PROGRESS REPORT

IN HIS 1940 book Inside the Whale and Other Essays, author George Orwell wrote, “Progress is not an illusion. It happens, but it is slow and invariably disappointing.”

This is sometimes the case in automotive development. Just because a car is new, it doesn’t follow that it will necessarily be better than its predecessor. Take the 1982 Ford Sierra; it might have been technically better than the out-going Cortina Mk 5, but its ‘jelly mould’ shape was initially not as popular as the Cortina’s traditional threebox design. Or the E60 BMW5-Series – its awkward ‘flame surfacing’ has still never been as accepted as the clean lines of the car it replaced, the all-conquering E39.

So how does the recently facelifted XE compare with its predecessor, the X-TYPE? Almost two decades separate the two, yet, as compact saloons, they have much in common. With 20 years of development, the newer car should be better than the old one. But is it?

The X-TYPE didn’t appear to be an indication that Jaguar was making progress when the car made its debut at the 2001 Geneva Motor Show. Although Jaguar’s designers looked at more modern styling themes – including slim headlights not unlike those that eventually made their way on to the X250 XF and X351 XJ – they were thought too forward. Because the company was going to sell the car