There’s a sudden silence that falls as the doors close, the endless noise of the world sealed outside as light drifts in through tinted windows. Chilled leather seats groan and shudder. Keys jingle and shake in anticipation; the first turn breathes life into the car as the dash lights up and dials dance; a second turn of the ignition breathes fire as the steering wheel relaxes and the engine tremors, its roar deep and guttural, its fumes stinging throats and eyes, providing an experience that’s as invigorating as it is intoxicating: a whole-body experience that is heading towards extinction.
Jaguar is shutting down manufacturing and sales of petrol and diesel models as part of their ‘reimagine’ strategy, which will see the brand transition to an all-electric lineup in 2025. Founded in 1935 – but with roots as early as 1922 – Jaguar became synonymous with a style and pace that’s undergoing a radical change.
Jaguar is perhaps most famous for the cars it produced in the 50s & 60s, when the brand inaugurated the Mk II and E-type. Paul Breen is a collector who owns both these cars, and he has invited me into his garage, allowing me to sense firsthand the wonder of these legendary Jags.
Paul is my uncle, and a bit of a Jag tragic – sorry Paul – but I’ve never seen this side of him before, the knowledge and respect, and the awe in his voice, which feels Pentecostal inside this Jag temple.
The afternoon sun filters through the garage window, falling softly across the faded E-type maintenance manual, the yellowed pages depicting the Jag’s infamous moss gearbox. An orange rag patched with oil stains lies on the desk beside it, with Paul’s greasy fingerprints dotting the diagram, which he has quickly sketched to show me how the straight cut of the first gear causes a distinct whine. The aromas of petrol, oil, and lemon lime and bitters mix in the air; empty glasses line the garage windowsill, glinting in the sunlight.
“William Lyons always wanted the engines to be designed as carefully as the car, he wanted them to look as good as the body,” Paul says, referring to Jaguar’s Founder.
This philosophy is evident in the 3.8L engine of the series 1 E-type, its chromed cylinder heads, undisturbed by cables or leads, sit perfectly in the middle of the bay like a metallic canyon. The three carburettors have a similar glint, protruding from the right side of the engine like the three sisters. The sweeping curves of the red bodywork are like valleys, complementing the formations of the cars metallic heart. It seems appropriate that Enzo Ferrari deemed the E-type “the most beautiful car in the world”. High praise from the man who likened Lamborghinis to tractors.
The E-type sits on independent coil rear suspension, meaning each rear wheel is individually sprung, allowing the rear to stay perpendicular to the road during cornering as well as providing a smoother ride through greater shock absorption. “It’s really clever,” Paul says, “and consequently, they’re lovely to drive, they ride beautifully.”
Its development came about as the result of a £5 bet between Sir William Lyons and his engineer Bob Knight, who he challenged with designing the suspension in under a month. Knight spent his Saturdays working on the project and as he put it, “I had £5, and William had his independent rear suspension.”
Jaguar’s glory days are rich with such stories, where innovation and craftsmanship added character to the cars and not the price. An example being the Mk II Jaguar, first built in 1959, which offered ‘Grace… Space… Pace’ according to Sir William. The Mk II was one of the fastest saloon cars in Britain, with the 3.8L model able to reach 100 km/h in under 9 seconds and a top speed of 201 km/h. For reference, the fastest production car at the time was the Aston Martin DB4 which boasted 0-100 km/h times of 9.3 seconds and a top speed of 224 km/h. Maybe James Bond should have driven a Jag, and it would have saved him £2,016, too. But that wouldn’t be right; Jags were reserved for the baddies.
In the 60s, the Mk II was the preferred getaway car for the British gentleman with bendable morals, the speed along with the handling afforded by the independent suspension as well as the revolutionary disc brakes allowed the Mk II to cover lots of ground quickly whilst darting in and out of narrow streets – handy when running from the rozzers. And if you happened to be a family of hoodlums, you were in luck! The Mk II had space for Mum and Dad in the front, three kids in the back, and a boot full of stolen goodies.
Roy James, best known for his involvement in the Great Train Robbery, was a fan of the Mk II. He was a promising racer turned getaway driver and he always made a point of ‘borrowing’ a 3.4L Mk II for his escapades. Whilst the 3.8L model produced 10 more horsepower, the 3.4L handled like no other car could. “The 3.4 was the sweet spot,” Paul says, and in the hands of a skilled driver the fuzz had no chance of keeping up.
The story goes that Sir William Lyons designed the Mk II in the afternoon sunlight of his back garden, where schoolchildren could spy over the wall – watching as he worked. It seems appropriate then that I am struck with childlike wonder as I gaze upon Paul’s Mk II parked on the grass of his backyard. The White walls of the house dance across the surface of the car, warping the gentle curves drawn by Sir William’s hand. The British racing green mixes beautifully with the blue sky, creating a soft turquoise sea for the four headlights to sink into, whilst the chrome Jaguar leaps over the 3.4 badge, marking its pedigree. The interior is just as magnificent, the original leather lining and wooden trim give the illusion of a smoker’s lounge, especially with all the space – and the built in ash trays. The seats squeak ever so slightly as you shift in them and the solid thud of the doors blocks out the static of the outside. It is a luxurious space to be in, and I feel rude for being without my tweed jacket and polished leather shoes – Mr Toad would have looked great in a stolen Mk II.
