Tuesday 13 September 2011
Thursday 8 September 2011
Thursday 1 September 2011
jaguar xj review
Performance
There are two 5.0-litre V8 petrol engines, and the naturally aspirated version is perfectly powerful enough. But, if you’re looking for the ultimate in performance, the supercharged engine has a seriously hefty 502bhp and 461lb ft of torque, and delivers the type of performance you won’t forget in a hurry. Even so, most customers are expected to plump for the 3.0-litre diesel. It’s far lighter on fuel, but it’ll still haul the XJ to 60mph in just 6.0 seconds. Ride & Handling
No company knows more about fine-tuning adaptive damping than Jaguar, and it shows in the way the XJ glides over craggy surfaces. It’s also an absolute breeze to place the car on the road with pin-point precision thanks to its deadly accurate steering. This exactness, plus strong grip and minimal roll through bends, means it's all too easy to forget you’re driving a car that is well over 5 metres long. Refinement
Refinement is first class, and the pleasingly low levels of road- and wind noise mean you can conduct conversations with your distant companions in the back seats without the need to raise your voice. There’s some gentle chatter from the diesel engine at idle, but even when you accelerate hard, there’s not much more than a low grumble from the twin exhaust pipes. Once it's settled into a cruise, only the lower numbers on the rev counter mark it out from the petrol-engined cars. Buying & Owning
Jaguar no doubt hopes the XJ will match the class-leading residuals of the Mercedes S-Class, but only time will tell. Nevertheless, this level of excellence doesn’t come cheap. You’ll need to find well over £50K just for the entry-level short-wheelbase diesel model, and you’ll need to be an oil baron if you use the supercharged car in anger, because even when you are stroking it around, you’ll be lucky to exceed 20mpg. Quality & Reliability
The XJ is built almost entirely of aluminium, so rust is never going to be a problem, and inside it appears to be very well constructed from excellent materials. All the engines are bang up to date, so they should prove reliable. We’ve heard of no problems so far, but as with any car this complex, if there are going to be any niggles, we suspect they’ll be electronic. Safety & Security
Unsurprisingly, the XJ comes with all the latest electronic driver aids, and all occupants are protected by a multitude of airbags. On top of that, the bonnet is sprung-loaded to help protect pedestrians in the event of a collision. There’s no shortage of security deterrents, either, so the light-fingered fraternity would do well to look elsewhere. Behind The Wheel
The fat, comfy, hide-covered seats and door cappings trimmed with ever-so-slightly wiggly stitching hint at hand-built quality, while the lavish veneers, old-school bulls-eye air vents and ebony and chrome detailing punch home the old-money message. These traditional ingredients are complemented by Jaguar’s signature, rising rotary gear selector, a touchscreen command centre and digital instruments. Space & Practicality
In the front, there is loads of head- and legroom, but shimmy your derrière into the rear, and things aren’t quite so impressive. You sit very low, and there’s not a great deal of headroom, although the swathes of leather, wood panelling, gleaming chrome and oceans of legroom (with an extra 125mm in long-wheelbase cars) are all very nice. At least you can pack an awful lot of bulky luggage into the 520-litre boot. Equipment
All XJs are lavishly equipped, with leather-trimmed, electrically adjustable front seats, dual-zone climate control, twin glass sunroofs and a touchscreen central control panel all standard. Even so, there are still lots of additional toys to choose from, including a sublime Bowers and Wilkins stereo upgrade and a rear-seat multimedia package that features two 8-inch LCD screens and touchscreen remote control. Monday 29 August 2011
jaguar xf review
Performance
Jaguar offers 5.0-litre V8 petrol and 3.0-litre V6 diesel engines, but the 2.2-litre diesel makes most sense. Its responses aren’t quite as instant as those of the V6 diesel cars, but with 188bhp and a crushing 332lb ft of torque, it has the bragging rights over the likes of BMW’s 520d and Audi’s A6 2.0 TDI – and they’re not exactly short of get-up-and-go. Ride & Handling
There’s a firmness to the ride at low speeds – particularly if you add the optional adaptive suspension – but the XF has a more forgiving ride than many rivals. Once you’re going at a decent pace, it displays a terrific balance of control and suppleness. The fluid handling, sensitive steering and plentiful grip help to make any journey a joy. Refinement
There’s a little wind- and road noise on the motorway – more than you hear in a BMW 5 Series – but the XF is a brilliantly refined long-distance cruiser nonetheless. The diesels come with an eight-speed automatic gearbox, which is smoothness personified; the six-speed auto in the V8s isn’t quite as slick. Buying & Owning
