There seems to be some discussion about the originality of coachlines on Series III XJ cars. I can`t imagine why.
Here are the facts: every *single* Series III XJ exported to Canada or the US left the factory with a (tape) coachline, not hand-painted and NOT `dealer installed` as Steve Kennedy erroneously states in his EXCELLENT book). The 1979 to 1982 XJ6 cars had a single tape coachline in black (rare, but it can be een in factory catalogues for the xj6), gold, oyster, gunmetal or copper. For 1983 and later the coachlines were double lines. The V12 cars also had double coachlines. These coachlines are clearly seen in every new sales catalogue whether Canadian, American, UK, Australian...
Proof of this can be found in the parts catalogue, for example in the V12 Catalogue (RTC 9885CE), on pages 2H 13R and 14L; one example: the double coachline in gold leaf is BBC 1593 for the right side, and BBC 1954 for the left. I have bought these tapes from Jaguar myself. Nigel Thorley (ORIGINAL JAGUAR) on p. 36 documents the factory distribution of these coachlines according to model.
It is not the existence of the coachline that should be a concours issue, but the length (they should not extend beond the swage lines, front and rear), and in some cases, the colour.
Gregory Andrachuk
1992 Series III V12 Vanden Plas
1966 Mark 2 3.8
2002 X-Type