Jaguar World – July 2019

July 201 9\JaguarWorld|1 7

LETTERSLLLEEETTTTTTEEERRRSSS

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LETTER OF THEMONTH

witter(@JaguarWorldMag)

ReferringtoyourFord-eraspecial(June

2019 ),Ihavehadthegreatprivilegeof

owningfourJaguarsduringmydriving

lifeandtheywereallproductsofthe

Fordera.

Inorderofownership,theywerea

2007 S-TYPE2.7dieselinRacingGreen

with65,000milesontheclockatthe

pointofpurchase,asilver 2003 XJ

X350V63.0-litrewith1 30 ,0 00 miles

ontheclockatpurchase,followedby

–forthefunofit–adarkblue2 003

X3 50 V83.5-litrewith70, 000 miles

underitsbelt.

ThedieselS-TYPEwasusedasmy

dailydrivebeforeIenteredsemi-

retirement.ThetwoX 35 0swereused

foraSundaydriveandhencekeptina

verygoodconditionforthatpurpose.

Abouttwoyears’ago,Ifoundmyself

Jaguar-less,andonceyou’vedrivena

Jaguartheresimplyisn’tanothercarto

ownforthepureandsimplepleasureof

owninganddrivingit.

So,inSeptemberlastyear,whenI

happenedtoseea 2003 ZirconBlue

S-TYPE2.5-litreV6with91, 000 mileson

theclock,itbecameJaguarnumberfour.

TheZirconBluegivesthecaragreat

appearancefromallanglesandinall

lightconditions,which,coupledwithits

creamleatherinteriorandwoodveneer

dashboardtrimetc,reallydoesmake

itacomfortablegentleman’sclubon

wheels.Thecar,intheory,ismySunday

driveandismaintainedassuch,butit

doessometimesgetpressedintodaily

usewhencircumstancesdemandand,

likeanywell-maintainedcar,benefits

fromfairlyregularusewithdecentruns.

Itmightbefashionableinsome

quarterstocriticisetheretrostyleofthe

Ford-eracars,butifyoulikeareliable

good-lookingJaguarthatstillowes

theDNAofitsdesignstyletoJaguar

founderSirWilliamLyons,thenlook

nofurtherthaneithertheX350orthe

S-TYPE.Bothofthesecars’designs

upholdtheJaguarmottoofgrace,space

andpace.

Havingabackgroundinaerospace

engineering,Icanseenothingwrong

withso-calledparts’binengineering,

provideditdoesn’tdestroythecharacter

ofthemarque.Whenwellexecuted,

thecommonuseorstandardisationof

well-designedcomponentpartsshould

driveupcomponentreliability,while

drivingdownunitcost.WhatIthink

Fordbroughttothepartywasitsproven

abilitytoproducewell-engineered,

value-for-money,traditional-looking

cars,andthat’sverymuchtoitscredit.

Forddidthis,Ithink,becauseithadthe

goodsensetoallowtheJaguardesign

teamtonotonlypreserve,butalso

develop,theessenceofwhataJaguar

carshouldbe.

Ihavesometimesaskedmyself

whetherSirWilliamwouldhave

approvedofthetraditionalJaguar

stylingandcomfortvaluesbeingapplied

tothesetwocars,coupledwiththeir

verydecentlevelofpace.Iliketothink

hewould.

IfyoulikeaJaguarthatlookslike

aJaguar,enjoysittinginacarwitha

traditionalwood-and-leatherinterior

–whichmanyofusstilldo–coupled

withmodern-dayreliabilityanda

goodqualityofbuild,thenIwould

recommendboththeX350andS-TYPE

toyouwithouthesitation.

Ifyouwantthecarforadailydrive

thatmightwellinvolveafairamount

ofmotorwaywork,thenthediesel-

enginedJaguarmightbetheonefor

you.However,foraveryquiet,smooth

enginewithpace,Iwouldgoforthe

petrolenginecareverytime.Butit’sall

amatterofpersonaltasteattheend

oftheday.

Keepupthegoodwork.Ialwayshave

theJaguarWorldpublicationdatenoted

inmydiary.

MarkTittley