The XF is competitively priced – especially when you take the generous standard equipment into account – and resale values are pretty strong. However, other execs are cleaner and more economical, so they make cheaper company cars. For example, the 2.2-litre diesel sits four tax bands higher than BMW’s 520d. Quality & Reliability
From the stitched leather dashboard and door cappings to the aluminium and wood furnishings and the blue mood lighting, the XF has real wow factor. However, some panels feel rather cheap, and the assembly isn’t up to BMW standards. Also rather worrying was the 2011 JD Power customer satisfaction survey, in which owners reported a relatively large amount of mechanical problems. Safety & Security
The XF has all that’s expected and more – as well as systems that help you avoid accidents and others that minimise the effects of one, it also looks after pedestrians by using a bonnet that springs up in a collision. It’s a little disappointing, then, that the car only scored a four-star rating from Euro NCAP. There’s no shortage of security kit, so your investment should be well protected. Behind The Wheel
The XF’s dashboard looks great, but there are some issues. The touch-screen icons can be difficult to hit on the move, and the menus can be confusing. Rear visibility isn’t great, but you get a brilliant driving position, which is adjusted electrically. Space & Practicality
You can't have a coupe-like roofline without sacrificing some headroom, while the transmission tunnel makes it a car for two in the back rather than three. Only the tallest adults will suffer, though, and legroom is fine. There's also a proper boot - a minimum of 500 litres of space, with fold-down rear seats so you can enlarge it. Equipment
The standard equipment list is an impressively long one. You don’t just get the expected – thing such as wood, leather and climate control – but also a range of more modern features such as Xenon headlights and keyless go. Most models also get touch-screen satellite-navigation with voice controls. jaguar xk review
There comes a moment in every car test when suddenly you know; a moment when all the thoughts flying around your head settle into something sufficiently structured to form an opinion. The new Jaguar XK’s moment came half way through a curve on the best road I have ever encountered. And in that instant I knew that Jaguar was back.
The road is in South Africa, a length of highway that stretches to the vanishing point on the horizon, where you can travel at an average speed most UK-based cars will rarely touch in their lifetimes. An XK, above all, has to be a superlative touring car and despite some niggling issues such as too much tyre roar and not enough boot space, the new car is Jaguar’s best tourer yet. At 100mph it’s loping like most do at 60mph, its 4.2 litre V8 a reassuring, throbbing presence. On that road and at those speeds its ride quality was spectacularly good, its gearshifts silken perfection. This was looking promising.
The cabin is quirky but comfortable, carrying over the classically understated British ambience found in its XJS predecessor, but critically also providing the legroom so woefully lacking in the existing XK. For the first time you can even opt out of the slabs of walnut on the dash, and you should: they just look silly in such a car in the 21st century, while the aluminium alternative is not just more attractive but more relevant, too.
Most importantly the XK is a car you can drive fast and with minimal effort until the tank runs dry. Which is exactly what I did on that road, whereupon some nice chap from Jaguar filled it up again.
On the return trip the tank took rather less time to drain for now I was driving it in a way no Jaguar has asked to be driven since the ill-fated XJ220 supercar of the early 1990s. And that’s when the moment came. The XK was streaking down the road, V8 snarling malevolently, gearshifts now short, sharp and executed by pressing the paddles behind the wheel. As it turned into the corner I was aware of something more than the prodigious grip and fine composure I had experienced on the way out. This Jag was attacking the corner and suddenly it felt not like a sporting car, of which Jaguar has produced a fair few in recent years, but a sports car, of which there have been none.
I know my job is that of impartial arbiter but I’ll not conceal the joy that rose in my heart. For a moment I felt something I had presumed long dead: it was the spirit of the E-type.
But we should not get too far ahead of ourselves, for this is also a flawed Jaguar; it does not necessarily mark the end of the bad times for the troubled Coventry marque, nor is it the radical step ahead of the competition that Jaguar so regularly made in its 1950s and 1960s heyday.
