Background
Sir William Lyons, or “Mr Jaguar” as many would know him, could have easily been mistaken for a blue blood. He was always immaculately presented, had a penchant for a cravat and liked to have Jaguar publicity shots taken outside his country pile, Wappenbury Hall in Warwickshire. Then, of course, there was his later life ennoblement to the rank of Knight of the Realm in recognition of services to the British motor industry. In reality, however, William Lyons’s was born and bred in modest circumstances in Blackpool as the son of a shop keeper. It was purely through his drive, perseverance and hands-on ability that he was able to build a luxury and sporting car marque that would be known the world over. And all during his own lifetime.
Lyons’s magnum opus and swansong was not the E Type, or the XK120 or even the C or D Types but, in fact, the XJ6. Lyons would later say that the XJ6 was his "personal favourite" and "comes closer to than any other to what I always had in mind as my ideal car." Perhaps no surprise, then, that many of a certain age would associate the core attributes of the Jaguar brand with this curvaceous and accomplished sports saloon. It was no less than an automotive metaphor for Jaguar’s famed strap line – “Grace; Space; Pace.” So much so, indeed, that the 1968 XJ6 became ground zero for a model dynasty that would be reproduced in numerous forms until the X351 arrived in 2009.
The X350 iteration of the range debuted in 2003 to become the third interpretation of this successful recipe. Whilst retaining plenty of the original’s DNA, the X350 was all new and highly innovative. It was a bigger car than its predecessor, being six inches longer, two inches wider and a full five inches higher. Despite all this extra real estate, the X350 was claimed to be around 12% lighter. This feat was achieved courtesy of the decidedly space age stressed aluminium unibody whose construction was as complex as it was inspired. The process involved 284 stampings, 35 extrusions and 15 aluminium castings. These were bonded together with over 100 meters of aerospace-grade epoxy and 3,200 self-piercing boron steel rivets.
A 2007 facelifted model provided a late life update for the car and, confusingly, became known as the X358. This was designed to tune out some of the earlier models’ retro styling cues with the addition of a revised front grille and smoother-looking front bumper. The X358 range would be produced until March 2009 when it was discontinued in favour of a very different XJ – the X351.








