The long-awaited XJ-S coupe made its debut in 1975 too; not really a replacement for the E-Type, being much heavier and less agile, it was nonetheless a much more modern-looking successor to the XJ6C and XJ12C - something borne out by the fact that it still looked much the same in the mid-'90s. Designed by in-house stylist Malcolm Sawyer, it was the first post-war Jaguar in which Sir William Lyons, now retired, did not have the final veto on, and many critics held that this was why it was not as beautiful as 'traditional' Jags. But built on the same platform as the shorter-wheelbase XJ saloons, it was a cost-effective model to develop and build. It had to be, given British Leyland's mounting financial crisis. In an attempt to boost the XJ range's sporting credentials, Jaguar supported Ralph Broad's Broadspeed team in the 1976 European Touring Car Championships, but chose to contest this with a two-door saloon rather than the XJ-S. It proved spectacularly fast, often lapping the opposition within a dozen laps of the start, but fearsomely fade-prone brakes and unreliability invariably denied it victories. It didn't return for another year's racing.

Series II cars are now getting collectable too, and low-mileage, well-maintained examples are priced accordingly. Coupes are rare and sought-after, though not as expensive as they could be; the Daimler models are particularly popular in the wedding car business. Higher-specified versions are not necessarily much more expensive than the entry-level cars: apparently, there's a market for stripped-out Seventies oil-crisis chic, and the cloth-upholstered cars have their own dedicated followers. Allegedly.