A Cat for the Masses

While it's not quite a Jaguar for the working man, the 2004 X-Type is the most affordable car the British automaker has ever produced.

Starting at $41,195, the 2004 X-Type is the most affordable car Jaguar has ever produced. (Photo: Andrew McCredie, Canadian Auto Press)

Priced in the mid-$40s, the X-Type is all Jaguar, which is, unlike a decade or so ago, a good thing. Ford's purchase of the legendary marque a decade and a half ago not only helped stem the massive bleeding the U.K. firm was experiencing thanks to an unfortunately well-earned reputation for producing unreliable cars, but the U.S. manufacturer also brought some much needed vision to what had become a stagnant line of large sedans.

The parent company's boldest move to date was the introduction of the X-Type in 2002. Little has changed over the past two years. Little, that is, except the price. A fully loaded 2004 3.0-liter X-Type is $4,700 cheaper than the equivalent '03 model, and given the driving characteristics and interior appointments of this fine automobile, at the very least that price reduction should encourage prospective Bimmer, Mercedes and Audi owners to give the so-called "Baby Jag" consideration.

A fully loaded 2004 3.0-liter X-Type is $4,700 cheaper than the equivalent '03 model. (Photo: Jaguar Canada)

If they do, they'll be duly impressed with what is, for the money, arguably the best compact luxury sedan available in North America. In addition to being the only car in its class to offer all-wheel drive as a standard feature in base 2.5-liter trim, the X-Type maintains the one aspect of Jaguars that has stayed true to tradition even through the dark days of the late 1980s. And that is the interior. Apart from Rolls-Royce and Bentley, there is no manufacturer that can touch Jaguar's incredibly comfortable and luxurious cabin spaces. Leather and wood combine to give the Jag an 'old money' smell, and the clean, retro gauge package is easy on the eyes in all lighting conditions. However, for the life of me I can't figure out why Jag designers installed the cheap looking, and feeling, plastic centre console. Housing the climate and stereo controls, the unit looks more like Ford Taurus trim than Jaguar.