Precast: Medusa S-Type, PAG Knock-offs, Hammond Better, DP
Jaguar is one heck of a brand. The company took the automotive world by storm, not once, but twice. The first revelation arrived just after WWII. England entered the conflict with an Empire and emerged an impoverished island nation in the North Sea with a few colonies and an Indian subcontinent to its name. Straight into Britannia's shell-shocked and austere enconomy came the Jaguar XK120. Jag's suprisingly inexpensive supercar looked like sin (and a German BMW) and went like Hell (out-performing Aston). The company's– and the nation's– future suddenly had a spring in its step. And then, eh. Until the sixties swung, and out popped another gestalt-capturing blockbuster: the E-type. Yeah baby! For those of us looking for a four-wheeled Hail Mary pass to save Ford's damaged brand, it's worth noting that both of these machines were sexier-than-Jill-Wagner-in-lingerie sports cars powered by superb six cylinder engines. And they were both reasonably affordable. What I'm trying to say is that a new Jaguar sedan ain't gonna cut it, no matter how beautiful, fast or keenly priced it may be. The forthcoming S-Type sedan sure ain't no oil spill– I mean, oil painting. Jag might've made most of its money in "saloons," but it's heart has always been in honest-to-God sports cars.
More by Robert Farago
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It's a chop, lamb.
Jaguar has been trading off on what it once was, not what it is. The S-Type was of course designed to look like a 3.8 saloon of the 1960s. And the X-Type - well, can't say what that was supposed to replicate. But exterior design is just one aspect of a great marque. Jaguar should have been allowed to build a two-seat drop-top again. Then, they should have raced it, either through a factory program - not likely, since the days when Jaguar could afford to do such are long gone - or through privateers such as Bob Tullius (who did pretty well with Jaguar GTP cars in the 1980s and the last generation of E-types in the 1970s). Having a production based car that won races, would establish Jaguar in the same way Porsche is. Simply trying to compete with BMW and Mercedes in the realm of sport sedans is a dicey tactic. It would seem that Ford is going to keep Jaguar and try it one more time. After that, who knows?
The new S-Type looks like a Buick that is trying to look European. Bleah. The new XK is super bland (a watered down DB9). The X-type is just plan aweful. Jaguar needs to head on over to Lotus and ask for help.
I'm driving the XK in a couple of weeks, I will try to contain my boredom...