNA website and Jaguar fraternity network, and it went to Georgia for a measly $2250.

Well, back to Oak Bay, Merritt gave me a nice drive in the S type round the scenic neighbourhood, the car drove as well as it looked. Truly a classic! Merritt arranged for me to meet the Victoria Jaguar club Concours Chair, Dr Gregory Andrachuk. Dr G is the proud owner of what must be the most rare of all Jaguar Series 111 XJ variants, a 1993 V12 Vanden Plas. At this point I will let Dr Andrachuk describe his Jaguar, car #93 of the "Last 100." I agree with his conclusion that the 1993 V-12 VDP is the ultimate S111 Jaguar, in my view far more aesthetic than the boxy XJ40 that weYanks got. As this model is almost unknown in the US, I feel entitled to describe it as "Victoria's Secret."

The Jaguar Series III XJ was built from mid-1979 to the end of 1992 inclusively. This designed was a refinement by Pininfarina of the original Lyons design for the XJ and it was termed by the press "the most beautiful saloon ever produced"... and it still is. Originally designed to carry the 6 cylinder XK engine with the Borg Warner 65/66 transmission, known as the XJ6 AND also the V12 engine with the GM400 transmission, known as the XJ12, the cars were otherwise identical in every respect apart from badging. In other words, the only difference between them was mechanical. But while Jaguar fully intended to market the V12 version in the US (and had already produced brochures and manuals for it), the existing CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) requirements would be financially punitive if the V12 were figured into the mix of Jaguar models. So the Series III XJ12 was immediately pulled from the US market after only 6 of the cars had been imported.

In contrast, the Canadian market had no such restrictions and the Series III V12-equipped cars were sold continuously here right into 1993- my own being sold new in Vancouver in May, 1993. In 1982 Jaguar decided to move its cars 'upmarket.' The baseline XJ12 was dropped from production. From that time forward, the V12-engined cars were now available only with higher trim and equipment levels: they were either 'V12 Sovereigns' if badged as Jaguars, or 'Daimler Double Sixes.' The cars were mechanically identical but the Daimlers had an even higher level of trim and equipment. Production of the Series III XJ6 finished in April 1987. As a result, many in the US believe (never having seen a V12 version) that this was the last year of Series III production. Not so. For other markets such as the UK, Germany, Japan and Canada the V12 Series III cars continued to be built, and it was in fact the lobbying of the Jaguar executives in these countries that kept the Series III V12 in production after the introduction of the XJ40.

Among the V12-engined cars, the .V12 Vanden Plas. was a model produced for Canada ONLY, and in very small numbers. the largest number being some 626 in 1986 and the estimated TOTAL production over the period 1982 to 1992 being just 2953 cars. And this requires an explanation: the V12 Vanden Plas was a specialty production and Jaguar kept no separate figures for this car. The only calculation of the number built is derived from the number of V12 cars which Jaguar Cars Ltd. sold to Jaguar Canada Inc. in *a given calendar year*, not model year. The only year for which there is a "model year" figure is the last year, 1992. The Canadian-market cars were always badged as Jaguars because the Daimler name was not used here. The cars figure in the factory build records as part of the normal Daimler or Jaguar production-. and this requires some explanation.

The Canadian V12 Vanden Plas (the Vanden Plas was always a V12 car here during the Series III era) was taken directly from the Daimler production in the period mid-1982 to 1987 inclusively. The cars are identical in every respect except badging to the Daimler Double Six; that means full leather interiors, all options fitted, and so on. Only the grille, boot plinth and badging were different, being of the Jaguar sort. For the period 1988 to 1991 the cars were taken from the V12 Sovereign line (and are listed as such in the factory records) with certain .upgrades. specific to the Canadian cars: the Daimler door panels were used, Daimler wood . which is of a higher quality burl) and a stitched leather centre armrest among other items. But the seats were straight Jaguar Sovereign seats.

Now to the cars in question: the 1992 cars. Production of the Series III Jaguar V12 Sovereign variant ended in 1991. Only the Daimler Double Six remained in production through 1992. Jaguar Canada, faced with the demise of its flagship model, commissioned for 1992 a run of just *100 individually numbered cars*, specially trimmed and equipped (of these, 70 were actually built during the 1992 calendar year). These cars are the very last Jaguar V12 Vanden Plas cars produced and are known collectively as the .Last 100.; each carries a special plaque mounted usually on the console wood between the radio and the transmission shifter which gives the number of the specific vehicle out of the last 100. My car is # 92. But I have owned 8 of these cars in total, the very last one, #100 which came to me, rusted, from Montreal, as well as a .pre-release. car not numbered among the 100. This .pre-release. car was built two days before car #001 as far as I have been able to determine as a test car for the colour and trim combination and is identical in every respect with the other 100. All of them are in fact fully-optioned 1992 Daimler Double Sixes with the exception of the grille, rear plinth and badging.

So why are these cars special? Apart from the fact that they are the last 100 of a particular model of Jaguar's arguably most beautiful saloon, these cars were designed by Jaguar Canada to be collector cars. In an interview with the Toronto Globe and Mail at the beginning of January 1992 a spokesman for Jaguar Canada stated that .most of them are now allocated to buyers. and that these last V12 Vanden Plas cars .will command a premium price as a collector's items in about 20 years.. In fact, premium quality 1992 cars have commanded such prices for a long time now (up to $45,000), although a very few rusted and badly-cared for cars have been sold at ordinary prices.

The cars were commissioned in just two special colours: Black Cherry, which was not available on any other Series III car, and Oyster, neither colour being seen on any other V12 Vanden Plas. Canada's largest dealer, Jaguar-on-Bay, Toronto , was permitted to place several special paint orders for specific customers: car #006 is Jaguar Black, cars #14 and #24 are Regency Red, and car #40 is in Jaguar Racing Green, but the vast majority are in the Black Cherry and Oyster colours, the first being predominant. Black Cherry is almost identical to the 1994 colour Morocco Red, while Oyster is similar to the earlier Silver Birch, both very beautiful on the Series III body. The interiors are all identical: all are full leather in Doeskin piped in Buckskin; all have the full Daimler Double Six trim: premium burl walnut inlaid with Peruvian boxwood, fleece overmats and so on. They all have a Bosch ABS braking system and an Alpine radio/cassette/CD system with a 6 stack CD unit installed in the boot. The cars, being Daimlers, were normally fitted with the Kent alloy wheels but the popular Ogle 'pepperpot. wheels could be specified as a no-cost alternative.

Interesting facts: because the Series III production was coming to an end, Jaguar was in fact exhausting supplies of certain items. At about the midway point of production of these 'last 100', which were not produced consecutively, but spaced through the last year's production . Jaguar ran out of certain items, the most notable being the traditional chrome twin-stalk mirror controls. What to do? They sourced a single knob multi-function control from a European Ford . the only part on the car that carries Ford identification! Other items sporadically were unavailable; I have visions of desperate searches in the warehouse for certain items. My car, # 92, for example, carries a Daimler driver's floor mat and Daimler badges on the engine; this car also has the gold/gold grille badge used on the very first Series III V12 cars rather than the normal Series III gold/black badge. I have seen this gold badge on two other .Last 100. cars .

But what are these cars like in motion? In a word, sublime. The V12 and GM 400 combination is silky smooth with seemingly limitless power. The ride and comfort cannot be surpassed even by the latest Jaguars (and I say this as owner of one of the current aluminium-bodied XJ8 cars); and the elegance? Well, there simply is nothing on the road more elegant than a Series III Jaguar, and the 1992 V12 Vanden Plas is the ultimate Series III car.