Dear forum friends: here follows my first attempt at a feature length automotive magazine piece. I submitted it as an essay response for a class in creative writing. We were asked to write a feature length magazine article on a topic of our choice. To give myself a fighting chance I picked a subject I know pretty well, but I will be the 1st to admit not as well as many others on this forum.
It is offered in the spirit of entertainment rather than as a source of information.



Even if you’re not in possession of the one of the early Jaguar XJ Series of luxury saloons from the 1960s, 70s or 80s, or the proud owner of one of the models that superseded the X308, you would be correct in rushing to point out, that any discussion on such a subject could only ever be a subjective analysis, and so simply a matter of opinions.

If however, you are an aficionado of the XJ Series, or the proud owner of one the evolutions of the XJ that have been developed since the X308 then you will, if you are at all like me, find discussion of the subject endlessly fascinating, swinging as it often does from erudite analysis of automotive design to flat out, dragged through the mud, nothing is sacred, slagging contests.

Fans of the truly early XJ’s, the Series ones two and three keepers, are a breed apart. You guys really are the heroes of the XJ series preservation societies around the world and I take my hat off the work you do in keeping so many of those truly fine automobiles in such excellent condition.

They were the last in the direct line from Sir William himself, as even though Sir William was directly involved, in the twilight of his career, with the development of the XJ 40, for me, the Series III marks the end of the pure, original concept.

To consider that Sir William Lyons visualised such iconic automotive designs as the XK-E-Type and S Type Saloon, as well as the instantly recognisable Series 1 XJ, and then rendered drawings of the vehicles while working in the gardens around his home, is to marvel at the casual genius that could have created such enduringly beautifully automobiles, in such an unassuming manner.

Work of similar calibre now takes the combined talents of many specialised engineering and creative designers, working with the latest computer-aided design technologies, months if not years, to produce.

The characteristics and parameters of the design language employed by Sir William Lyons in the early Jaguar vehicles had been preserved, to a greater or lesser extent, (but always clearly identifiable), in every iteration of the XJ, until the production of the final X308 in 2003.

The Series 1 XJ’s original low slung, 3 box yet sleek and high performance saloon concept was a radical departure from the Jaguar four-door limousines that preceded it. Making it immediately identifiable on the roads of the time as the New Jaguar silhouette, the same basic profile of the car was to be preserved for 35 years until the introduction of the XJ350 altered the proportions to such an extent that the original design DNA was lost, and with it the influences of the garden artist that linked the Series 1 XJ to the X308.

The Series 2 and Series III XJ’s, while each being meaningful evolutions of the model, bear such marked similarities to the original Series 1 car as to warrant discussion together.

The success of the Series 2 model was severely hampered during much of its manufacturing run as at that time, the Jaguar brand was part of the British Leyland Group, and like in every other department and every other division of that organisation, productivity and quality were at the lowest levels the company would ever experience. It was to be many years before the brand was fully recovered from the damage to its reputation brought on by poor manufacturing standards during a period of truly appalling labour relations.

The internal politics of the British Leyland Group conspired with the national politics of the time to produce manufacturing and labour relations conditions in the United Kingdom that were reminiscent of Soviet Russia. That Jaguar was able to produce a luxury saloon car capable of competing in the marketplace against competition from German, French and Italian rivals, was alone, remarkable.

That the Series 1, Series 2 and Series III models of the XJ, in all of the model range’s engine variants, are without doubt Classic Jaguar Saloon Cars, and the value of properly maintained, original examples of these cars will continue to appreciate in value is, I think, beyond question.

The reputation for poor build quality and reliability garnered during British Leyland’s stewardship of Jaguar was well warranted so, when John Egan took over as chief executive officer in 1980 he knew immediately that “Job One” was to improve reliability and build quality and to work with the brand’s dealership network to begin restoring customer confidence in the marque.

It was with the XJ40 that John Egan was able to equip his forecourt dealers with the car that would begin to restore Jaguar’s reputation for excellence in engineering, quality and craftsmanship. The introduction of far more confident sounding warranties also began to enhance the brand’s reputation as a manufacturer who was willing to stand over its product for an extended period of time.

I pay the XJ 40 the same kind of respect that I give to this Series I, II and III cars. I admire their keepers and the dedication they give to preserving good examples of the XJ40 and keeping it reasonably visible around the city where I live. It is a beautiful car and original examples really are contenders for the “Classic” moniker.