The road is in South Africa, a length of highway that stretches to the vanishing point on the horizon, where you can travel at an average speed most UK-based cars will rarely touch in their lifetimes. An XK, above all, has to be a superlative touring car and despite some niggling issues such as too much tyre roar and not enough boot space, the new car is Jaguar’s best tourer yet. At 100mph it’s loping like most do at 60mph, its 4.2 litre V8 a reassuring, throbbing presence. On that road and at those speeds its ride quality was spectacularly good, its gearshifts silken perfection. This was looking promising.
The cabin is quirky but comfortable, carrying over the classically understated British ambience found in its XJS predecessor, but critically also providing the legroom so woefully lacking in the existing XK. For the first time you can even opt out of the slabs of walnut on the dash, and you should: they just look silly in such a car in the 21st century, while the aluminium alternative is not just more attractive but more relevant, too.
Most importantly the XK is a car you can drive fast and with minimal effort until the tank runs dry. Which is exactly what I did on that road, whereupon some nice chap from Jaguar filled it up again.
On the return trip the tank took rather less time to drain for now I was driving it in a way no Jaguar has asked to be driven since the ill-fated XJ220 supercar of the early 1990s. And that’s when the moment came. The XK was streaking down the road, V8 snarling malevolently, gearshifts now short, sharp and executed by pressing the paddles behind the wheel. As it turned into the corner I was aware of something more than the prodigious grip and fine composure I had experienced on the way out. This Jag was attacking the corner and suddenly it felt not like a sporting car, of which Jaguar has produced a fair few in recent years, but a sports car, of which there have been none.
I know my job is that of impartial arbiter but I’ll not conceal the joy that rose in my heart. For a moment I felt something I had presumed long dead: it was the spirit of the E-type.
But we should not get too far ahead of ourselves, for this is also a flawed Jaguar; it does not necessarily mark the end of the bad times for the troubled Coventry marque, nor is it the radical step ahead of the competition that Jaguar so regularly made in its 1950s and 1960s heyday.
Most disappointingly, its steering is not quite right, as if it can’t quite decide whether to play it soft and slushy as the Americans — who will buy half of all XK production — would want it, or instinctive and urgent as its European audiences will command. It’s quick and direct, but numbs the information about road conditions before it reaches your fingers.
When such a fine job has been done creating a chassis that has no problem combining sports car grip and poise with luxury car comfort, this missing component is as frustrating as spending a week on the 1,000-piece jigsaw auntie gave you for Christmas only to discover it contains 999 pieces. In this small but significant regard, the car feels unfinished.
Perhaps we should not be too delayed by this. When I think of the XK’s core rivals, the Mercedes SL 500 and BMW 650i, these are hardly sporting heroes either, and while a Porsche 911 would have been a paragon rather than a mere pleasure on that road, the XK is probably at least as good a sports car as the Porsche is a tourer.
Indeed those who buy the XK will probably be more concerned with how it looks than goes and all I can say on that score is that you’ll never gain a real understanding of how cleverly styled it is until you see one moving. In a showroom it looks a little odd around the front, but on the road it appears as all you could hope for from a Jaguar coupé: bold, muscular, flowing and really rather beautiful. I even cruelly parked it next to an early E-type, expecting the comparison to render the XK instantly awkward and derivative, and was amazed to see how comfortably it sat next to Britain’s greatest automotive design.
Which is one reason I rather wish I hadn’t then driven the convertible XK. I never got on with the last drop-top XK and this one continues the trend. It’s not as attractive as the coupé, it has even less boot space than the old XK cabriolet, and despite near identical chassis settings to the coupé, all the old structural compromises inherent in any convertible mean it’s nowhere near as good to drive, either. It’s not a bad car by any stretch and, if pushed, I’d probably just choose it over the ugly BMW 6-series convertible, but the steel-roofed Mercedes SL 500 is preferable by far, even taking into account its near £10,000 price premium.
All this is just the start for this new generation of XK. The 4.2 litre version goes on sale in the spring and will be followed by a cheaper 3.5 litre model in the summer before the one we’re all waiting for, the 420bhp XKR, arrives by the end of the year. Next year should bring at least one diesel XK and the XKR-R (not necessarily its final name), the car with which Jaguar plans to combat the BMW M6 and Mercedes SL 55 AMG.
