Yes. Twenty-fvi e whole years ago, Jaguar did something that made decent chaps pop a monocle, spill their Cognac as their good wives dropped their pearl sets in absolute horror. Good God! What the devil did they do? Well, Jaguar built a small car. A car (perish the thought) that was frmly aimed at the hoi polloi. Worse still, it was a small car that didn t leak oil, it didn t break down, and it was based on a Ford Mondeo. Te result was the Jaguar X-Type. It was derided as not being “a real Jaguar”. It was accused of wearing borrowed trousers and was often incorrectly blamed for just about everything that went wrong at Browns Lane during the Ford years. And yet, a quarter of a century later, we can look at the X-Type, not through misty nostalgic eyes but with the sort of appraisal that it actually deserved from word go. Why it existed at all To understand the X-Type, we must remember that in the late 1990 s Jaguar was owned by Ford. Ford took one look at the brand s sales fgures and decided that relying solely on the ageing XJ s, a model bought by retired dentists, was no longer a sustainable business plan. After all, BMW had the 3 Series, Mercedes had the C-Class, Audi had the A4, whilst Jaguar had nothing smaller than the XJ and the XK, which both drank fuel like they had shares in major oil companies. If Jaguar was going to survive, it needed a compact executive car in order to tempt younger buyers. Tus, Project X400 was born. Te brief was simple. Build a Jaguar capable of taking on the Germans by using existing Ford architecture to minimise costs. At the same time, their creation had to be unmistakably Jaguar. Styling: Retro or ridiculous? Te X-Type looked like a Jaguar because designers were told it had to. Sure, it had twin oval headlights, curvaceous fanks, and a rear end that nodded to the XJ. To some, it was charmingly traditional. To others, it looked like an XJ that had been accidentally washed at 60 degrees. But here s the thing, in an era when German cars were aggressively angular, relentlessly serious and somewhat austere, the X-Type had a bit of traditional warmth about it. It looked friendly. Familiar. It might ofer you a nice, warming sherry. Just like your grandma used to. Inside, it doubled down on the old-school charm. Tere was wood veneer, soft leather that just smelled right, and there was familiar green backlighting on the instrument panel. Te X-Type didn t try to be modern; it just tried to be a Jaguar. The Mondeo lurking beneath Yes, the X-Type was based on the Ford Mondeo (the CD132 platform). Strangely, this wasnt really the crime against pussycats that some pundits made it out to be. Te fact is, the Mondeo of the day was one of the best-handling frontwheel-drive cars in the world. After all, Ford had spent as much as the GDP of a medium-sized country developing it. Despite the Mondeo being extremely good, Jaguar went much further than expected when it came to adding additional refnements. Tis meant that the Mondeo lurking beneath was heavily re-engineered. At the time, Jaguar was staunchly dedicated to producing Rear Wheel Drive cars, so the Front Wheel Drive Mondeo underpinnings were ftted with all-wheel drive as an expensive compromise. Te X-Type also used Ford s excellent V6 petrol engines, rather than their other, more agricultural oferings. Early X-Types came with a 2.5-litre or 3.0-litre V6, producing 194bhp and 231bhp respectively. Later came the much-needed 2.0-litre diesel, derived from Peugeot/ Citroen/Ford. Tis transformed the X-Type from an “interesting curiosity” into a weapons-grade company-car proposition. Tis diesel engine was torquey, economical, and it was plenty refned to boot. Consequently, diesel variants sold in huge numbers, particularly in Britain and Europe, where fuel economy really mattered. Manual and automatic gearboxes were ofered, and estates joined the line-up in 2004. By the mid-2000 s, Jaguar had, astonishingly, a full compact executive range. Tis was unprecedented territory for the great British pussycat. The numbers Between 2001 and 2009, Jaguar had built approximately 350,000 X-Types. For context, that made it one of the brand s best-selling models ever, second only to the original XJ. At its peak, the X-Type accounted for nearly half of Jaguar s global sales. Half ! Tat was certainly not a failure; it was a complete lifeline for Jaguar Cars. Top speed? Around 155mph for the 3.0 V6. 0,60mph? About 6.5 seconds in the fastest versions. Fuel economy? Errr, let s not dwell on the petrol ones. However, the diesels could do 45mpg if you behaved yourself. Why some people hated It Te hatred came down to identity as well as a huge dollop of good old-fashioned British snobbery. Jaguar had always traded on being diferent, slightly eccentric, gloriously British and faintly unreliable. Te X-Type threatened that mythology. It was too sensible. Too practical. Too normal. Too accessible! Worst of all, it didn t immediately beat the Germans at their own game. Te 3 Series was sharper. Te A4 felt more modern. Te C-Class had badge snobbery all sewn up. Te X-Type was good, but it wasnt class-leading. It was a poodle in a world of angry wolves. But there was an inconvenient truth. Te X-Type was comfortable. It was refned, and it was handsome. Te right version could turn out to be a very pleasant car to live with. Te all-wheel-drive system was superb in bad weather, and the estate was genuinely spacious and practical. Te diesel was one of the best engines Jaguar had ever ftted to a car. And, most importantly, it brought thousands of new buyers into the fold. Tis built-up brand loyalty, because the folks who got into a Jaguar by buying an X-Type were the people who would later buy XF s, XE s and F-Paces. Without the X-Type, Jaguar might not have survived long enough to reinvent itself at all. In other words, the X-Type was an act of pure marketing genius. The Legacy Today, the X-Type occupies a strange corner in Jaguar history. It was relatively cheap, unfashionable, and long looked down upon by the purist brigade. Which, ironically, makes it a very Jaguar thing indeed. Truth is, the X-Type represents the moment Jaguar tried to adapt in order to survive in a changing world. Sure, it wasn t perfect. It wasn t even all that brave. But it was necessary. In retrospect, the real tragedy isn t that the X-Type existed; its that Jaguar never quite followed it up properly. Te latter XE arrived too late, too compromised and into a market that was already drifting towards SUVs. So, 25 years on, perhaps it s time to put my neck on the block. Te Jaguar X-Type wasn t the car that ruined Jaguar. It was the car that kept the company alive. And that, even if it was based on a Mondeo, deserves a raised glass of warm sherry and a grudging round of applause. About Douglas Hughes Douglas Hughes is a UK-based writer producing general interest articles ranging from travel pieces to classic motoring. Douglas Hughes