For commercial reasons, the XJ40 was always going to be a stopgap measure for Jaguar on the way to a truly new saloon worthy of the XJ badge. Later builds of the XJ40 were good cars and many of them put up truly huge mileage, but the styling was beginning to show its age and something fresher, more modern and with more feline grace was going to be required if Jaguar was to remain competitive against its rejuvenated German competitors.

It was with the introduction of the X300 that finally, the Jaguar XJ became a modern and sophisticated luxury saloon.

Mechanically there was little difference between the X300 and the XJ40 models. The interior designs, especially the dashboards, bore marked similarities; most of this was down to cost savings, and in fairness it was sound rationale.

Considerable investment had been made in a revision to the manufacturing processes used to produce the body panels and interiors for the XJ40, and that car was now considerably lighter, stiffer and cheaper to make (with fewer parts to manufacture and assemble) than its predecessors.

All of those quality and productivity gains were hard-won and were worth retaining and carrying over into the production of the X300. The engineering similarities between the two cars, was a significant benefit for the X300. The development of the model coming as it did just as Ford Motor Group took ownership of Jaguar and introduced simply huge sums of money.

Ford also introduced Jaguar to modern manufacturing techniques that were custom tuned to better suit the Jaguar manufacturing culture. Jaguar managed to realise the process and procedural improvements Ford had to offer without experiencing the deterioration in corporate culture and workplace relations that are normally associated with productivity and quality gains that come without a proportionate increase in cost.

So, mechanically and structurally the changes were kept to a minimum. By the time the XJ 40 had come to the end of its production run all of the kinks had been ironed out of the drivetrain, the independent rear suspension had been even further refined, the cooling system had been improved and the XK 4.0 L 6 cylinder engine had continued to make performance and efficiency gains since its introduction. All of these improvements were now well-positioned in the manufacturing process to be applied to the new car.

It was approaching what could reasonably considered a near-perfect 6-cylinder engine, the likes of which we wouldn’t see again until BMW produced the incredible M3 E 46, 6-cylinder engine in 2000.

That the basic platform, power unit and transmission were carried over from the XJ 40 was not because Ford was not ready to make a considerable investment in Jaguar. They most definitely were. With the introduction of the X100 series of the Jaguar XK 8 in 1996 the company had an instant hit on its hands. Investment funds were no longer in issue, and a great deal of confidence in the company’s potential had been restored.

Geoff Lawson headed the design team that crafted the original X100 and the vision he had for the coupe, (and the very quick to follow convertible), was the materialisation of feline grace equipped with an engine that provided subtle, responsive, silky smooth power allowing the car to move in a manner that always feels and appears effortless.

With the product pipeline also clearly demanding a replacement for the XJ40 it is beyond consideration that Geoff Lawson would have approached the development of the X300 (the XJ 40’s successor) without a clear understanding of how he was going to apply the advancements in technology and manufacturing processes to the coupe version which would be the lead out vehicle for the company’s brand-new state-of-the-art 4 L V8 engine.

The X100 was designed with the V8 engine and drivetrain in mind but with the platform and overall styling language of the X300 as the basis upon which to design the overarching appearance of the vehicle. Geoff Lawson would have imagined the V8 engine and drivetrain combination that he had just specified to go into the X100 would now be transplanted into the beautiful design of the X300 to give us the X308.

Suddenly he had killed two birds with one stone and rejuvenated both of Jaguar’s flagship models with superior replacements. This, of course, is why the X100 and X308 can be reasonably thought of, as brother and sister. Pretty much everything with the exception of the sheet metal and the glass, and of course the design of the interior, is the same on both cars.

I don’t think the impact the phenomenal success of the X100 had on the development of the X308 can be overstated. Here, all of a sudden Jaguar had a world beating engine and drivetrain combination, coupled with what was already a classic independent rear suspension system that was simply peerless, encased in sheet metal and glass that simply oozed sensuality, now perfectly positioned to slot into the exceptionally beautiful body of the X300.

Emboldened, as he must have been by the incredibly positive reception to what can perhaps be termed the “Sensuous Approach” to car design, Geoff Lawson would have approached the drawing board for the sweeping interior, and minor exterior changes to the four-door version of the platform with the flush of the success he experienced for the approach had received still fresh in his mind.