Jaguar’s engineers refuse even to confirm its existence while simultaneously grinning like Cheshire cats, so expect 500bhp and, if they’re brave enough to take the limiters off, a top speed of at least 200mph. It should be something to behold.
Combined, all these XKs won’t right half the wrongs that currently trouble Jaguar but, as one senior staffer said to me: “You cannot imagine how bad things have been or for how long our backs have been against the wall. Well, we’ve had enough of it — the fightback starts here.” It’s early days I know, but from what I saw on that road I had no trouble believing him. No trouble at all.
VITAL STATISTICS
Model Jaguar XK 4.2 V8 coupé
Engine type Eight cylinders, 4196cc
Power/torque 298bhp @ 6000rpm, 310lb ft @ 4100rpm
Transmission Six speed semi-automatic
Tyres 245/40 ZR19 (f), 275/35 ZR19 (r)
Fuel/CO2 25mpg combined, 269g/km
Performance 0-60mph: 5.9sec. Top speed: 155mph (electronically limited)
Price £58,995
Verdict Fast and beautiful – a proper Jaguar at last
Rating 4/5
When such a fine job has been done creating a chassis that has no problem combining sports car grip and poise with luxury car comfort, this missing component is as frustrating as spending a week on the 1,000-piece jigsaw auntie gave you for Christmas only to discover it contains 999 pieces. In this small but significant regard, the car feels unfinished.
Perhaps we should not be too delayed by this. When I think of the XK’s core rivals, the Mercedes SL 500 and BMW 650i, these are hardly sporting heroes either, and while a Porsche 911 would have been a paragon rather than a mere pleasure on that road, the XK is probably at least as good a sports car as the Porsche is a tourer.
Indeed those who buy the XK will probably be more concerned with how it looks than goes and all I can say on that score is that you’ll never gain a real understanding of how cleverly styled it is until you see one moving. In a showroom it looks a little odd around the front, but on the road it appears as all you could hope for from a Jaguar coupé: bold, muscular, flowing and really rather beautiful. I even cruelly parked it next to an early E-type, expecting the comparison to render the XK instantly awkward and derivative, and was amazed to see how comfortably it sat next to Britain’s greatest automotive design.
Which is one reason I rather wish I hadn’t then driven the convertible XK. I never got on with the last drop-top XK and this one continues the trend. It’s not as attractive as the coupé, it has even less boot space than the old XK cabriolet, and despite near identical chassis settings to the coupé, all the old structural compromises inherent in any convertible mean it’s nowhere near as good to drive, either. It’s not a bad car by any stretch and, if pushed, I’d probably just choose it over the ugly BMW 6-series convertible, but the steel-roofed Mercedes SL 500 is preferable by far, even taking into account its near £10,000 price premium.
All this is just the start for this new generation of XK. The 4.2 litre version goes on sale in the spring and will be followed by a cheaper 3.5 litre model in the summer before the one we’re all waiting for, the 420bhp XKR, arrives by the end of the year. Next year should bring at least one diesel XK and the XKR-R (not necessarily its final name), the car with which Jaguar plans to combat the BMW M6 and Mercedes SL 55 AMG.
Jaguar’s engineers refuse even to confirm its existence while simultaneously grinning like Cheshire cats, so expect 500bhp and, if they’re brave enough to take the limiters off, a top speed of at least 200mph. It should be something to behold.
Combined, all these XKs won’t right half the wrongs that currently trouble Jaguar but, as one senior staffer said to me: “You cannot imagine how bad things have been or for how long our backs have been against the wall. Well, we’ve had enough of it — the fightback starts here.” It’s early days I know, but from what I saw on that road I had no trouble believing him. No trouble at all.
VITAL STATISTICS
Model Jaguar XK 4.2 V8 coupé
Engine type Eight cylinders, 4196cc
Power/torque 298bhp @ 6000rpm, 310lb ft @ 4100rpm
Transmission Six speed semi-automatic
Tyres 245/40 ZR19 (f), 275/35 ZR19 (r)
Fuel/CO2 25mpg combined, 269g/km
Performance 0-60mph: 5.9sec. Top speed: 155mph (electronically limited)
Price £58,995
Verdict Fast and beautiful – a proper Jaguar at last
Rating 4/5
history of jaguar
Birth of the company
The 2.5 litre, 68 hp 1935 SS 90The Swallow Sidecar Company was founded in 1922 by two motorcycle enthusiasts, William Lyons and William Walmsley. In 1935 the SS Jaguar name first appeared on a 2.5 litre saloon, sports models of which were the SS 90 and SS 100.