But what about an electric car?
A car is never just a car, even non-car-enthusiasts will have memories – some fond, some not – of a specific car in their life and the qualities that gave it its character. The smells, sounds, the visceral reaction to the speed and feel. Jaguar has many such examples. But the question now is will Jaguar be able to create electric cars that capture the special Jag charm? A stigma exists around electric cars – that they have been pushed more as a product, an expensive city car for lawyers and realtors to putz around in: cookie cutter cars that lose focus of the spirit of the machine and the drive.
There are also concerns for the EV chargers that would need to be installed and the reality that electric cars are being outdated with every new release.
“I think it’s premature, and I think it’s disappointing,” Paul says. “The infrastructure is not there.”
With Australian towns situated long distances from each other, a plan to place chargers along highways would need to be devised for EVs to be able to drive such routes.
“The scariest thing for me about having a fully electric vehicle,” Paul continues, “is that battery technology is progressing at pace, so if you get on here in five years’ time, you’re already way behind. They’re just hold over cars.”
As cars advance in technology, it becomes a specialist’s job to maintain them, meaning enthusiasts such as Paul will be unable to tinker.
So, what’s the point?
The focus in modern car manufacturing is on the product and customer, with vehicles being tailored to a designated customer outlined in executive meetings and disingenuous press releases. Yet, labelling a Jag a ‘product’ suggests that it’s nothing more than a number on a sales-sheet. We lose scope of the work that goes into its creation and the spirit captured by the machine. The same goes for labelling customers. Paul’s love and dedication for his cars, his hobby, his passion, cannot begin to be understood without an experience, a conversation over a cup of tea on mismatched garden chairs. Paul, like many other enthusiasts, is more than a number, and no amount of board meetings and target audience reviews can capture him as part of a market.
So, is the electric overhaul a desperate marketing attempt or a revival of the brand?
In 2022, Jaguars reported sales were down 66 per cent from their all-time high recorded in 2018, in this period questions of quality and market position were raised, as Jaguar competed with heavyweights in the premium car class such as Mercedes, BMW, and Audi, whilst providing a lineup of cars that was outdated. Jaguars also had a reputation of depreciating terribly, as well as the service and repairs network being undersized and underpowered compared to competing manufacturers. In other words, Jaguar had fallen far from the grace of the E-type and Mk II.
Jaguar’s Reimagine strategy raises the manufacturers sights, looking to forge their own section of the market in luxury electric cars.
“We’re not copying anyone,” PR manager for JLR Australia, James Scrimshaw, says.
“We’re really going for green space.”
Going all in on the electric revamp could allow Jaguar to escape their current competitive position among the premium brands and focus on creating niche captivating cars.
“We’ve had a couple of owners that said we should be competing in that segment,” Mr Scrimshaw says.
“That’s not where we want to be. We have been there in the past, and we’re designing cars that will sit in a in a segment above that.”
So could this electric rebirth allow Jaguar to capture their old spirit?
Maybe.
The first electric release has been teased, and it sounds… new.
Jaguar says it has a GT car capable of driving 700kms between charges and that it will cost over $200,000, which might not sound very enlightening, but it gives us an important detail – Jaguar has stopped chasing the market.
We can take solace in the fact that Jaguar is once again excelling in motorsport, with Jaguar TCS Racing winning the manufacturer’s championship in Formula E – the premier electric racing class – for the brand’s first high-level victory since the 90s.
Pedigree is important for brands like Jaguar, and as Mr Scrimshaw puts it, “Jaguar has a history of making beautiful, fast cars.”
Its investment into electric motorsport gives the brand a strong base to build electric cars for the purpose of passion and excitement, to create a copy of nothing, as the marketing would have it.
But it still seems like a gamble for Jaguar to scrap all current petrol and diesel models to offer an exclusively electric range. There is an answer for that. With the world trending towards sustainability and carbon neutrality, it doesn’t make sense for manufacturers to produce big, macho, hairy chested V8 cars which guzzle fuel and Bambi tears whilst spitting out more fumes and smoke than the average Frenchman.
Governments are introducing restrictions and taxes on these cars whilst promoting sustainability. The Australian Government is set to introduce the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard on January 1 next year, which will require car manufacturers to meet or beat an average CO2 emissions limit which will be lowered on a five yearly basis. Brands are allowed to sell any vehicle type, but they are required to offset their less economical models with more fuel-efficient cars to bring their overall emissions average down. By going all electric, Jaguar doesn’t have to compromise its vehicles in order to meet regulations, meaning its cars can reach their full potential without worry of being muted.
Nothing can match the sound of Paul’s Jags, or even the burble of your mate’s VL commodore with a Calais V8 engine swap, for that matter, but there soon won’t be a place for these cars. As Electric and hybrid vehicles become more commonplace, we’ll be exposed to their quirks and character and the stigma will change, especially if Jaguar produces some corkers.
For now, our passion for cars should drive us to appreciate what we already have, whether it be a Mk II or a little tikes cozy car, each mean something different to us; and they’re not going anywhere, we just might have a few worthy electrics to go beside them.