The X100 inspired styling for the X300 was a complete departure from what had been shown in the XJ40. Gone were the sharp angles and squared off edges of the outgoing car to be replaced by sensuous curves and aerodynamically blended angles that suggested a much more feline grace than the more brute force and masculine feeling exterior of the XJ40. I cannot help but think that that was a carryover and something of a feminising influence from the X100.

One can also get the distinct feeling that Geoff Lawson reached back a generation, back past the XJ40’s angular, muscular presence, in order to retrieve threads of the pure original Series III mystique and so weave strands of Sir William Lyon’s elegant styles into those of his own.

The X300 was sexy. And the car was now being built by Ford. Which meant build quality went through the roof and reliability came standard rather than at the very great expense of an on-going maintenance bill.

It is, in my opinion, without doubt, the most beautiful four-door saloon car in the world, bar none, and with the introduction of the supercharged engine Jaguar really did create a unique type of super saloon car.

The introduction of the V12 engine into the X300 body suddenly became possible when Jaguar was no longer part of the British Leyland group. British Leyland had wanted to use the Rover V8 in the XJ, much to the horror of the Jaguar engineers, and any other sane minded individual who heard the news at the time, I should add.

After British Leyland broke up and Jaguar became master of its own destiny again, through devout prayer, and by some sudden alteration to the laws of physics, an engine bay that was “not designed for, nor capable of, holding a V shaped engine,” suddenly became both of those things in order to accommodate Jaguar’s own, truly marvellous, V 12.

The Jaguar XJ 12 is a truly magnificent motorcar. I would offer it for comparison against any of its peers from the era, and expect it to acquit itself admirably against any of them.

Will the X305, with its beautiful V12 engine, be considered a classic before too much longer? And if it is will that make it the pick of the Jaguar XJ Litter?

The next generation of XJ was to get the V8 engine that had been tried and tested in the X100 for nearly two years, and it was now to be the only engine Jaguar was to offer customers for more than a decade.

The Jaguar AJ 26 engine was quite simply the most perfect mass produced V8 engine in the world at the time. It had to be. Jaguar were the last manufacturer of its type to the market with a V8 engine so they had had plenty of opportunity to see how the competition such as Lexus and Mercedes, BMW and indeed Porsche, had gone about solving the problem of building a V8 engine to power high-performance luxury motor cars.

In every respect, and by any measure, the engine is a thing of beauty and an engineering marvel. That’s not to say it was in any way perfect. While the engine had no fundamental design flaws, some rather poor design choices, when it came to material selections, were made in the building of the early engines. Unfortunately, they were the kind of rather poor design choices that when they led to component failure tended to be catastrophic for either the engine and/or gearbox.

I am aware too however, that there are very large numbers of Jaguar XJ8 X350 model owners out there, and a smaller but almost by definition, far more rich and powerful, cohort of owners of the successor to the X358, the X351 and they will, no doubt disagree with my assessment of the X308 as the Pickup the XJ Litter. So, let me take a short digression and discuss for a moment the things that are common and unite the cars in their heritage, before looking at what I think the ownership of each vehicle represents.

What, in all of its model iterations, sets the XJ apart from its competitors? As the flagship model for the marque the XJ represents Jaguars expression of the state-of-the-art of the luxury automobile at any given point in time. The best the combination of engineering and design can manufacture offer at any given time.

For me it starts with the very name, Jaguar. There is no other name in automotive manufacturing that is so evocative. No other name is as successful in establishing an immediate subconscious connection with superlatives; fastest (XJ 220), most beautiful (XK-E Type), best engineered (Le Mans winners of the 1950s) Regal, (Her Majesty the Queen had her own personal X305).

The spirit of the Jaguar manufacturing company has become imbued in its brand and the qualities that the brand projects are materialised in the company’s products.

I can think of no other name in automotive manufacturing, that when consciously considered, produces so many images and emotions in one’s mind, as the name, Jaguar.

Go ahead. Try it. Have a think about names like Mercedes, BMW, or Porsche. Choose one or two of the British marques as well, for fair comparison. Take a moment. Give each of them a turn.

See what I mean? I don’t know how they’ve managed to do it. Some uncanny alchemy of sublime, beautiful, automotive engineering excellence coupled with craftsmanship and a deep rich history of British manufacturing quality, reaching back to the Industrial Revolution, has imbued the brand with a personality that is uniquely British - understated and excellent.