Cash was short after the Second World War and Jaguar sold to Rubery Owen the plant and premises of Motor Panels, a pressed steel body manufacturing company which had been acquired in the late 1930s when growth prospects had seemed more secure. Nevertheless, Jaguar achieved relative commercial success with their early post war models; times were also tough for other Coventry-based auto-makers and the company was able to buy from John Black's Standard Motor Company the plant where Standard had built the six-cylinder engines it had been supplying to Jaguar.
SS and Jaguar made 3.5 litre, 125 hp Mk IV drophead coupéJaguar made its name epitomised by the record sales achieved by the MK VII, IX, Mks I and II saloons and later the XJ6.
The core of Bill Lyon's success following WWII was the Twin Cam Straight Six Cylinder Engine by producing a series of eye-catching sports cars, such as the XK 120 of 1949, developed into XK 140 and XK 150, and the E Type (or XKE in the US) of 1961. These were all successful and embodied Lyons' mantra of "value for money". They were successful in international motorsport, a path followed in the 1950s to prove the engineering integrity of the company's products.
Jaguar's sales slogan for years was "Grace, Space, Pace", a mantra—a design conceived pre-War and realised while design staff at the Coventry plant were dividing their time between fire-watching (Coventry being a prime Luftwaffe target) and designing the new power plant.
To place this in context, benchmark for pre-war racing and competition engines was the "Double Knocker", or Twin Cam engine: Jaguar's new engine was a hemispherical cross-flow cylinder head with valves inclined originally at 60 degrees (inlet) 45 degrees (exhaust) and later standardised to 90 degrees for both inlet and exhaust.
XK engine in an E-TypeAs fuel octane ratings were relatively low from 1948 onwards, three piston configuration were offered: Domed (High Octane), Flat (Medium Octane), and Dished (Low Octane).
The main designer, William "Bill" Heynes, assisted by Walter "Wally" Hassan, was determined to design the Twin OHC unit. Bill Lyons agreed over misgivings from Hassan. The sheer concept of applying what had hitherto been considered a racing or low-volume and cantankerous engine, needing constant fettling into reasonable volume production saloon cars was brave.
The subsequent engine (in various versions) was the mainstay powerplant of Jaguar, used in the XK 120, Mk VII Saloon, Mk I and II Saloons and XK 140 and 150. It was also employed in the E Type, itself a development from the race winning and Le Mans conquering C and D Type Sports Racing cars refined as the short-lived XKSS, a road-legal D Type.
Few engines have demonstrated such ubiquity and longevity: the Twin OHC "XK Engine", as it came to be known, was used in the Jaguar XJ6 saloon from 1969 through 1992, and employed in a J60 variant as the power plant in such diverse vehicles as the British Army's Scorpion Light Armoured Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle and its several vairiants, as well as the Fox Milan reconnaissance and Fox Scout armoured vehicles, the Ferret Scout Car, and the Stonefield four wheel drive all-terrain lorry. Properly maintained, the standard production XK Engine would achieve 200,000 miles of useful life.
The distinctive "leaping Jaguar" mascotTwo of the proudest moments in Jaguar's long history in motor sport involved winning the Le Mans 24 hours race, firstly in 1951 and again in 1953. The 1955 victory was somewhat overshadowed by the tragic events that occurred. Later in the hands of the Scottish racing team Ecurie Ecosse two more wins were added in 1956/57.
In spite of such a performance orientation, it was always Lyons' intention to build the business by producing world-class sporting saloons in larger numbers than the sports car market could support. Jaguar secured financial stability and a reputation for excellence with a series of elegantly styled luxury saloons that included the 3 & 3½ litre cars, the Mark VII, VIII, and IX, the compact Mark I and 2, and the XJ6 and XJ12. All were deemed very good values, with comfortable rides, good handling, high performance, and great style.
