A Jaguar S-Type 3.0 sedan, seen in the far far east of Beijing in the spring of 2016, on a slightly polluted bit otherwise fine day. The Jag’ looked fantastic, painted in a dark green shade and fitted with the standard sporty five spoke alloys. When I looked at the vehicle I immediately noticed the enormous mirrors, and now, more than five years later, the mirrors catch my eye again. They are enormous indeed.
I am totally in love with the Jaguar bonnet situation. On top a hood ornament of a jaguar attacking its prey, and on the grille yet another jaguar with an open beak, showing its teeth in anger.
The interior was in need of a cleanup but in a fine shape. The wood was still good. The owner installed seat covers to protect the fine British leather. The center stack had an 8-inch screen with various trip computing and infotainment functions. The S-Type had a CD player with an 8 CD changer, which was quite a lot, as most such systems can only handle 6 discs.
The S-Type was made from 1999 until 2007. In those days, Jaguar was still owned by Ford. The S was based on Ford’s DEW98 platform, which also underpinned other great cars like the Lincoln LS, the Ford Thunderbird, and the later Jaguar XF.
The Jaguar S-Type 3.0 got power from a 3.0 liter V6 engine with an output of 244 hp and 300 Nm, good for a top speed of 233 km/h and a 0-100 of 7.9 seconds.
The S-Type was officially sold in China, from 2004 until 2007. Only engine option was the 3.0. Price in 2004 was 678.000 yuan. That was a lot of money for a relatively unknown brand so these stately British sedans are pretty rare in China.