Even the brand’s reputation for indiscriminate unreliability has, rather than becoming a source of annoyance, lent the car’s owners a licence to regale their fellow enthusiasts with tales of unacceptably inconvenient breakdowns or bouts of strange performance behaviours, from which they have managed to elicit themselves and their beloved carriages to return home safely. Somehow, and this particular piece of Branding Witchcraft completely eludes me, these tales of triumph through misadventures have improved the cachet of Jaguar ownership, not diminished it.

In the intermingling of the qualities deliberately imbued into the Jaguar brand, with the relentless quest for manufacturing excellence in the Jaguar factories, they have produced a product that is a material representation of the qualities for which the company stands.

It’s quite an achievement and one that I think deserves recognition, for the contributions that all of the Jaguar staff must have made, across the organisation, in order to realise it.

Of course, each of the other manufacturing brands mentioned above have got rich heritages and racing pedigrees, many of which far exceed Jaguars successes, and yet…

They simply don’t have the same panache. The same élan. However exceptionally fine automobiles they may be, they are just not Jaguars.

Jaguars are cool. Jaguars are sensuous. Jaguars are desirable.

What makes a car cool is open to debate but certainly, its stance on the road, the impression it gives about the way it engages with the tarmac, the way you can imagine the car’s weight distribution by the proportions of its length and width, it’s ground clearance, these give the first impression as to the cars’ attitude and manners.

Slung low and with a wide wheel base, the X308 looks poised and well-balanced. The car is ingeniously proportioned with the overhangs of the wheel arches at both front and back seemingly perfectly balanced against the size of the doors and the proportions of the greenhouse.

The car is long, low and wide and sits on 19 inch rims as standard, which are perfectly proportioned to, and by, the wheel arches, giving the profile of the car the impression that the vehicle is sitting very low to the ground.

Which indeed it is. As soon as you sit into the car you realise that you are sitting into a sports car rather than into an executive saloon. You sit down into the X308; you don’t slide across into it.

The waistline of the car runs low along the flank of the vehicle giving perfect proportion to the height and width of the door panels in relation to that of the windows. Not only is the car suspended low to the ground, the roofline is low too, allowing for beautifully elegant proportions to be maintained throughout the profile elevation of the car.

The elegance of the design however was not without its drawbacks. The size of the boot for example was a constant customer complaint. It was wide enough and long enough. It simply just wasn’t deep enough and it couldn’t be, not if you were to maintain that beautiful profile where the sensuous curve of the car’s hip, above the rear wheel arch, tapers exquisitely into the boot lid. Transporting a set of golf clubs, along with bags to accommodate a weekend away with one’s companion, let alone the offspring, as well, became an issue.

From the front the X308 appears aggressive, with its twin headlamps and wide, business-like, function over form, and yet elegantly chromed, front grille giving the car a snarling appearance as it approached from behind.

The X308 was the last Jaguar to be manufactured from steel. Not much more than casual examination gives even an inexperienced inspector of the vehicle the impression that it is made from “solid” natural materials and manufactured to a level of quality that is far above what was possible by human hands alone, and yet remains imperfect enough to be identifiable as not having been manufactured completely by other machines.

The car feels like it was built by hands, not like it was assembled by robots.

The timely introduction of essentially limitless resources provided by the Ford Motor Company ensured that design specifications for the X308 and the build quality that was possible was far better than anything Jaguar had ever been capable of before.

As I have said previously, and with complete sincerity, the Jaguar X350, is a wonderful motor car. It is for that very reason that I resent it the most. It represents the physical manifestation of missed opportunity. It was by a cruel twist of fate that the X350 misses out on its claim to be the Pick up the XJ Litter, not for the want of ability.

It has a far better engine in the all-aluminium 4.2 L V8 that replaced the 4.0 L AJ 27, (an evolution of the original AJ 26, and the unit that later models of the X308). It’s lighter, it’s more powerful, it’s more responsive and it’s more efficient. It is, in every way, a superior power plant to the 4.0 L V8 that it replaced.

The X350 has a superior transmission. It introduced a 6 speed ZF unit that is simply excellent. While the 5 speed ZF unit in the X308, when it is working well is an absolute joy, it was however, known to give trouble.

Not only was the engine and powertrain upgraded, and made lighter and more efficient by the introduction of aluminium, so too, the entire body and chassis of the X350 was manufactured using aluminium, with only the very minimum of steel, or “conventional”, parts remaining in the cars construction.