Combined with the trend-setting XK 120, XK 140, and XK 150 series of sports car, and nonpareil E-Type, Jaguar's elan as a prestige motorcar manufacturer had few rivals. The company's post-War achievements are remarkable considering both the shortages which rove Britain, raw materials still being allocated by the Ministry of Supply, and the state of metalurigcal development of the era.
In 1951 Jaguar leased Browns Lane from the The Daimler Motor Company Limited, which would quickly become its principal plant. Daimler—not to be confused with Daimler-Benz or Daimler AG—was purchased from the holding company BSA in 1960. From the late 1960s, its marque was used as a brand name for Jaguar's most luxurious saloons.
In the 1970s the Jaguar and Daimler marques formed part of BL's specialist car division or Jaguar Rover Triumph Ltd until a restructure in the early 1980s saw most of the BL volume car manufacturing side becoming the Austin Rover Group, which didn't include Jaguar. In 1984, Jaguar was floated off as a separate company on the stock market – one of the Thatcher government's many privatisations.
The Ford Motor Company made offers to the US and UK Jaguar shareholders to buy their shares in November 1989; Jaguar's listing on the London Stock Exchange was removed on 28 February 1990. In 1999 it became part of F
Jaguar S-Type based on the Ford DEW98 platformord's new Premier Automotive Group along with Aston Martin, Volvo Cars and, from 2000, Land Rover. Aston Martin was subsequently sold off in 2007. Between Ford purchasing Jaguar in 1989 and selling it in 2008 it did not earn any profit for the Dearborn-based auto manufacturer.
Under Ford's ownership Jaguar expanded its range of products with the launch of the S-Type in 1999 and X-type in 2001. Since Land Rover's May 2000 purchase by Ford, it has been closely associated with Jaguar. In many countries they share a common sales and distribution network (including shared dealerships), and some models now share components, although the only shared production facility is Halewood, for the X-Type and the Freelander 2. However operationally the two companies were effectively integrated under a common management structure within Ford's PAG.
On 11 June 2007, Ford announced that it planned to sell Jaguar, along with Land Rover and retained the services of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to advise it on the deal. The sale was initially expected to be announced by September 2007, but was delayed until March 2008. Private equity firms such as Alchemy Partners of the UK, TPG Capital, Ripplewood Holdings (which hired former Ford Europe executive Sir Nick Scheele to head its bid), Cerberus Capital Management and One Equity Partners (owned by JP Morgan Chase and managed by former Ford executive Jacques Nasser) of the US, Tata Motors of India and a consortium comprising Mahindra and Mahindra (an auto manufacturer from India) and Apollo Management all initially expressed interest in purchasing the marques from the Ford Motor Company.
Before the sale was announced, Anthony Bamford, chairman of British excavator manufacturer JCB had expressed interest in purchasing the company in August 2006, but backed out upon learning that the sale would also involve Land Rover, which he did not wish to buy. On Christmas Eve of 2007, Mahindra and Mahindra backed out of the race for both brands, citing complexities in the deal.
On 26 March 2008, Ford announced that it had agreed to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors of India, and that the sale was expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2008. Included in the deal were the rights to three other British brands, Jaguar's own Daimler, as well as two dormant brands Lanchester and Rover. On 2 June 2008, the sale to Tata was completed at a cost of £1.7 billion.
Cash was short after the Second World War and Jaguar sold to Rubery Owen the plant and premises of Motor Panels, a pressed steel body manufacturing company which had been acquired in the late 1930s when growth prospects had seemed more secure. Nevertheless, Jaguar achieved relative commercial success with their early post war models; times were also tough for other Coventry-based auto-makers and the company was able to buy from John Black's Standard Motor Company the plant where Standard had built the six-cylinder engines it had been supplying to Jaguar.
The core of Bill Lyon's success following WWII was the Twin Cam Straight Six Cylinder Engine by producing a series of eye-catching sports cars, such as the XK 120 of 1949, developed into XK 140 and XK 150, and the E Type (or XKE in the US) of 1961. These were all successful and embodied Lyons' mantra of "value for money". They were successful in international motorsport, a path followed in the 1950s to prove the engineering integrity of the company's products.
Jaguar's sales slogan for years was "Grace, Space, Pace", a mantra—a design conceived pre-War and realised while design staff at the Coventry plant were dividing their time between fire-watching (Coventry being a prime Luftwaffe target) and designing the new power plant.
