BUYING AFFORDABLECONVERTIBLES
38 |JaguarWorld/July 2019
E
volutionnotrevolution.That
isthetheorybehindthe
X 150 generationofXK.The
carwasbrandnewwhenit
wentonsaleinlate 2005 ,
butitsrootsareclearlyvisible:itsdesign
andproportionsarealittleliketheX 100 ,
whiletheovalgrilleisobviouslyinspired
fromelsewhereinJaguar’sbackcatalogue.
Thatsaid,theX 150 stillsetthetonefor
futuremodels.AsIanCallum’sfirstJaguar,
itfeaturedthecrisp,contemporarylines
thatwouldcometoepitomisehislatercars,
creatingahandsomedesignthatstilllooks
relativelymodernalmost 15 yearsafter
goingonsale.
Moreimportantly,thiswasJaguar’s
secondcarofthemoderneratobe
producedfromaluminium(thefirstbeing
theX 350 XJ),whichhasamajorimpact
onthewaythecardrives.Whileearly
XKssharethesame 4. 2 V 8 asthepost-
2002 X 100 s,becausetheX 150 islighter,
itsperformanceisharder,morefocused.
Floorthethrottle,and,asthestandard
ZZZFFFsssiiixxx-ssspppeeeeeeddd’bbbooooxxxkkkiiiccckkksssdddooowwwnnn,eeevvveeennnttthhhiiisss
300 bhpnormallyaspiratedmodelwillpull
harderandlongeeerthantheX 100 XKR 4. 2.
Itsoundsbrilliannnt,too;it’snottheatrically
loud(asthecurrrrentsuperchargedV 8 s),
butitsgruffgrowwwlunderacceleration
XK 4. 2
IanCallum’sfirstJaguarremainsamasterclassinsportscardesign
constantlyremindsyouthatitisaV 8
sportscar.Weighing 3 , 516 lb,theX 150
dartsthroughcornerslikeacarhalfits
size,feelingmoresportscar-likethan
afour-seatGT.BecausetheX 150 is 30
pppeeerrrccceeennntttssstttiiiffffffeeerrrttthhhaaannnttthhheeeXXXX 111000000 ,aaannndddttthhheee
convertiblewasdevelopeeedalongsidethe
couperatherthanasanaaafterthought,itis
justasrigidasthehardtooop.Consequently,
thereisnochassisflexatttallandthe
carremainsstableevenuuunderhard
accelerationorbraking.BecausetheX 150 is 51 mmlonger,
andwiderthantheX 100 ,itoffersfront
occupantsslightlymoreroom.However,
likeitsimmediatepredecessorandtheXJS
4. 0 ,therearseatsarestillnexttouseless
aaannndddbbbbeeessstttrrreeessseeerrrvvveeedddfffooorrreeexxxtttrrraaassstttooorrraaagggeeessspppaaaccceee.
TheeecentreconsoleoftheX 150 ’s
moremoderninteriorisdominateeedbya
7 intooouchscreenthatcontrolsbothhhthe
infotaaainmentandventilationsysteeems.
ItlookscleanerthantheX 100 ’smmmessy,
comppplicateddashlayout,whichcooonsists
ofmooorebuttonsthananelevatorinthe