The application of the new materials and construction techniques paid off, in a major way, and the car became far more agile and nimble, much more driveable when taken by the scruff of the neck and engaged with enthusiastically.

But therein lies the problem. The X350 never invites you to become enthusiastically engaged with it. By the time you’ve travelled to the end of your driveway you will have been overcome by a state of tranquillity normally only reserved for those who have been prescribed and enthusiastically engage with Xanax.

The walk up to the car is where this transformation from, (and let’s just reach for a stereotype here), a young urbane professional with a zest for life and insatiable curiosity which provides inspiration to actively seek out new experiences and embrace new cultures, into the slightly overweight, pastel colour golf shirt wearing, (plays off 12 but is in the running for Club Captain), mediocre, middle manager with a nascent drinking problem and a manic-depressive wife.

By the time you have actually opened the door and slid sideways into the, “Gentleman’s Club” environment of the driver’s cabin the transition from charming, windswept and interesting travelling companion to sclerotic middle class, mediocre, also ran, is complete.

By contrast, the closer you get to the X308 the more interesting life becomes. The closer you get the more engaging the curves, the more enchanting the overall form appears. As you blip the blip and the doors locks open, the cabin lights fade up, and a sense of occasion descends.

Even if you’re late for work and you still have to bring the kids to school first, it always feels like you are going somewhere special, exciting, as you slip down into the driver’s seat and slide into the low slung position behind the leather and wood steering wheel.

The driver’s cabin embraces you, and the walnut dashboard, punctuated as it is by 3 perfectly proportioned circles, into which are recessed the three dials containing the information with which every driver should be concerned placed immediately in view.

But the thing I think I like the most about the dashboard of the X308 is that there are no LED or touch sensitive control screens. The centre console is occupied by the air conditioning controls and the stereo system and that’s about it. I think it is and important observation to make. The X308, as far as I can tell from my research, is the last Jaguar, and certainly the last XJ, to leave the factory without some sort of interactive information screen installed as standard equipment.

The advances in semi -autonomous motoring, self-driving cars, and the never ending integration of motorcar with mobile phone/Internet leaves me to wonder how much longer cars like the X308 will be seen as “ordinary cars”.

I have argued that the X308 is cool, young, urbane and sophisticated while remaining elegant and understated. Confident in its capabilities while exuding quality and excellence, the X308 is balanced poised and athletic, proficient, capable, successful.

In contrasting the X308 with the X350 above, I never had any time meant any offence. But this is my honest opinion, the design of the X350, both interior and exterior, moved Jaguar away from the edge of style and design and retreated the company into a familiar but now stale, middle-life design language.

It’s almost as if the redesign from X308 to X350 was driven by the laundry list of consumer complaints about the slight inconveniences introduced by the elegance of the existing design. As I said earlier, people complained incessantly about the depth of the boot, so Ian Callum made the boot deeper, which raised the waistline, and reduced the area of the glasshouse.

It seems a lot of people felt the cabin space was too small and so complained incessantly about this too. I can’t help but imagine that a lot of these complaints came from Jaguar customers on the other side of “The Pond” where not only do they build the cars bigger but they also seem to build the human beings bigger, too. I suspect it’s not that the cabin of the Jaguar was too small but that the American drivers occupying them were too large. It’s my blog. I can say what I want.

To further accommodate the wish list, the cabin headroom was increased which of course raised the roof line, which in turn destroyed the proportions of glass to sheet metal that was so perfectly exhibited in the X300. The now ageing X300 and X308’s original customers who were shopping for a replacement in the form of the X350 or X358, largely out of brand loyalty and dedication to the model, also complained that getting in and out of the car was becoming more difficult.

To get over this problem Jaguar’s interior design engineers raised the cushion height of the seats in relation to the door plinth, which now makes any occupant of the front seats of the car feel like her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, due to the height of the seat, one feels like one is perched inside of one’s vehicle.

The front and rear bumpers were redesigned, as too was the grille, as far as I can tell, just for the sake of doing it. I cannot, without prejudice, see how any of what they decided to change could have possibly struck them as being an improvement at the time they modelled them in clay.

All of the slight changes conspired to make the car shorter, broader and bulkier as well as taller, while never keeping any of the changes in proportion to each other so, that the overall impression was of three boxes bolted together, designed specifically to disguise the exquisitely engineered platform and running gear beneath.

