Myth Busters – hyphens, buttresses and family ties
Debunking the most common old wives’ tales
1 IT HAS FLYING BUTTRESSES
No, no, no! This one really has to stop, because we’ve seen it repeated countless times in books and magazines and heard it from enthusiasts and XJ-S experts. The XJ-S does not have flying buttresses! Those extrusions either side of the rear window are simply buttresses. A flying buttress is an arched structure – ie, it has a hole in it – unlike the XJ-S’s solid items. If you want examples of flying buttresses, go and look at the Maserati Merak. Or Lincoln Cathedral. If we hear this asserted again, we’re liable to send whoever says it flying…
2 IT REPLACED THE JAGUAR E-TYPE
The XJ-S will always be regarded by many as the automotive George Lazenby to the E-type’s Sean Connery. E-type production ended just before the XJ-S’s launch but Jaguar didn’t try to replace the iconic ‘E’. That – initially at least – was a sports car, unencumbered by the sort of 1970s regulations that dictated the XJ-S’s crumple zones and big bumpers. It was also believed that open cars were to be outlawed, hence why there was no al fresco XJ-S at first. With its V12 and automatic gearbox, the XJ-S was a grand tourer, pure and simple.
3 THE DROPPED HYPHEN SAVED THE COMPANY MONEY
Jaguar gave the XJ-S a facelift in 1991. At the same time, its name was oh-so-subtly changed from XJ-S to XJS. But why was that all-important hyphen dropped, after 16 years of use? There’s a rumour that it was done to save money; for by this time, Ford and its eagle-eyed accountants were running the show, and even one fewer character could save money, both on badging and in printed literature. The truth is that it was simply to demonstrate that the car had undergone a quite considerable revamp.