TO SOME extent the best classics are those which are controversial enough to arouse fierce debate and the X-Type is certainly one of them. With the earliest cars having clocked up their 20th birthday, it’s also old enough to qualify for modern classic status, something reinforced by its significance to Jaguar as a brand.
One of Ford’s key aims for Jaguar was to lift production over the 100,000 mark and this was achieved with the S-Type, but Detroit management was keen to raise the bar even further by adding a smaller model to sit below the S-Type and challenge the BMW 3-Series.
All fine in principle t quite so easy in practice since all the smaller platforms u n l including the addition of four-wheel drive to avoid the stigma of a front-driven Jaguar.
The front suspension was revised, while in the conversion to all-wheel drive the rear end received what was essentially the independent rear set-up developed for the Mondeo estate. In the Ford this was used to give the estate a flatter load area but in the X-Type it allowed a rear subframe