It was as if the redesign was carried out with an attitude of benign neglect. As a Jaguar fan, looking back with the benefit of hindsight, it’s almost as though the attention of the entire organisation had been directed towards the development of the new range that was to become the “New XJ - The X351”, the XF and ultimately the XE and F-Pace.

I suppose, and ultimately that’s all any of this is, supposition, the X350 met with the same fate as the XJ 40. “It fell between two stools”, as we say in Ireland. It was as though the X350 design aged at exactly the same rate as the people who had bought X300 and X308’s, because more than anything else, when contrasted with the X308, the X350 looks, middle aged.

By so precisely targeting that pool of customers they limited the appeal of the car so greatly that it sold in fewer numbers than any other previous model of XJ. As the great Steve jobs was once quoted as saying, “the customer never knows what he wants”.

Parked side-by-side, it’s not difficult, nor do I think it is too romantically whimsical, to conjure the image of a father and son. The X350 or X358 filling the role of wise and benevolent father to his college graduate son, whose body remains fully flexible and endowed, as he is, with rakish good looks and an obvious, devil may care, sense of style, gives the casual observer the impression that the young man’s ticket in life has already been issued, with the words First-Class embossed boldly across the face. Meanwhile dad is satisfied with the hard earned reserved parking spot at the golf club.

The personified X308’s future is so bright; it has to wear shades. The X350/X358’s persona is concerned that he might be late for his tee time

The reason for this the pivotal moment in what was to become a nightmare period in the Jaguar styling studios history was the untimely death of Geoff Lawson as, in addition to a deep sense of loss and sympathy for his family, it presents Jaguar enthusiasts with one of, what will always remain, one of life’s great “what ifs”.

What if Geoff had lived for another 30 years, rather than us being cheated of him, as we were, when he was only 54? What direction would he have brought Jaguar’s styling when he had at his disposal the kind of advances in materials engineering and computing power that were just becoming available around the time he died and had matured it into powerful productivity tools by the time Ian Callum had taken over the job as director of design at Jaguar.

It’s a thought exercise that I find fascinating. I’m far too visually unimaginative to be able to conjure in my mind the shapes and forms, the curves and angles that Geoff Lawson would have created using the materials at his disposal today. What magic would Mr Lawson have given us if he too had been able to work with aluminium and other modern composite materials such as carbon fibre structural components and ceramic brake discs?

When Ian Callum came to Jaguar he suddenly had an awful lot on his hands. While the X100 had been tremendously successful it was clear that its production run was coming to an end and Jaguar desperately needed a replacement. Working at Aston Martin, Ian Callum produced some of the sexiest sports cars on the planet and he had now been asked to bring those talents to bear on a rejuvenation of Jaguar’s signature GT.

The company was also going to need a replacement for the now ageing, although still sublimely beautiful, X308. Suddenly Jaguar was faced with replacing both of its flagship models.

Every project at every company that I have ever worked at has been constrained by resources, time and/or money. Faced with the competing priorities of replacing the coupe and the four-door saloon car at the same time the company seem to choose to do neither completely, and instead decided to tinker with what they had while they worked out the direction in which the company was going to go forward from a design perspective.

While the facelift to the X100, the X150 worked, becoming rebranded as simply XK, and resulted in a very fine motorcar indeed, it was largely due to the subtle changes to the exterior design and the inclusion of the upgraded 4.2 L V8 engine which was constructed largely from aluminium, and as I discussed earlier was an order of magnitude better than the 4 L unit it was replacing. The X150 also got that wonderful six speed transmission and upgrades to the front suspension geometry, the ability to do this came as an added bonus of the aluminium construction.

While all of this was going on, something had to be done about the ageing XJ8. So, faced with savagely competing priorities for solutions to the problems of upgrading the existing models while keeping his gaze fixed firmly on the future that was to be the X351, Ian Callum did something Jaguar had never done before.

He compromised.

On the one hand the car would be built using the latest manufacturing technologies which would also be brought to bear on the manufacturer of the XK, in a purpose built facility, using cutting-edge technologies upon which no expense was spared, and it would be equipped with the same exceptional suspension and powertrain as it sister car, the XK.

On the other hand, only the most heavy-handed of facelifts would be given to the exterior, while making the interior, and in particular the luggage compartment, more customer friendly. As far as I can see, there was no creative flair or commitment given to the redesign of the XJ between the X308 and the X350 that was in any way an aesthetic or experiential improvement.

