a) automotive engineers who have jobs and not passions

b) outsourcing to the same houses over and over again

 

sigh...

I drove past a 351 XJ L and couldn't help but think similarly to most of you. It's a monstrous "stretched" egg. A bit like an Audi 8L, actually.

I was wondering earlier today if the older body could have been "evolved" like Bentley/RR has done rather than copying the East Asian Land Yacht 1,000 brought to you by Toynissubishi.

 

lol

 

The new XJ is so massive and ungainly compared to my 1999 XJ-8

 

God, I hate the X351. And the Xf...and the XE...and the FPace (btw, what kind of name is FPace??!)

I saw a car on the freeway yesterday coming up behind me...I thought it was the new XE...it was just an Audi A4

Instead of us fighting over X308 vs X350, we should be joining forces against the X351.

 

True story:

Very early one morning I stopped at the local auto parts store to buy some little part. It was 7:30 AM and nobody was in the parking lot and rather than defensively parking my 2003 XJR, I just parked up by the front door. I wasn't in the store more than 5 minutes.

Walking out I was looking down at the part I had just bought and saw that some interloper had the nerve to park next to my car. Internally I'm thinking "oh great, who parked that Generisedan next to my..." and I looked up and it was an XF. Then out loud I said "Oh, FAIL!".

I like Jag sedans enough to own two of them, but the new XF and XJs do nothing for me. Can't say I like the X350 all that much either. Take all the emblems off an X308, including the leaper, and you still know it's a Jag. The others, not so much.

-Mike

 

This is not only for Jag owners who tend to be more familiar with Jags, but for the rest of the world, too. Had Jaguar not placed that rather large leaper on the back of the new XJ, not many people would be able to guess correctly that the car driving right by them is actually a Jaguar and not a Ford, or a Nissan.

Whatever the opinions on this may be, the reality is not opinion, is fact and the fact is that, by choosing to design such "non-Jaguar" looking cars, Jaguar seriously compromised sales to the point that seven years after my 2002 XJR was built, sales had dropped down to just 20% of what they were in 2002. Yes, by 2009, Jaguar sales had dropped by 80%, of what they were in 2002 and I wouldn't put the blame on the (then still) nice looking XK cars because their shape had not been altered in the direction that the XJ's were. No opinions fit here, just reality expressed in car sales: 2002: 61,204 cars sold -- 2009: 11,955 cars sold.

Cheers,

 

Is that black vehicle a Jag..........I don't observe a leaping Jaguar on the hood....No leaper...no Jag.

 

I'm a newbie to this forum and realize this probably has been debated to death already, but I agree with CaptHank that the leaper is an important design detail on a Jaguar (and not just as an emblem not the trunk lid). Was there a regulatory/safety reason why the leaper was phased out?

 

From what has been written on prior posts, hood ornaments like the leaping Jaguar are no longer permitted due to pedestrian impaling hazard.

 

I wish that it was possible for manufacturers to consider keeping the previous model style in production, right along side with the new model cars production line, only that the majority of the under-the-skin improvements being introduced on the new model be incorporated to the now extended production of that previous model. Of course, we need to admit that not the entire world thinks the way that we, enthusiasts, do, meaning that the previous body style that we rate timeless, may be dated for the greater portion of the potential Jaguar market.

As such, when the X350 came to production, the X308 would have continued production, as well, but now to include: the 4.2 engine, the 6-speed tranny, etc. Only that at that moment nobody knew about the PITA that the new air suspension was going to be... Personally, I think that the entire dash looks better on the X350, including a GPS now with a real 7" TFT display and not the pitiful, Mickey mouse previous display. Plus whatever other X350 improvements that I fail to list here.

The only problem with this particular example here is that the X308 body style in 2004 was dating back ten years to the 1995 X300, which would've been a little too dated? But, you imagine a supercharged 2005 X308 with all those improvements? Wow! It would most likely be my "dream car forever".

Cheers,

 

....at the risk of confirming my ol' fart status ( I am 67) I understand about the laws and the hood ornaments...we won't get into politics on that issue....but automobiles (motorcars sounds sooo much better when we are speaking of Jags) develop, in my mind, a classic look. When manufacturers get away from that I don't think they do themselves any favors.

What do you think of when you say Mercedes...probably a car with a fake radiator dominated grill...equally so BMW has (or is supposed to have ) that classic front end with the Beemer dual grill. Jaguar....the hood ornament or in the case of the older models that look of a Spitfire fighter.

I know this is just one man's opinion and I am not knocking anyone who loves their newer models ( and has the $$$$ to plunk down on them ) but if I wanted a Hyundai I would buy one and keep a lot of money in the bank.

Anyway, this is a great forum, love this discussion and hope there is no one offended by my opinion ! (I did recently buy a leaping Jaguar on Ebay to mount on one of my tractors...it does have an English engine)

 

The teeth on the leeper are remarkably sharp, lol

 

You be the judge. Classic v. modern. I vote classic.

 

agree, but why the Cadillac 'Hood' (Vogue) tires? White walls on a X308 -- Come on, Man!

 

.

I easily recognize the white X308, but what is that second car..........a Ford Taurus?



.

 

Fun thread!
The 300/308 is Lawson, with the 350 onwards is Callum - Jaguar state different design languages, who knows where it would be without Callums cars, they've taken both Jaguar and Land Rover into the future.

I see the old SVO shop is now the SVR, funny how a letter changes things.

There's a quote from the MD a past Jaguar about describing the life of their cars, they don't grow old, they become classics...
My favourite 2 Sports Saloons

 

Wow that '63 MKII looks to be in really exceptional condition!



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One of my Dad's restorations, there's more work bringing one of these back than an E type! That car has a lot of upgrades.

 

Wow, that's even more impressive if it's a sample of your Dad's work. It's very obvious even from the photo that it is in superlative condition.

My first car was a 1962 MKII, not, I hasten to say, in anything resembling the condition of your #9 example, it had suffered much rust and corrosion and I became its final owner.



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