HISTORY
We mark Jaguar’s late-to-the-party entrance to the diesel world two decades ago
THE RISE and fall of Dr Rudolf Diesel’s compression-ignition engine has been as intriguing as the man himself, who famously disappeared off the back of a cross-Channel ferry on the eve of WW2 in suspicious circumstances.
The technology became a mainstay in the industrial, marine and commercial vehicle worlds but was slow to be adopted in passenger cars. Once the drawbacks of refinement and power were addressed though, the rise of the diesel was swift: VW marketed a diesel Golf as early as 1976 which promised an astounding 50mpg, while the likes of Peugeot brought the diesel car into the mainstream during the early 1980s and even married the idea of sporty hatchback and diesel engine with its 205.
As the car industry entered the 1990s, the rise of diesel accelerated in a parallel with today’s rush to electrification. Every mainstream maker wanted a diesel in the range but some early efforts were distinctly clumsy: witness Rover’s SD1 and Range Rover which used a derivative of a marine engine suplied by VM Motori. Others however were much more promising, with BMW developing a gem in the shape of its M21 straightsix unit, later evolutions of which would ultimately be sold to third party makers including Land Rover and Vauxhall/Opel.
Naturally, Jaguar remained aloof from the idea of diesel power, which was hardly a surprise. After all, in the BL years the in-house diesel options would have been woeful in the extreme, while after privatisation the funds simply weren’t available. To put it in context, when the AJ6 engine was released in 1984 it was only the third all-new powerplant in the company’s entire history.
As the firm entered the ’90s though, things began to change – not only within Jaguar but in the industry as a whole. As technology incrementally improved the refinement of the diesel engine and turbocharging brought power up to the level of petrol engines, suddenly the idea of a diesel-engined executive car seemed less outlandish.
Here in the UK, the rise of diesel was cemented by BMW’s decision to market turbodiesel-engined 3 and 5-Series from 1993 and it was only a few years later that Jenson Button was famously nicked on a French motorway at 143mph in a diesel 3-Series.
Even with Ford money behind it though, Jaguar was behind the curve when it came to the economy race, but Ford’s master plan for the brand was to chase volume and it was this which would be the catalyst for change.
First came the S-Type of course, but in 2001 the wraps came off the X-Type which was simultaneously the most controversial product of Ford’s time at Browns Lane and was also the most mainstream model Jaguar Cars had ever offered.
It seems incredible today that an allnew model launched at the turn of the millennium didn’