Although we are not considering the XJ X351 as a meaningful contender due to its ineligibility for inclusion in Classic status at this time, I think it would be unfair not to afford the model some discussion by merit of its place in the evolution of the model, and as its current incantation.

The X351 is a technological tour de force and is by far and away the best XJ Jaguar has ever produced. That’s not to say I like the car. I don’t. It’s too big. It’s too imposing. It’s too much.

The X351 is not a car to be owned by rich, famous and powerful, (and let’s face it, who else can afford these cars?) Jaguar Enthusiasts. They might own one, in which they are often chauffeured, because they simply appreciate exquisite British luxury automotive engineering and interior appointments, and because at times driving oneself is simply impractical.

If they do own another Jaguar and it’s just for fun, then it’s likely to be an F type. Or if it’s a Jaguar to drive to and from board meetings, but one likes to drive oneself, then the Jaguar of choice will almost certainly come from the XF range or be an F-Pace.

The young and the affluent are no longer in the market for powerful four-door saloon cars. Their luxury executive chariot of choice is the fully loaded, exquisitely appointed Range Rover, which they consider to be the ideal vehicle in which to tinker around town, delivering the kids to and from school, and ferrying the family around to various sporting and social events. Just what all that massive over engineered running gear and enormous off road wheels were designed to come to grips with, city streets.

With digressions along the way to discuss common heritage between the model types as they evolved, they are all at the end of the day the flagship Jaguar model, and as such are all outstanding examples of automotive craftsmanship. It is not an easy debate to moderate nor argument to decide.

Alas time and space conspire to encourage me to end my discourse on the various merits from various vintages of the littermates of the great Jaguar XJ.

Having considered the model from its conception in the optimism of the 60s, then discussing the difficulties experienced in the 80s, and the resulting damage to its reputation, before thinking about its turnaround and rejuvenation into a significant example of the state-of-the-art powerful, luxury high performance saloon cars, I feel ready to make a call.

And it is, for my money, the X308.

 

My sincere compliments on a very 'spirited' piece.
I recognize a lot of things ...

 

Good work !

 

I think sales volume says it all. Series III sales in mid-80s seem to be the record at 13,000 - 19,000 per year so perhaps that's the overall popularity winner. But in the US, X300 sold an average of 13,049 per year, the x308 sold 11,825 per year , the x350/8 almost half as many at 6,162 per year and the x351 down by another 33% at 4,129 per year. Interestingly too, the x350 markedly declined year over year toward the end and the x351 seems to be doing the same. And to think that when the x300 came out, Jaguar's reputation for being unreliable and costly to repair was still very fresh in most consumer's minds. People must've been buying it for some reason. I figure that reason was that it just looked so much different from anything else on the road that heart overruled logic in the purchase decision process.

 

Slightly odd use of punctuation. Never a comma when it's needed, often one when it's not. The best guide, when in doubt, is to say the sentence out loud. The purpose of a comma is to replace a spoken pause for effect.

 

The Shatner Comma. It is real.

(just poking fun, was an enjoyable read)

 

It's a freakin forum!!!!!!! we are not writing a paper here. I cannot believe people who feel the need to point out punctuation on an automobile forum. You have to be kidding me??? EXCELLENT and I mean excellent write up. **** on punctuation geeeeeze! I however think the X305's are the pick of the liter. I could be somewhat bias never driving a 308 though.

 

He wrote it for a creative writing class. So it is likely to be scored partly on grammar.

I usually find that the ones who are opposed to the use of proper grammar on forums, are the ones who can't use it properly.

 

LOL, had to look that up. Added to my mental lexicon for future use

 

"It's a freaking forum. We are not writing a paper here. I cannot believe people who feel the need to point out punctuation on an automobile forum. You have to be kidding me. EXCELLENT, and I mean excellent, write up. **** on punctuation? Geeeeeze! I, however, think the X305's are the pick of the litter. I could be somewhat biased, never having driven a 308, though."

There, fixed it for you.

 

hey mark you are a real asset to this forum boy are we glad you are here to point out our stupidity you don't say one thing about the original post other than punctuation yep this forum is better cause you are here

 

We both joined in the same month, and I've been thanked twice as many times as you have. So it appears that I'm twice the asset to this forum, than you are.

 

Yes you are. PUNCUATION TROLL ALLERT! I would like to spare with you more however I have a power steering pump calling so... got to go. Have a nice day MarkSF.

