With editor Walton away, Paul Wager gets his hands on the project XJ8 for a couple of weeks. He comes away impressed.
REGULAR READERS will recall that I’ve been the long-term custodian of our bargain X-TYPE, picked up for peanuts as a project car for sister magazine Classics Monthly that has provided sterling service ever since.
After 12 months and some 13,000 miles, the X-TYPE was fast approaching its second MOT test in our custody and was accordingly dropped off at Nene Jag Specialists. Cunning timing on my part saw this dovetail neatly with the need to collect the XJ8 from Jaguar World editor Paul Walton, and for the past couple of weeks I’ve been very much enjoying the X-TYPE’s bigger brother.
I’ve sampled a few XJs of the X350 generation over the years, mostly when I was editing a BMW magazine, and I remember being fascinated by cars that offered an intriguingly characterful alternative to the dour BMWs, and one backed with genuine credibility.
Reacquainting myself with the model, I found the passage of time has made the comparison with contemporary BMWs even more interesting and the X350 has lasted well. Certainly the absence of squeaks and rattles bears comparison to the German competition, while the air conditioning blows icy cold and all the buttons still do what they should.
I’m fond of defending the X-TYPE, but even I must admit that the XJ is in a different league; there’s a feeling of genuine quality to everything from the armrest to the minor switchgear.
Esta historia es de la edición October 2017 de Jaguar World Monthly.
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Esta historia es de la edición October 2017 de Jaguar World Monthly.
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The Old Way
With manufacture of the X351 XJ now finished, the F-TYPE takes over the mantle of Jaguar’s oldest production model. To discover more about the continuing allure of this six-year-old sports car, we drive a 380PS V6 convertible from Lincoln to Bath on the UK’s oldest road, the Fosse Way
Saving Jaguar
On the brink of the abyss in the early Eighties, Jaguar saw its fortunes turned around by a new chairman, John Egan. We meet up with him at the Jaguar Heritage Trust at Gaydon to talk about his strategies for the company’s recovery
Rolling road
A SNOWY February morning is not the ideal time to be taking out a pristine Jaguar E-type, and an early Series 1, flat-floor model at that. But my mate Bryan Smart has booked his in for a three hour session on a rolling road, and doesn’t want to miss the appointment. He’s not looking for more power – this car is standard, but it doesn’t idle as smoothly as it should. He’s not bad with spanners himself, but neither he nor a couple of specialists have been able to solve the issue.
Jaguar World's Technical Advice Service
E knock off
1966 E-Type Fixed Head Coupe
Trimmed and ready to be toned, Jim’s E-type Series 1 fixedhead returns home fromMCT Restorations
Favourite things
With a 300PS diesel engine and a lightweight, handsome body, the XF 3.0 TDV6 S could be the editor’s best-choice saloon of the current range. To discover if that’s true, he takes an example to a well-loved location of his, the Yorkshire Dales.
Jim Patten
MOT exemption
Time Warp
Carcoon will be 25 years old in 2018, so we meet the people behind the scenes to discover how the bubble idea came about
1984 XJ6 Series 3 4.2 Sovereign
Iain relays the joys and disappointments of buying an XJ6 Series 3 project car for our sister title, Classics Monthly
Family Ties
Despite the thirty years that separate the E-type 2+2 Series 1 from the XK8 they have many similarities – such as being fun and the added practicality of four seats to attract the family man. We test 4.2-litre versions of both cars back-to-back.