Jaguar S Type And 420 - The Complete Story

If British motoring had a lounge, the Jaguar S-Type and 420 would be smoking a pipe, adjusting their cufflinks, and quietly outperforming everyone else while pretending it’s no bother. James Taylor’s Jaguar S Type and 420 – The Complete Story (1996, Crowood Press) is the definitive tour through Coventry’s gentleman bruisers: all the curves, cunning engineering, and “we’re not a saloon, we’re a saloon” hauteur that made these cats purr. Taylor doesn’t merely list facts—he escorts you through development histories, model variations, period road tests, and the sort of nuanced differences that separate “oh, nice Jag” from “ah yes, early S-Type with the revised rear suspension and just-so brightwork.” It’s enthusiasm with footnotes, elegance with exploded diagrams.

This copy comes to you Condition: Good, which in Crappy Old Books parlance means it has been treated like a cherished weekend car: carefully driven, sensibly parked, and only occasionally sworn at when the weather changed. Expect a clean text block, a spine that still believes in posture, and pages that have been turned with the kind of restraint usually reserved for walnut veneer. Minor shelf wear? Naturally. Any classic worth its salt has a few stories in the lacquer.

Inside, you’ll find the full saga—from genesis to brochures you’d frame if you weren’t busy reading them—plus specs, production figures, and enough period photography to make you consider sideburns. Taylor’s tone is reassuringly exact: he distinguishes the S-Type’s suave engineering from the 420’s boardroom brawn without starting a family feud. Gear ratios? Present. Trim codes? Present. The eternal question of which grille says “poised” versus “please pass the hors d’oeuvres”? Consider it settled.

Why buy it here? Because Crappy Old Books specialises in the noble survivors—the volumes that still smell faintly of garage, glue, and good intentions. The ISBN 9781852239893 is your secret ignition key; quote it at the next club night and someone will hand you a biscuit. Own this and you’re not just “into Jaguars”; you’re the person who can identify a 420 at dusk by the way the road lamps wink off the chrome.

Perfect for:

• The S-Type whisperer who claims to “only pop the bonnet on Sundays.”

• The 420 aficionado who keeps a torque wrench in the umbrella stand.

• Anyone who believes a proper saloon should corner like a sternly worded letter.

Take this Good-condition guide for a spin. It won’t leak on your driveway, it won’t judge your panel gaps, and it absolutely will help you sound dangerously well-informed. Crappy Old Books: where “good” is better than new—because new hasn’t lived.

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