 

Thank you, for the corrections to punctuation and grammatical errors, Mark SF.
I will try to be more judicious, in my use of commas going forward.
It's an interesting observation you make however, the placement of the pause in speech, is often as a result of accent and the cadence of the colloquialisms used in everyday conversation. In constructing this essay, even though I avoided using "common language" I was conscious of trying to use my own patterns of speech to convey the content.
I always wanted the piece to feel conversational, and to have the tone of two petrol heads debating about the number of angels that fit on the head of a a carburettor needle valve…
I do, however, take your criticism, and those of some other English language purists on the forum who have commented about, among other things, my imprudent use of such linguistic tools as run-on sentences.
All the advice offered is taken in the spirit with which it is given, kind sir, and I remain, much obliged.
WS

 

I totally feel you, Will. I do the same thing, and find myself having to actively go back through my sentences that I am writing for general reading and deleting commas. I won't say I'm Shatner or Walken level when it comes to pausing in the middle of statements, but I do it a little more often than other people I suppose. In that regard, I also have many lines that have multiple commas because it's how my natural speech pattern is, so it stands to reason that we type the same way. Just have to go back afterwards, and re-read them and delete the ones that you can see might be unnecessary.

 

I picked the X300 because I own one

I like the X308 too, and given this poll is in the X308 sub-forum... I suspect it will pull away smoothly


Nice write-up.

.

 

x308 just seems to be the best of all worlds. Modern enough to have all the features and refinement but still retaining the classic sense of occasion.

Series III is a real close second, it just looks like the definition of Jaguar.

 

Didn't see the Poll yesterday.
Although I am a very happy and proud owner of a X308, I just voted for the Series III.
A Series III with an X308 interior, yeah, that should be perfect.

 

Yes I'm fond of their front ends as well.

 

Hi Will,
I actually write articles for a Triumph magazine, which is the other marque in my life. I've had many articles published now, so please take what I'm going to say as constructive criticism or friendly opinion. I am in no way pulling you up over your grammar or punctuation, I understand how a person's accent or speech pattern can make it's way into written text.

The article is quite long, if I'd submitted that to my editor he'd probably split it over two issues of the magazine or request I chop it down a bit. You've also repeated yourself on a few occasions in the article, for example here:
"Slung low and with a wide wheel base, the X308 looks poised and well-balanced. The car is ingeniously proportioned with the overhangs of the wheel arches at both front and back seemingly perfectly balanced against the size of the doors and the proportions of the greenhouse.

The car is long, low and wide and sits on 19 inch rims as standard, which are perfectly proportioned to, and by, the wheel arches, giving the profile of the car the impression that the vehicle is sitting very low to the ground."
The car didn't come with 19's as standard, the wheels came in at 16in and 19in was a top end wheel. The article as a whole does contain quite a lot of in depth information, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but can sometimes discourage the reader of a magazine to continue to read. It is sometimes best to give a little information and suggest a source where the reader may find further info should they wish.
What does stand out to me however is that you are clearly well read on the subject and you've clearly put a lot of thought into the article and studied photographs of the cars. This is a good thing as sometimes writers are rushing to meet deadlines and glance rather then look.
But again, please don't mistake my comments as being nasty or judgemental, I'm just giving you some pointers.

Now moving on I have to say I find the X308 is the best of the bunch for me. I've always liked Jaguars but the moment I laid eyes on a 308 I was smitten. I've never liked the XJ40, if I'm honest I hate it with a passion, and because aspects of it are found in the X300 I've never really taken to that. But the 308 is a wonderful thing with the way it's styled, the rounded edges, the curves, the interior colours and materials. Geoff Lawson really was good at his job and it was a shame he passed away when he did.
Ian Callum on the other hand I really don't like, his designs are awful in my opinion and the modern Jaguars look like all the other cars on the roads in Europe. What he did with the X350 was ruin it, as you point out in your article he was catering to the complaints about the previous XJs. But what is important to remember is the XJ isn't meant to be a family car, it isn't meant to take big loads and it isn't meant to carry stuff to the tip. It may have seating for five, but it isn't meant to carry five people on their holidays, it's meant to take four people out for the evening, the Prime Minister to a meeting or for the owner of company to other places. However if you do want to make the boot bigger on a 308 simply remove the spare wheel and carry a can of tyre weld and an air pump.

I hope you get good marks for your article though because as I've said above you've clearly put a lot of time, thought and effort into it. Good Luck.