2012 Jaguar Xkr-s / Xk Rs / R S / 4,082 Miles / Rare / Supercharged / White on 2040-cars

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2013 Jaguar XF Sportbrake

Editor's Note: Our reporter was anxious to get some time behind the wheel of the XF Sportbrake, even though Jaguar only had a very small window available for us to drive it. As a result, we weren't able to capture our usual original images to go with the Quick Spin story. Please accept our regrets, and Jag's lovely stock photography, instead.
The last wagon attempt from Jaguar was the X-Type, built between 2003 and that model line's unceremonious end in 2009. That X-Type and its legacy represent a real dog of a chapter for Jaguar, and for the Halewood factory where the barker was built. It was the final joke told prior to the brand's proper rebirth phase - a phase we're enjoying the heck out of today.
Current magnanimous Jaguar owner Tata can be thanked for this new wagon, the XF Sportbrake. Like all newness coming from Jag these days, this new wagon also feels lightyears more serious an offering, ready to compete squarely with established premium wagon makers across Europe. A Jaguar wagon in America is a far-off priority for the company, frankly. Still we deserve to know what we're missing for the time being from this (sometimes overly) cherished British firm.

Junkyard Gem: 2005 Jaguar X-TYPE 3.0

During the Premier Automotive Group phase of Ford's ownership of Jaguar, it seemed to make sense to create a Jaguar that non-oligarchs could afford. By taking the Ford Mondeo (sold as the Ford Contour/Mercury Mystique on our shores) and adding luxury touches plus Jaguar styling, the X-TYPE came into being and hit American showrooms starting in the 2002 model year. Fast-forward a decade or two and it's no sweat to find entry-level European luxury sedans lined up in your local Ewe Pullet. Here's a decal-enhanced '05 X-TYPE 3.0 AWD I found in a yard near Pikes Peak a couple of months back. This car shows signs of having been loved dearly by its final owner. Since the paint is Topaz Metallic, which is sort of a gold shade, its name became Goldie. Goldie was sweet, it would seem. Perhaps the dripping-blood decal indicates that Goldie's sweetness was alloyed with cruelty. Paw-print, bloody-claw-mark, and Jaguar stickers abound. Goldie has eyes both at the top of the windshield and on the front bumper. Her headlights appear to leak blood. Those who might criticize these customization touches come face-to-face with this message at the windshield's lower edge. How would such a treasured machine end up in a place like this? As we see here, at some point Goldie got hit hard in the right rear, and the crash damage was too severe to be worth fixing. I hope everyone involved was wearing their seat belts. The interior looks to have been pretty nice before junkyard shoppers began prying off trim parts. Someone bought the stick-on hood scoop and the "Leaper" hood ornament. You can't have too many JAGUAR emblems! This is the newest junked Jaguar I've documented; the oldest was a 1969 XJ6. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Sometimes the best part of giving is the thank-you you'll receive.

Junkyard Gem: 1973 Jaguar XJ6

It requires a certain high level of commitment to keep an old Jaguar on the road, and so plenty of first-generation Jaguar XJs end up as projects that never get finished, sitting in yards or garages for decades before winding up in the nearest U-Wrench yard. As I clomp through car graveyards around the country in search of interesting machinery, I see so many 1980s XJs that I don't bother to photograph many of them … but a genuine Series I early Jag is a different story. Here's a '73 XJ6 whose final parking space (prior to facing the cold steel jaws of The Crusher) sits right next to that of a same-year Mercedes-Benz 450SLC in an East Bay yard. How the mighty have fallen! The C107 was too picked-over to be worth photographing, but you can admire the photos of this much nicer '72 I found in Denver a few years back. Unlike the last Series 1 XJ6 that I've photographed (in the very same yard, albeit 13 years ago), this car has not had its original straight-six engine replaced by a small-block Chevrolet V8 (because Jaguar parts were expensive and Chevy parts were cheap during the 1970s, that swap happened frequently). The US-market XJ6 got 150 horsepower from this smooth-running DOHC six, 40 fewer horses than the (far more expensive) 450SLC that year. The interior looks ravaged by the decades, but you can still discern the opulence that once reigned in this wood-and-leather-lined space. The dash boasts a full complement of authentic Smiths gauges, with a tasteful Kienzle clock right in the middle. Here's why we can assume that fewer than two of those instruments functioned at any given time during the life of this car: wiring by The Prince of Darkness! Working on electrical faults in these cars built up your patience while undermining your faith in symptom-to-problem relationships. The six-digit odometer ensures that we'll never know if we're looking at a 56,819-mile car or a 356,819-mile car. I'd guess 156,819 if I had to, based on pedal wear. These cars were very popular in the Bay Area, which has been full of European-car aficionados since the first Renault AXs sputtered off the docks of the San Francisco waterfront. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, you'd never see an old XJ without one of these pre-EU "GB" stickers on the back. The faded condition of this one suggests decades of sitting in the sun, probably while the car sat dead in the driveway due to electrical problems.