BUYING GUIDE
The smallest Jaguar makes an affordable and practical if controversial modern classic but it does have its pitfalls. Here’s what you need to know
TO SOME extent the best classics are those which are controversial enough to arouse fierce debate and the X-Type is certainly one of them. With the earliest cars having clocked up their 20th birthday, it’s also old enough to qualify for modern classic status, something reinforced by its significance to Jaguar as a brand.
One of Ford’s key aims for Jaguar was to lift production over the 100,000 mark and this was achieved with the S-Type, but Detroit management was keen to raise the bar even further by adding a smaller model to sit below the S-Type and challenge the BMW 3-Series.
All fine in principle t quite so easy in practice since all the smaller platforms u n l including the addition of four-wheel drive to avoid the stigma of a front-driven Jaguar.
The front suspension was revised, while in the conversion to all-wheel drive the rear end received what was essentially the independent rear set-up developed for the Mondeo estate. In the Ford this was used to give the estate a flatter load area but in the X-Type it allowed a rear subframe and differential to be added for rear-wheel drive.
The 4x4 system used a separate transfer box with a viscous coupling to send drive to the rear wheels, the car retaining a rearbiased torque split. Engine options initially included 2.5 and 3-litre versions of the Duratec V6, joined by a smaller 2.1-litre V6 (badged as a 2-litre) in 2002 as a frontdrive only offering. Meanwhile, the first four-cylinde r si c the a n tese 1 - its performance and with a facelift, the X-Type continued to sell in reasonable numbers until it was axed in 2009 when the Halewood production line was earmarked by Jaguar Land Rover for the new Evoque. Jaguar wouldn’t return to the market until the launch of the equally divisive XE in 2015.
For some years now, the X-Type has been lingering in a twilight zone with a small but enthusiastic following and general indifference from all except Jaguar enthusiasts. Unloved by the market and car trade in general, the X-Type is now an astoundingly cheap car – but does that make it a secret gem?
The answer most likely is a resounding yes. It’s not without good reason that many of the classic car dealers rely on an X-Type estate as everyday transport, appreciating its compact size, modern dynamics and easy-going nature... as well as its affordable purchase and running costs.
Until recently the diesel commanded something of a premiumbut the backlash against oil-burners in general coupled with higher fuel prices and greater potential maintenance has cancelled that out. The diesels were also offered only in frontwheel drive form meaning they don’t come with the handy winter traction advantage. All of which m
