The fact that the S-Type sedan exists and carries a sticker price that allows more people to buy it is just about as much of a marketing strategy as Jaguar is going to need.
I mean, millions of people want to own a piece of that marvelous heritage but can't afford it, but now a couple of thousand of them in Canada are about to be let into the club. "I have a Jag" is the club mantra. Come on, say it out loud and see how good it feels: "I have a Jag." Again.
"I?have?a?Jaaaag."See, don't you feel like putting on some tweeds and brogues and shooting up the M1 to Oxbridge to celebrate Alistair's getting five firsts? Too bloody right.
This is the kind of royalty-carrying, Empire-running emotion that Jaguar can tap into with the S-Type, and indeed did tap into with the old product when it was six degrees of junk. Junk so bad that many of the people who sold it are still feeling guilty about it, and rightly so.
But we're many years away from that low water mark, so there's almost certainly no reason to concern yourself with the S-Type in terms of quality. Ford has owned Jag for about a decade now, and several billion dollars and untold amounts of effort have transformed what a previous boss called the worst assembly facility outside the Soviet Union into an operation capable of the highest quality.
So it's got the Jaguar name on it (and that great leaper on the hood), and it's not likely to give you service nightmares. For a lot of you, that's all you need to know, so we'll say cheery-bye at this point.
Well, image and not knowing the dealership's service manager by his first name ("Morning, Nigel") are understandable goals, but lots of people require more than that and the rest of this tract is dedicated to them.
Those folks need to know right up front that the best reason to buy the 2000 S-Type is entrée to the club the name delivers, followed closely by a look we'll call "distinctive". If those two things don't raise your rope, you'll probably be happier with one of the many other fine brands available north of $55,000.
Without these twin charms, you see, the Jaguar S-Type starts only at "pretty damn good" in a segment for which that is the ante. Like the other models (BMW 5-series, Cadillac Seville, Lexus GS, Mercedes-Benz E-class, Volvo S80) in this segment, the curtain doesn't really go up on the drama until or unless a V-8 takes center stage.
This may be giving short shrift to the S-Type with the 6-cylinder engine, since those three litres of V-shaped metal send significant amounts of juice to the rear wheels. The hard numbers are 240 horsepower at 6800 rpm and 221 pound-feet of torque at 4500 rpm, with 90 per cent of the latter available after 2500 rpm.
On the plus side, the 5-speed automatic is one of those pseudo-manual transmissions that allows the driver to pick a particular gear when he or she wants it.
Jaguar has nixed the manual shifter available in Europe, by the way, because they say they can't sell enough to make it viable.For buyers for whom just being in the Jaguar club is enough, this engine will undoubtedly be sufficient. And let's not forget that, at $59,950, the V-6 S-Type is $10,000 less than the V-8.
But along with even more content than can already be found in the well-equipped V-6, buyers of the more expensive model get access to one of the great engines of modern day engine-dom -- the 4-litre AJ-V8.
Using 281 horsepower at 6100 rpm and 287 pound-feet of torque at 4300 rpm, this engine delivers the kind of oomph that Jags are most famous for nowadays. This is an exceedingly pleasing package in all circumstances for the heavy-footed driver, on a par with virtually anything else on the market.
Accompanying the power in both engines is a suspension setup that allows the S-Type to lay legitimate claim to the title of sports sedan. It's fully-independent at all corners, has anti-roll bars at both ends, and is tuned to allow for hard driving.
Long stretches across all kinds of roads north of Los Angeles showed the S-Type to be very much a driver's car, in the great tradition of European sedans from many countries.
What the ride of the S-Type is not is indicative of is the ride that can be found in Jaguar's two other products, the XJ sedans and the XK roadster/coupe. Specifically, it doesn't have the hunkered-down, crouching sensation that the other two delivers. Many people won't care about this or won't know (this is a new market for Jag, after all) but it does move the brand into an area it's never been before.
One aspect of the S-Type that the British-based firm did not want to confuse anyone about was the car's appearance, so this car is unmistakably a Jaguar. That front end makes its lineage plain to anyone, tapping as it does directly into one of the richest design heritages in the automotive world.
Many will love the fact that the S-Type's front end announces its family connections in such an obvious way, while others may think it a little too eager to make itself known to strangers.As for the rest of the car's design, well it's okay but it lacks any memorable Jaguar styling cues and that is unfortunate. Indeed, if I close my eyes to imagine the car I can only clearly see the front end; the rest is a nondescript blur, what a California Ford dealer disparagingly said was "nothing more than a Ford."
Undoubtedly, this car will be a huge success with those people who want to join the Jaguar owners' club and who love a hard-driving sports sedan. It will double Jaguar Canada's sales numbers without effort and will make many people happy, inside and outside the company.
The fact that the 2000 S-Type will not add appreciably to the lore of the storied marque is probably not an issue with most people. All of the folks who buy it and many of those who still covet club membership will love it.