European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 6, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday March 6, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 13 the Jaguar xes two door sports Coupe inside Wood and leather. Is photo under the Hood the powerful 5.3-liter v12 engine. Is photo available in Europe with . Specifications Jaguar xes Coupe is smooth Strong and silent the sleek 12-Cylinder Jaguar xes Coupe in production since 1976, updated in 1982 and refined annually since then is one of the truly great cars on the world s roads. It s a thoroughbred it that has everything including a top Speed of 150 Miles an hour. Until now the .-specification Jaguar two door Coupe and its stablemates the 6-Cyl Inder xj6 and Vanden Plas four door sedans could Only be purchased in the United states. One could not buy a .-specification Jaguar even in England where they re manufactured in the City of Coventry. But last month military car sales of Frankfurt Germany announced that . Specification jaguars Are available in Europe. Well get to the details later but first let s take a look at thex a Coupe which we had on test recently Courtesy of Jaguar s German Headquarters in Kronberg and military car sales of Frankfurt. Our test car was a european specification Model the main difference Between this one and the .-version being horsepower output 295 at 5,550 rpm for the european car is. 262 at 5,000 rpm for the .-specification Model. The 5.3-liter vi2 engine 326 cubic Inch Sis coupled to a 3-Speed automatic transmission Standard on this car. The engine silent Strong and Silky smooth is the same one that is modified for use in the Jaguar xjr-7 prototype racing cars that compete in the Simsa Camel it series in the United states. Getting into thex a Coupe requires a bit of Effort but once in the seating is perfect for both Driver and passenger. The Back seats however Are Best for Short hops. Settling into the leather seats everything feels and is just right the expensive Jaguar atmosphere giving an immediate feeling of Well being and Confidence. Sections of the dash along with the window trim and the Glove Box door Are All of beautifully finished Wood while the bucket seats doors armrests steering wheel and Quarter panels Are All of English leather. Starting up the engine is so silent that you re not certain it s running. That uncertainty changes of course once you become familiar with the car but it s a bit spooky at first. Totally at ease you put the relatively tiny automatic gear lever into the a Slot and take off. It s All a pleasure no matter if it s City traffic Back roads or High Speed autobahn. The Power flows smoothly from the magnificent v12 engine so smoothly that you have a tendency to keep pushing it. Unhappily for us however the test car was shod with Pirelli Snow tires that were Speed rated at 190 Kph about 118 Mph so we could not do the full 150 Mph. But we took the Jaguar up to 140 Mph for Brief spurts anyway and at that Speed it was never necessary to raise your voice and it probably would t have been at 150 Mph either. During Long autobahn runs we cruised Between 118 and 125 Mph and the car was just loafing. At 125 Mph the Tach read 4,500 rpm redline is 6,500. And if some Quick slow Downs from these High speeds became necessary the All disc Brak ing system took care of that neatly and quickly scrubbing Speed from this nearly two ton car without drama. While driving the View Over the Classi Cally Long Hood is first rate and although the Coupe is a big car driving it is a pleas ure and a lot of fun too. The ride mean while is in a class of its own supple smooth and comfortable. About the Only thing we did t feel at Home with was the steering wheel the rim size a bit delicate for a car producing so much performance. The Jaguar Coupe has one of the longest lists of Standard equipment in the Auto Industry the Only option being a Sun  include automatic transmission Power steering Power assist disc brakes Allaround automatic climate control cruise control Power windows and door locks Power mirrors and a fully lined trunk compartment the trunk quite Large by the  Standard is a dash mounted trip com Puter which provides instantaneous trip an performance information to the Driver. One of these functions is a Miles per gallon readout and our figure was 13.5 mpg for the full 1,000-mile test session. The tank holds 24 Gallons. When discussing Jaguar cars it is still necessary to talk about reliability because a few years ago the reliability Factor was Jaguar s weakest Point. Since 1980, however when John Egan took Over As chairman of Jaguar Quality control has become the company s top priority and sales have climbed Ever since. Last year Jaguar set new sales records in North America the firm s largest Market. Jaguar reports that customer satisfaction with Quality is also at a record High the Jaguar cars attaining fifth place among All cars in the 1985 . Power customer satisfaction Index. This Survey which is car ried out in the United states covers 10 major areas of a consumer s relationship with his car and the Selling servicing dealer. Jaguar cars of course Are strictly in the luxury Market and like other cars in that Market they Are expensive and they Are also relatively expensive to maintain. But if one is fortunate enough to be in the luxury car bracket a Jaguar represents Good value for Money. It should also be noted that Jaguar is the Only major car producer that manufacturers 12-Cylinder engines. Ferrari and Lam Borghini also sell cars with 12-Cylinder motors but these two firms come under the limited production Label. Military car sales of Frankfurt plans to have thex a Coupe xj6 4-door Sedan and Vanden Plas Sedan in Stock by april 15, and these models May be seen and Pur chased at sales centers in Frankfurt Kaiserslautern Wuerzburg Hanau Mann Heim and Fuerth. Special orders outside Stock will take from three to four months the firm says. The official . Forces Price list which represents a 13 percent discount from the 1986 . List Price is As follows xj6 4.2 liter Sedan $29,650 xj6 Vanden Plas Sedan $32,682 xes vi2 Coupe $33,084. All prices Are port of entry Bremerhaven. If delivery to Jaguar Headquarters in Kron Berg Germany is preferred the charge is $300. For full details on Jaguar availability financing and test drives prospective buy ers should Call Jaguar representative Randy Mann at 069-66360, or write him at Mili tary car sales Lyone Strasse 44-48, 6000 Frankfurt main 71, West Germany. Randy Barnett cafes schedules Auto show at new sales Center in Fuerth the cafes new car sales Center at Fuerth Germany will be the site of a Spring car show with the show scheduled from March 13 to 17. The new cafes Center which will be inaugurated at the show has been designed to serve As a permanent display area for american cars. It is located near the Fuerth shopping Center. The show will be open from 10 . To 8 . On All five Days. Cars trucks and recreational vehicles from american motors Chrysler Ford general motors and Volkswagen of America will be on display As will motorcycles from Harley Davidson. A second show will follow on easter weekend March 27-31, at the Robinson Barracks parking lot in Stuttgart. This show will be held in a Large tent