Review
But what made the day even more exciting was that I was taken to the match in my friend’s dad’s Mk II Jaguar – and it was an experience I’ve never forgotten. I had never been inside a Jag before – my dad didn’t even own a car in those days – and it was like walking into an old London gentlemen’s club. There was a distinct and wonderful smell of ageing leather and a good helping of walnut veneer all round. I was smitten.
And I’m still smitten with Jaguars all these years later and given the choice, I’d go for a big cat every time over its German prestige rivals.
The S-type has been cleverly crafted to appeal to greying oldies like me. It looks just like a Mk II but updated for the third millennium and, inside, you’ll still find a quiet, upmarket ambience. But that’s where the similarities end.
This car sports a stonking 2.7-litre diesel engine and a host of hi-tech gadgetry which would have been unthinkable back in the Sixties.
I’ve been making the most of it by doing quite a few long distance journeys in complete and utter luxury. If there was ever a car built for gobbling up motorways miles, this is it.
There are a few grumbles, however. For starters, it’s rather like a Tardis in reverse – it looks big from the outside but there isn’t a lot of legroom inside. It also has a prodigious thirst for oil and, despite the fact that it bears a ‘Sport’ moniker, it will wallow like a basking hippo through the bends if you try pushing it hard.
Fact file
Model: Jaguar S-type 2.7d Sport auto
Price (OTR): £33,345
Mileage: 8,733
CO2 emissions (g/km): 208
Company car tax bill (2005/6) 40% tax-payer: £309 per month
Insurance group: 14
Combined mpg: 36.0
Test mpg: 30.2
CAP Monitor residual value: £11,750/35%
HSBC contract hire rate: £601
Expenditure to date: Nil