To place this in context, benchmark for pre-war racing and competition engines was the "Double Knocker", or Twin Cam engine: Jaguar's new engine was a hemispherical cross-flow cylinder head with valves inclined originally at 60 degrees (inlet) 45 degrees (exhaust) and later standardised to 90 degrees for both inlet and exhaust.
The main designer, William "Bill" Heynes, assisted by Walter "Wally" Hassan, was determined to design the Twin OHC unit. Bill Lyons agreed over misgivings from Hassan. The sheer concept of applying what had hitherto been considered a racing or low-volume and cantankerous engine, needing constant fettling into reasonable volume production saloon cars was brave.
The subsequent engine (in various versions) was the mainstay powerplant of Jaguar, used in the XK 120, Mk VII Saloon, Mk I and II Saloons and XK 140 and 150. It was also employed in the E Type, itself a development from the race winning and Le Mans conquering C and D Type Sports Racing cars refined as the short-lived XKSS, a road-legal D Type.
Few engines have demonstrated such ubiquity and longevity: the Twin OHC "XK Engine", as it came to be known, was used in the Jaguar XJ6 saloon from 1969 through 1992, and employed in a J60 variant as the power plant in such diverse vehicles as the British Army's Scorpion Light Armoured Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle and its several vairiants, as well as the Fox Milan reconnaissance and Fox Scout armoured vehicles, the Ferret Scout Car, and the Stonefield four wheel drive all-terrain lorry. Properly maintained, the standard production XK Engine would achieve 200,000 miles of useful life.
In spite of such a performance orientation, it was always Lyons' intention to build the business by producing world-class sporting saloons in larger numbers than the sports car market could support. Jaguar secured financial stability and a reputation for excellence with a series of elegantly styled luxury saloons that included the 3 & 3½ litre cars, the Mark VII, VIII, and IX, the compact Mark I and 2, and the XJ6 and XJ12. All were deemed very good values, with comfortable rides, good handling, high performance, and great style.
Combined with the trend-setting XK 120, XK 140, and XK 150 series of sports car, and nonpareil E-Type, Jaguar's elan as a prestige motorcar manufacturer had few rivals. The company's post-War achievements are remarkable considering both the shortages which rove Britain, raw materials still being allocated by the Ministry of Supply, and the state of metalurigcal development of the era.
In 1951 Jaguar leased Browns Lane from the The Daimler Motor Company Limited, which would quickly become its principal plant. Daimler—not to be confused with Daimler-Benz or Daimler AG—was purchased from the holding company BSA in 1960. From the late 1960s, its marque was used as a brand name for Jaguar's most luxurious saloons.
British Leyland
Jaguar merged with the British Motor Corporation (BMC), the Austin-Morris combine, to form British Motor Holdings (BMH) in 1966. After merging with Leyland, which had already taken over Rover and Standard Triumph, the resultant company then became the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) in 1968. Financial difficulties and the publication of the Ryder Report led to effective nationalisation in 1975 and the company became British Leyland, Ltd (later simply BL plc).In the 1970s the Jaguar and Daimler marques formed part of BL's specialist car division or Jaguar Rover Triumph Ltd until a restructure in the early 1980s saw most of the BL volume car manufacturing side becoming the Austin Rover Group, which didn't include Jaguar. In 1984, Jaguar was floated off as a separate company on the stock market – one of the Thatcher government's many privatisations.
Ford Motor Company era
Under Ford's ownership Jaguar expanded its range of products with the launch of the S-Type in 1999 and X-type in 2001. Since Land Rover's May 2000 purchase by Ford, it has been closely associated with Jaguar. In many countries they share a common sales and distribution network (including shared dealerships), and some models now share components, although the only shared production facility is Halewood, for the X-Type and the Freelander 2. However operationally the two companies were effectively integrated under a common management structure within Ford's PAG.
On 11 June 2007, Ford announced that it planned to sell Jaguar, along with Land Rover and retained the services of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to advise it on the deal. The sale was initially expected to be announced by September 2007, but was delayed until March 2008. Private equity firms such as Alchemy Partners of the UK, TPG Capital, Ripplewood Holdings (which hired former Ford Europe executive Sir Nick Scheele to head its bid), Cerberus Capital Management and One Equity Partners (owned by JP Morgan Chase and managed by former Ford executive Jacques Nasser) of the US, Tata Motors of India and a consortium comprising Mahindra and Mahindra (an auto manufacturer from India) and Apollo Management all initially expressed interest in purchasing the marques from the Ford Motor Company.
