JAGUAR S-TYPE (1998-2007)
The German executive duo on the opposite page had both ceased production by the time the Jaguar S-Type finally made its debut at the 1998 British Motor Show, hitting UK showrooms early the following year. But the BMW E34 and Mercedes W124 were certainly behind Jaguar’s decision to develop a new sub-XJ saloon, giving the British brand a contender in the hotly contested 5 Series sector – and all these years later, an S-Type provides a tempting modern-classic alternative to those older German designs.
It was Ford’s acquisition of Jaguar that gave the company sufficient funds to expand its lineup. The S-Type was a distinctive-looking saloon that not only took its name from an ancestor of the ’60s, it was also unashamedly influenced by styling from the same decade. Against the crisply styled BMW and Mercedes-Benz products of the time, however, Geoff Lawson’s retro styling limited the Jaguar’s
