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The Buick comment is the crux of my wife's disdain for the newer cars - to her they don't look like a "proper Jaguar". I've not driven the new XJ but have driven an XF - and I liked it! Personally, my issue with the newer Jags (post 2003) is the difficulty of a DIYer to perform service/repair work without several thousand bucks worth of diagnostic equipment (I am of too modest a means to afford to pay someone else). However, this issue holds true with almost anything out there nowadays. Part of the reason I don't own anything newer than my wife's car.
I don't doubt the old 3.8S's capabilities - the 3.8 XK engine was at the pinnacle of its development and no emissions crap.
Put Rain-x on the windscreen; you don't need fast wipers
The Buick comment is the crux of my wife's disdain for the newer cars - to her they don't look like a "proper Jaguar". I've not driven the new XJ but have driven an XF - and I liked it! Personally, my issue with the newer Jags (post 2003) is the difficulty of a DIYer to perform service/repair work without several thousand bucks worth of diagnostic equipment (I am of too modest a means to afford to pay someone else). However, this issue holds true with almost anything out there nowadays. Part of the reason I don't own anything newer than my wife's car.
I don't doubt the old 3.8S's capabilities - the 3.8 XK engine was at the pinnacle of its development and no emissions crap.
Put Rain-x on the windscreen; you don't need fast wipers
..
great comment about the Rain-X.
if you ever get a chance to drive a newer XJL Jaguar ,better than the XJ , it is a fantastic car ,smooth quiet, fast , suited as a hi-way cruiser!
the Jag XF is a Ford Mustang gussied up and in disguise.
ron
I have had my xj6 for about 2 years now and I really like it. It could do with some improvements that are not done yet but it is a joy to drive.
About a year ago I added a Porsche 928 s4 to the stable. Although it is also one my bucket list cars, (I had posters of it on my wall as a youth) I find that I like the xj more than the Porsche.
The xj is rougher and in some way "less" of a car (maybe I should just say "different") than the Porsche but I just like the Jag!
I like the last pic. It shows how ponderous looking and everycar looking Jags have become since their long gone peak.
This why I have No interest in Tata Jaguars. Forduars were bad enough for this, but at least one could still tell them apart from every other car on the road. Now, park a Tata Jag next to a Lexus or Merc and you have to look at the badge to be sure; especially as they're now all some shade of grey/silver/white.
It's true Jaguar as a brand would probably have disappeared from the face of the planet if not for the Billions Ford poured into the company to modernize it, and it's also true that Forduars and Tatas have their loyal fans. But when we see a Classic Jaguar, one from those Halcyon days of British Leyland, we Know Instinctively, That's a Jaguar!
The DNA is there yes, but it's like the percentage of DNA we share with a fruit fly. I was impressed by the XF's grunt (it had the 400 hp option) but, at a casual glance, it could be mistaken for a Nissan Maxima. I walk out of a store and, in one quick sweep of the parking lot of 100 cars or so, I see where I parked my XJ6. Ditto for the E-type .Not only unmistakable, but unusual in this day and age - and I like that.
I call them the Callum Jags (those called "Tata") because he was the design director who oversaw the mission: strengthen brand recognition. That's why they all have a similar grill, so no matter which model you spot, you see a Jag. It's the same reasoning behind calling your beautiful car the "EK7" or whatever forgettable random mix of letters and numbers you assign...it so you think of that car as a Lexus or BMW or whatever it is, and not the model itself. This was about saving Jaguar too.
Now that all the Jags are the same, the idea is to renew each model's spot in the lineup and perhaps differentiate them. Maybe we'll see with the new XJ. But I have more hope for the next small model, if there is to be one. Julian Thompson (new design director) has big ideas for that segment.
Though Geoff Lawson did a few good things, overall his designs were never going to put Jaguar back on the map.
all said and done , if anyone wants to GIVE me a late model XJL , i will accept it!
that way i wont be under /over /around the damn thing always fixing something!
i'm to old for such doings!
ron
Aesthetics is a personal thing and nobody appreciates our classic cars more than me; I own two beautiful examples. But don’t sell the newer cars short. I own a 2007 Vanden Plas with the normally aspirated 300 HP engine. A 14 year old car that was made the last year of Ford ownership. Acres of burled walnut with Peruvian boxwood inlays, butter soft ivory leather with fold down picnic trays in the back. Top speed is electronically limited to 155 MPH and on the on-ramps it will get up to “lose your license” territory in seconds. A magnificent car and I have no doubt the newer XJs are just as nice.
Time marches on, technology changes, the market changes and all car companies do their best to adapt to these changes. Jaguar has been buffeted around a lot and made some mistakes along the way. But thankfully they are still here.
Jeff
Despite what I think about the new Jags I hope they sell well and JLR survives.
I didn't really want to get rid of our X308 but too many things went wrong in a very short period of time. I had dealt with little niggling things like the cheap plastic designed-to-fail fittings on the octopus hose for the heater, the plastic thermostat housing that warps with age, the plastic timing chain tensioners, the valley hoses running under the manifold happily rubbing on the underside of it, and the brittle coolant tubes. My wife had hit a curb hard enough to take out a rim, which bent part of the IRS cage assembly because it was rusted (the car originally came from up North). I fixed the damage but the car never felt the same. The left rear axle bearing began to growl. When I attempted to remedy that I found all parts were frozen together. Soon after the gearbox began the dreaded pressure regulator valve/potential A-drum shenanigans, I'd had enough by that point and the car was traded for a Hyundai. Ford saved Jaguar but went cheap on parts they shouldn't have IMHO.
By contrast Blue Six, at 36 years old and 170K miles, continues the week in week out work commute drudgery without complaint other than needing a new cold start injector. Just my experience...