Jaguar World Magazine Celebrating 60 years of XK Aug08 Back Issue

As I’m sure you’ll know, 2008 marks the
passing of 60 years since the XK engine’s
debut in the XK 120, and so the start of
the XK lineage – a fact celebrated in this
issue. Also in this issue is a review of the latest
version of the X-TYPE, a model that didn’t have
quite so successful a beginning when it was
launched in 2001.
Seven years on and despite its freshening up
– a job that has been done very well – there’s no
escaping the fact that the X-TYPE is an ageing car.
In modern car terms, seven years is very long in the
tooth. Yes, Jaguar has had models that have stayed
in production for far longer, but often not through
choice. After all, even the XK 120 – a car far ahead
of its time when it was unveiled in 1948 – was
replaced by the XK 140 six years later. So why
update the X-TYPE? Why not just replace it or, as
many a doomsayer has predicted for a long time,
give the model the chop altogether?
Well, Jaguar’s official line is that the X-TYPE,
though not meeting the sales volumes originally
forecast for it, is doing very nicely, thank you. In
the absence of model-by-model sales figures it’s
impossible for us to know for sure how well it’s really
selling, but the way the X-TYPE range has evolved
indicates it seems to have found a niche and it’s
one that Jaguar appears, at present at least, to be
committed to.
Accomplished though the original four-wheeldrive
petrol models undoubtedly were, it was the
introduction of front-wheel-drive diesel X-TYPEs,
first the 2.0-litre and then the quicker 2.2, that have
ensured the model’s survival to date. To underline
that fact, today only two petrol four-wheel-drive
X-TYPEs remain in the range – all the other 16
models are diesel-powered.