Jaguar S-Type 2.7 XS | Shed of the Week

This week’s under-£1,500 titbit, a Jaguar S-Type 2.7 XS, has got Shed thinking about the good old days and how car styling mods can affect perceptions. Shed’s first styling efforts involved fitting two strips of chequered flag tape to the sides of his 1961 Austin Mini. He later moved on to brushed-on matt black paint for the roof and a set of aftermarket Extendaswitches. These items allowed him to operate the Mini’s dash toggle switches for the wipers and lights without having to stop and undo his static seat belt first. Extendaswitches look ludicrous now but they were cool back in the 1960s. 

Of course, no matter what Shed did to his Mini, and he ended up doing a lot to it, everybody knew it was still just a Mini. Now let’s move on to the limited edition Jaguar S-Type XS. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that, but to Shed’s worn-out peepers the XS is a fascinating insight into how differently things might have worked out for the S-Type if only Jaguar had kicked it off with this mean and moody gangster look instead of the bowler-hatted image they went for. 

Positioned between the S and Sport models the XS was first released in early 2006 in a desperate attempt to tempt exec car buyers away from BMW showrooms. It had Sport suspension, 18in Mercury alloys, a Sport pack bodykit with bright-mesh grilles front and rear, boot spoiler and side skirts, double-stitched charcoal leather and aluminium Sport trim, a Sport steering wheel, and Comfort and Technology packs incorporating sat nav, voice activation, front and rear park distance control, rain-sensing wipers and electrochromic mirrors. It came in a choice of five classy colours: Indigo, Lunar Grey, Liquid Silver, and two sorts of black, Midnight or Ebony. Engine-wise it could be ordered with the 235hp 3.0 petrol V6 or the 207hp twin-turbo 2.7 V6 diesel that had been added to the S-Type range in 2004. 

Admittedly the XS wasn’t cheap at £30,995 for the 3.0 petrol or £31,995 for the 2.7 (diesels were in their pomp back then), but in Shed’s view those BMW buyers missed out. The post-2004 facelift S-Type was a fine car. In Shed’s possibly worthless opinion, the 2.7 diesel version was not only the best S-Type by far but one of the best Jaguar all-rounders ever. 

All right, wipe the porridge off your screen. There’s a reason why these 2.7s haven’t appeared in SOTW up to now, and it’s not just because they’ve all failed their MOTs either (although many have). Their 0-62 time of 8.1sec might not sound earth-shattering but 321lb ft at 1,900rpm was more than the contemporary 4.2 V8 Jaguar was putting out. The 2.7 was a smooth, fast, quiet, and highly effective touring tool with excellent mid-range squirt. You could get it with a six-speed manual, but that box’s combination of a heavy clutch pedal and too-short ratios meant that the six-speed ZF 6HP26 auto – also used in the Aston DB9, DBS V12 and Rapide, the first Rolls-Royce Phantoms, and ironically many BMWs from the 7 to the 3 Series – was your best bet. 

Another 200 XSs were fed into the UK market in autumn 2006 but it was too late. Shunned examples like our shed were still being registered well into 2007, which turned out to be the last year of S-Type production. Shed can’t tell from his own porridge-encrusted Amstrad screen which of the two blacks this car is painted in. If you possess superior viewing technology, which wouldn’t be difficult, Midnight was a bluey-black metallic whereas Ebony was a solid black that wasn’t highly recommended by Jaguar dealers on account of its vulnerability to scratches.

The MOT report is no help here because it just says ‘black’. More usefully though it tells us that the last test in June was a clean pass, just like the two before it, and that what advisories there have been over the last ten years have been almost exclusively minor consumables. Fearing the worst, Shed uncharacteristically got his wallet out for a vehicle report. This showed nothing at all to worry about on the scrapped/damaged/written off/dodgy mileage front. He is now trying to get his report money back. 

S-Types obviously rust, and they go through suspension components for fun, but, on the positive side, the 2.7’s average fuel consumption of 41mpg will give you a potential range of over 620 miles from the 15-gallon-plus tank. Even the vehicle tax isn’t too burdensome at £290. Could be top Le Mans transport for you and three buddies, if you have that many.