Skip to content
Title:
Jaguar XJS Motor Car - The Barbie Car
Object name(s):
motor car
Brief description:
Unregistered. This Coventry made vehicle was specially prepared for Mattel to help with the launch of a model XJ-S in the ‘Barbie’ range of toys. It is painted in ‘Shocking Pink’ and was used the worldwide to promote the release of the model car. However it had a life before Barbie. It was originally used Jaguar Cars to help launch the new XJ-S Convertible in 1990. It was then shipped to Bosnia to appear in a film starring Omar Sharif and directed by Michael Winner. Becoming trapped in Bosnia during the uprising in the 1990s it was eventually returned to Jaguar in need of lots of repair work. The level of this work meant it was ideal to be reused as the ‘Barbie car’. It is a left hand drive automatic, powered by a 5.3 litre V12 engine meaning it’s both fast and smooth to drive. It is not registered in the UK so can’t be driven on the roads without special trade plates. It was acquired by the museum from Jaguar Daimler Heritage trust in 1999.
Collection:
Culture Coventry
Dimension:
Height:1.200m Width:1.800m Length: 4.750m Depth:
Object name:
motor car
Object number:
RT.1999/50
Object production date:
Date - earliest / single:
1990
Date - latest:
1990
Object production organisation:
Jaguar Cars Ltd, Browns Lane,Coventry
Responsible department/section:
Coventry Transport Museum

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/d5f8bf3e-039f-3695-be52-f1e7ffd8255f

Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC

Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/d5f8bf3e-039f-3695-be52-f1e7ffd8255f, Culture Coventry, CC BY-NC

Is there a problem with this record? Give feedback.

Sign up to our newsletter

Follow the latest MDS developments every two months with our newsletter.

Unsubscribe any time. See our privacy notice.

Back to top