WHEN THE Jaguar X-Type estate was launched in 2004, many believed it to be the beginning of the end for the Coventry company. Not only was it platform sharing, and had abandoned rear-wheel drive, but it had even abandoned all sporting pretence if an estate car was on the cards – surely? But time had mellowed our opinions, and many enthusiasts not only see the X-Type as a car in the true Jaguar tradition but the estate as a sensible way to enjoy Jaguar motoring without compromise.
And the X-Type estate was not without precedent – either within Jaguar or at the hands of outside coachbuilders. Jaguars modified for practicality had been around since the 1960s. We’ve gathered some of our favourite internal and external studies into the practical Jag concept.
Mk2 County
The best-known of these early models was the Mk2 County – based on a 1962 3.8 saloon formerly owned by the factory. It had been the brainchild of racing drivers Duncan Hamilton and Mike Hawthorn, and executed on their behalf by Jones Brothers. It had its roots in discussions to create a more practical version of the Mk1 3.4 – one which
