Registration No: HCZ 4157
Chassis No: SAJJHAMD3CH867554
MOT: 18.02.2021

Motor Car Location: Cheshire

• Offered directly from the collection of a BRDC Member and prominent figure within British motor racing
• Purchased by the current owner as a 55th birthday present to himself back in March 2003
• Supplied new to Northern Ireland, with original Colleraine-issued logbook in the history file
• Factory-supplied leather literature pack with stamped service book, instruction manual and all equipment booklets
• Large collection of past MOTs and other paperwork

With Ford funding, Jaguar was able to update the XJ40 into the car industry onlookers reckoned it could have been from the start and when the V8 engines were added, even the Germans started to worry. Today the ‘X300’ and ‘X308’ generation of XJ saloons make practical, easy-to-own modern classics.

When the need to market the car with a V8 became obvious, the solution was already on hand in the shape of the AJ-V8 which had been launched in the XJ8 in 1996. The X300 bodyshell needed little work to accommodate the V8 engine and so in 1997 the X308 was launched with V8 power exclusively – marking the end of straight-six and V12 engines in the XJ range.

The X308 was launched in three models – XJ8 3.2, XJ8 4.0 and XJR – with a Sport option available only on the 3.2 and offering black window trim and vertical grey grille slats in a body-coloured surround as well as bigger wheels, sports seats, dark interior wood and stiffer suspension. The range-topping XJ8 spec for the UK market was the Sovereign which majored on luxury and was also offered in a long-wheelbase version with four inches added in the rear door area. As usual, the X308 was also marketed with the Daimler badge in both short and long-wheelbase forms, as either the Daimler Eight or the supercharged Daimler Super V8.

In 1999 for the 2000 model year, the XJ8 3.2 received traction control, electric front seats, chromed window trims and 7×16 ‘Corona’ wheels, with the XJ8 4.0 gaining 8×16 ‘Eclipse’ wheels and the range-topping Sovereign receiving auto wipers, heated screen, CD changer and 7×16 ‘Lunar’ wheels.

HCZ 4157 has been maintained regardless of cost during the current 17-year ownership; the big Jaguar's odometer now showing some 112,000 miles. Said to drive 'faultlessly', but with some minor imperfections to the paintwork/bodywork (as photographed), the car’s overall appearance is still highly presentable and offers a cost-effective entry into classic Jaguar ownership.