Jaguar S-Type

Supercharged V8, Four Doors, Rear-wheel Drive And More Leather Than A Max Mosley Birthday Party. Here’s What To Knowwhen Buying Yourself One Of Jag’s Sneakiest Kitties

S-TYPEVITAL CHECKS

EVER SINCE the demise of the original S-Type in 1968, Jaguar had just two relatively costly models to sell – a big sedan and a grand tourer. What it needed was a high-volume, compact sedan, but there wasn’t the cash to develop one – until Fordtook control in 1990. However, this new sedan wouldn’t appear until October 1998, just before Jaguar became part of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group.

Built on an all-new platform, the nineties S-Type came with new manual and automatic gearboxes, fresh suspension systems, plus a new steering setup. Despite all of this technology, the S-Type’s suit was unashamedly retro, and it was a design that polarised opinions like few cars of the time.

Now, if you do your homework, you could land the executive bargain of the year, but you must be very careful. Many examples are afflicted by electrical and electronic glitches that can be hard or even impossible to fix. But the S-Type will happily rack up huge kays if it’s exercised and maintained regularly, and as a long-distance tourer it can provide exceptional value.

Those qualities put the V8 models (atmo and supercharged 4.2-litre engines) in favour with judges at our 2002 Bang For Your Bucks and 2003 Performance Car of the Year tests, with the keys being hotly contested for road loops. They’re also the S-Types that provide the most fun and collectability –especially the R. With its 298kW/553Nm supercharged V8 you might think they’ll know you on a first name basis at the local servo, but as long as you don’t mash the pedal to the metal at every opportunity, fuel economy is actually pretty palatable.