Remembering the S-TYPE
WHETHER IT’S due to their now higher values or simple affection, we all have cars we wished we hadn’t sold. One of mine is a 1976 Peugeot 304 Cabriolet that I bought from my father not long after I’d started my journalistic career at an established classic car magazine in 1999. French, chic, and trés cool, it might have earned me the nickname ‘Le gigolo’ by my colleagues but I loved it. A job move to a modern car title in 2001 meant I didn’t use the car enough so reluctantly sold it.
My second is a 2005 S-TYPE I bought in late 2011. Having thought about it for a long time, I knew exactly what I wanted from the outset; a 2.7-litre diesel for economy, the Sport spec since it deleted much of the chrome that made the already fussy car even fussier and preferably in Ultraviolet, a deep and rich metallic blue. And that’s exactly what I found through an independent dealer in Knaresborough. Although at £8000 it was the most expensive car I’d ever bought at that time, it was also the nicest and as I drove home to Peterborough, I luxuriated in the thick, perfumed leather, enjoyed the engine’s strong performance and played with the hitherto unknown luxuries such as air conditioning and even electric windows.
I FIND THE IDEA OF BUYING ANOTHER STRANGELY APPEALING
As I said in my first Our Jaguars in the November 2011 issue of Jaguar World Monthly, “Since my motoring CV consists of nothing but cheaply made hatchbacks, owning such a quality car is taking some getting used to.”
With the purchase coinciding with the start of my ten-year stint as editor, I drove the blue S-TYPE all over the UK for features. I also drove it across France for several holidays (as seen here in Paris), usually towing our 7m-long caravan. Yet despite piling the miles on, I never got bored with the car although the many issues it suffered from did get tiresome after a while.
Plus, the rear legroom was stupidly tight for my two ever-growing boys and despite the V6 diesel’s 320lb.ft of torque, the car wasn’t designed
