To counteract the https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...r-x308-175801/ thread, please list the one thing you love about your x308 .

As a starter, I love how the bonnet is sculptured, almost sensual ...

 

Beside the general shape of the car i will have to say the smell of the Autolux Connolly leather.
On a more serious note, i really appreciate the engineering of the car, from the suspension to the way interior and exterior trims are put together with not a single screw being screwed directly into metal.

 

The distinctly-Jaguar styling of the pair of twin-cannon creases in the hood (bonnet) leading to the headlights.

Plus, the LWB version has very unique proportions - the approximate width and height of a same-year Porsche 911, but within 2-3" of the longest body length of any Y2k-era sedan other than the LWB Lincoln Town Car.

 

The fact I can drive into a car park or line of traffic filled with modern traffic including new BMW, Mercedes and Audi but heads will still be turned by the 14 year old XJ8.

 

I bought mine after having back surgery specifically for the ride quality and comfort vs the size. Rides as well as a 90s Lincoln Town Car but 17" shorter and 7" narrower. Unfortunately, its time to upgrade and I have yet to find anything made in the last five years that rides as nice, will fit in my garage with the door closed and costs less than $35,000. Everything mid-sized nowadays thinks it needs to be a "sport sedan".

And this factor has been a real head-scratcher. I cannot believe how much attention this old car gets. Its not like its a ridiculously expensive exotic but a lot of people seem to think that it is.

 

The only vehicle I've driven which provides a better ride than a VDP or Sovereign specification X308 is a Range Rover. However driving one of those will make people look at you in a much different way than they do with the 308.

I find it interesting the 308 turns heads still, it shows how well designed it is. When I put mine in to have the body and paint issues addressed, she was sharing the workshop with a 70's Buick, 60's VW camper, MGB convertible and a Triumph GT6. But anyone who came in whilst I was there went straight to the Jag and had a look over her.

 

I had a RR .. maybe it's a pond thing. You have enough of them .. when I lived in London.

 

Jaguars -- all about design and ride.

 

Everything that everyone has mentioned leads to the fact that these cars have soul. The kind that gets under your skin and makes you never want to let go - no matter what.

 

The ride!!! Supple, yet stable.

 

along with everything else mentioned, that was really what pushed me to get an x308 instead of something maybe more sensible, or at the least more common. The sense of occasion you get from driving or just being in the car.

Also, the idle hum/rumble on the XJR when it's fully warmed up, and that little pop you get when poking the throttle and revs get all the way back down to idle.

 

the way when you open the boot and it makes that noise! also the instrument cluster and the warning messages how its modern at the time it was made. and how it rides like a private jet. "Private Jag"

 

Just the general aesthetic lines & w/ my aeronautical background, I really appreciate the ****-pit feel of the driver's station.

 

It looks like a Jag. Used to be that some Buicks looked a bit like a Jag. Now the new Jags look like Buicks. This is sooooo sad.

 

This right here.
One of few cars that feels special when driving.

When asked about the car, and those who question why I deal with all the headaches, my response is that they don't make cars like this any more and never will. It's a classic from a by gone era.

Not many own one or can-either very capable with tools or lots of cash.

 

It was the exact reason I bought mine - last chance before they got all Ford'd-looking. And it's just as explained - everywhere I go, even for a 2003 model car, it just looks classic. Turns heads, and I've had far more compliments and thumbs up to this car than any other. Certainly a car I will own for as long as possible, barring any utter destruction due to unforeseen circumstances. Regardless of resale with the high mileage, I couldn't ever see myself letting it rot over time.

 

Yes, it's a very unique noise that. I love the noise it makes if you leave the headlights on, it's a very nice chime.

I've been with my girlfriend for 9 years, and for 7 of those years I've had an X308. 2015 when my 99 car died I tried a Saab 9-3 and it wasn't for me, and she hated it. Constant complaints and criticism about the car. But when I came home with my current X308, she was out the house to look before I'd even got on the drive. When she sat in the car she sunk into the seat appreciating the comfort, but the little smile she did when I turned the key and that unique starter motor whirled was priceless.

She can't drive either, so that's how good they are. Non drivers want them.

 

Ha! My first time at the track was in my XJR - at a Porsche Club event. The event had a professional photographer and I ended up buying a set of pictures. The pictures at the beginning invariably had the trunk cut off and he said he had to get used to zooming out the lens when I went by out there with all the "short" 911s.

Then there was the "Porsche Wiggle". Defined as the time I caught some Porsche on the track in a four door sedan with a hood ornament and he noticed me on his butt in the mirror. Track driving is much more about driver than car, so I won't mention that Miata that got by me that weekend.

At the next event (PCA again), I had my first 4-wheel off due to getting into the marbles in a tight carousel. On 4-wheel offs, there is an automatic black flag. I found out later from the corner workers they never bothered with my car number and just told the black flag station to flag the next 4-door sedan).

Getting back on topic, the view from the driver's seat is second to none, the wood, and that smooth power. With the XJR is a touch rougher, I've always likened the VDP sound when accelerating to the sound of the Enterprise accelerating in the original TV series.

TLR I can't come up with one thing...

-Mike

 

One you go Jag, you can't go back.

 

It is the same here, my wife absolutely loves this car, and there is nooo way I am allowed to sell this one (not that I ever consider).