Before the sale was announced, Anthony Bamford, chairman of British excavator manufacturer JCB had expressed interest in purchasing the company in August 2006, but backed out upon learning that the sale would also involve Land Rover, which he did not wish to buy. On Christmas Eve of 2007, Mahindra and Mahindra backed out of the race for both brands, citing complexities in the deal.
Tata Motors era
On 1 January 2008, Ford made a formal announcement which declared Tata as the preferred bidder. Tata Motors also received endorsements from the Transport And General Worker's Union (TGWU)-Amicus combine as well as from Ford. According to the rules of the auction process, this announcement would not automatically disqualify any other potential suitor. However, Ford (as well as representatives of Unite) would now be able to enter into detailed discussions with Tata concerning issues ranging from labour concerns (job security and pensions), technology (IT systems and engine production) and intellectual property, as well as the final sale price. Ford would also open its books for a more comprehensive due diligence by Tata. On 18 March 2008, Reuters reported that American bankers Citigroup and JP Morgan shall be underwriting a loan of USD 3 billion in order to finance the deal.On 26 March 2008, Ford announced that it had agreed to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors of India, and that the sale was expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2008. Included in the deal were the rights to three other British brands, Jaguar's own Daimler, as well as two dormant brands Lanchester and Rover. On 2 June 2008, the sale to Tata was completed at a cost of £1.7 billion.
Assembly plant
The Swallow Sidecar company (SSC) was originally located in Blackpool but moved to Holbrook Lane, Coventry in 1928 when demand for the Austin Swallow became too great for the factory's capacity. In 1951, having outgrown the original Coventry site they moved to Browns Lane which had been a wartime "shadow factory" run by the Daimler Motor Company. Today, Jaguars are assembled at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham and Halewood in Liverpool. The historic Browns Lane plant ceased trim and final operations in 2005, the X350 XJ having already moved to Castle Bromwich two years prior, leaving the XK and S-Type production to Castle Bromwich and the X-Type at Halewood, alongside the new Land Rover Freelander 2, from 2007. A reduced Browns Lane site operates today, producing veneers for Jaguar Land Rover and others, as well as some engineering facilities. New manufacturing plants are being set up in India.introduction to jaguar
Jaguar Cars Ltd, known simply as Jaguar, is a British luxury car manufacturer, headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, England. A wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian company Tata Motors Ltd, it is operated as part of the Jaguar Land Rover business.
Jaguar was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company by Sir William Lyons in 1922, originally making motorcycle sidecars before evolving into passenger cars. The name was changed to Jaguar after WWII to avoid the unfavourable connotations of the SS initials. Following a merger with the British Motor Corporation in 1968, subsequently subsumed by Leyland, which itself was later nationalised as British Leyland, Jaguar was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984, and became a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Ford in 1989. Jaguar has, in recent years, manufactured cars for the Prime Minister, the most recent delivery being of a XJ model on 11 May 2010. the company also holds Royal Warrants from HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Charles.
Jaguar cars today are designed in Jaguar Land Rover's engineering centres at the Whitley plant in Coventry and at their Gaydon site in Warwickshire, and are manufactured in Jaguar's Castle Bromwich assembly plant near Birmingham
Jaguar was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company by Sir William Lyons in 1922, originally making motorcycle sidecars before evolving into passenger cars. The name was changed to Jaguar after WWII to avoid the unfavourable connotations of the SS initials. Following a merger with the British Motor Corporation in 1968, subsequently subsumed by Leyland, which itself was later nationalised as British Leyland, Jaguar was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984, and became a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Ford in 1989. Jaguar has, in recent years, manufactured cars for the Prime Minister, the most recent delivery being of a XJ model on 11 May 2010. the company also holds Royal Warrants from HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Charles.
Jaguar cars today are designed in Jaguar Land Rover's engineering centres at the Whitley plant in Coventry and at their Gaydon site in Warwickshire, and are manufactured in Jaguar's Castle Bromwich assembly plant near Birmingham
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