Both the Jauar XJ X350 and Ran e Rover L322 wowed the motoring press when launched as thoroughly modern takes on traditional themes. But which was reall the best of British?
JAGUAR AND Land Rover maynnotalways have been sister brands, but the buyers of one have long had the other on their shopping list. The X300 and the second-generation ‘P38a’ Range Rover were launched on consecutive days in 1994, marking the true turning point where the brands were considered in the same breath – and many magazines pitted them against each other in period.
But perhaps a more interesting test would be to compare their replacements – for it was during the lifetime of both the X350 and third-generation ‘L322’ Range Rover that Jaguar and Land Rover became bedfellows, and it was in the L322 that Jaguar technology would first be felt as part of a mid-term facelift. Both cars evolved the themes of what came before to appeal to audiences in the new Millennium, and by this point the Range Rover was tending more toward the luxury car than the tractors of old. Land Rover’s then parent BMW began development work on the L322 almost as soon as the P38a was launched in 1994 since it felt that the older design was dating fast and would need replacing sooner rather than later. The new car would deviate from tradition in that it would employ monocoque construction in place of a separate chassis, though it would build upon its predecessor’s use of air suspension.
It would also build upon the P38’s choice of a BMW diesel engine, borrowing both diesel and petrol options from the contemporary 530d and 540i. Larger than its predecessor – 38mm longer, 33mm wider and 43mm taller – the differences in size would feel even greater from within. New for Range Rover would be the Hill Descent Control system introduced on Discovery 2 and Freelander, allowing automatic braking for descents . The H-pattern dual gear selector was gone too, in favour of a low-range switch and Steptronic control. Cars equipped with satellite navigation could also guide you off road, and in the finest Vogue-spec models there was even a television tuner unit.
Styling work was essentially completed by 1998 but the sale of Land Rover to Ford meant internal politics would affect development, with the V12 proposal abandoned and the more powerful 3.0 diesel from the X5 denied to the Range Rover. Even before the launch there was an agreement that technology would be replaced with Ford componentry in due course, which would happen with the 2005 facelift.
The launch was intended for the Earl’s Court Motor Show in 2001, but this event was cancelled just three months beforehand, leaving Land Rover no international event at which to launch. Media information would thus trickle out from September to December 2001, and the first cars were delivered in February 2002. By 2005, the BMW V8 had been replaced by Jaguar’s AJ V8, while a
