JEC Magazine Article: X-Type Story by Pete Smith

An X-Type Story: P88 SMT

By Pete Smith, Chair of Greater Manchester Region JEC

As I approach the grand old age of 66 and look forward to being an official old age pensioner in a few weeks’ time, I find myself looking back nostalgically on a number of episodes in my life, including some of the cars I’ve owned and enjoyed. I actually have not had that many cars, as I tend to keep them for a long time — if not forever.

One of those cars is my beloved X-Type 2.5 V6 SE manual. Back in 2007, I decided to take the plunge and buy an X-Type to replace my ageing Vauxhall Vectra SRI and, having taken delivery of a 1992 XJS the year before, I knew it had to be another Jag.

The X-Type presented as the last of the traditional-looking Jaguars and, as my friend lived in Aigburth in Liverpool, travelling down the Mersey Expressway past Halewood I always made a point of noticing the lovely new X-Types outside awaiting delivery from the Jaguar factory.

I found myself in Stratstones, which was then a Jaguar and Ferrari dealer in Manchester, providing them with the specification I would like and the preferred colours — either Zircon or Pacific blue with cream or barley interior. I also provided them with the preferred mileage and cost. So the hunt began.

After a few weeks I got the call to say that a 2003 manual in Zircon blue with barley leather interior had just come into their showroom in Edinburgh, and would I like them to bring the car down to Manchester for inspection. A test drive was duly arranged.

The things I noticed during the test drive around the streets of Manchester were the lovely comfy armchair feel of the seats and the silky smoothness of the V6, whilst having that slight growl of the exhaust. The deal was struck and, after transfer of my own plate onto the car, P88 SMT came home a few days later.

Some of the earliest memories of the car included a trip to the Vendée in France, with the car being the first on the ferry and right at the bow of the ship. I spent the entire crossing overnight worried about the car falling into the sea!

Also, my son, who was at university at the time, told me the boot was designed around the size of a set of golf clubs — fact or fiction?

However, what the car did provide was a great trip to my office every day, many great weekends away and trips to Northumberland.

In 2015, with the clock just showing under 100,000 miles, I noticed the gears slipping and it becoming harder to get into first. Taking it to my trusty garage revealed a new clutch was needed and also a small leak had started to appear on the garage floor.

This was diagnosed as being the oil sump gasket, so the car was booked in to have both the clutch and oil sump gasket replaced — quite a job on the Jaguar V6 engines. I remember going up to the garage to check on progress and being horrified to see how much had needed to come out of the engine bay before both the clutch and oil sump gasket could be accessed.

Other repairs during this period included a new radiator and two new central locking modules, as well as standard service items.

In 2017, during the car’s MOT and regular service, the bad news came back that the inner and outer sills had rotted through and would need addressing if the car was to pass its MOT. This was carried out with partial replacements and the car got through its MOT.

I then enjoyed many more business and pleasure trips over the next two years, adding the miles up to over 140,000 with the car still going strong.

Then Covid hit the country and the car lived in the garage for more or less the whole 18 months of lockdown in the Rochdale borough area. During this time I reached the age of 60 and decided to treat myself to another Jag. This time a 2.0 XE R-Sport — however, there was never any question about trading in the X-Type.

Now with the three Jags all together, the X-Type was used a bit less, therefore preserving its mileage a little. With me now just using the car for pleasure rather than business and pleasure, it was time to tackle those annoying areas of bubbly paint around the rear wheel arches.

Using pre-cut repair panels, a perfect match was obtained on a particularly difficult curved section of the car. Once painted and blended, the match was perfect, with no joins or matching evident.

However, more trouble lay ahead for P88 SMT. In 2022, during the MOT, it was discovered the sill repairs carried out in 2017 had themselves started to rot through and so full rails were needed this time. Very disappointing, but once again there was never any question of having the work carried out.

Then in 2023 — disaster. Whilst carrying out a routine afternoon of polishing in the garage, I overlooked the fact the car was in gear and started it up. The car shot forward and into the back of the garage wall, taking out the bonnet, front bumper, nearside headlight cluster, radiator grille and moving the slam panel.

However, sourcing the parts mainly from eBay and the garage being able to reset the slam panel meant the cost of repair was surprisingly low.

So here we are, with an air conditioning repair in 2025 and an oil cooler repair pending, and 178,000 miles now on the clock. The car enjoys a happy retirement, enjoying short trips and car shows.

In this year of anniversary, I feel it important to preserve as many of these important models as possible, as the X-Type represents one of the first “modern” compact saloons under Ford ownership, with many now realising the X-Type is an important part of Jaguar’s heritage.

The car will be part of the celebration of X-Types at many shows this summer and hopefully for years to come.

Happy X-Type motoring in 2026.

Originally featured in the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club magazine, April 2026. Reproduced with permission.