It was the late ’90s in San Francisco, and my then Puerto Rican girlfriend got a new part time job; one more of many menial chores she engaged in to keep her studies going. This time it was babysitting a couple of teen girls, both children of an upcoming jewelry designer. I had met the girls once or twice briefly, both blonde, quiet and subdued, nicely behaved in their private school uniforms; fitting to a T the image of a family living in one of the city’s new yuppie neighborhoods.
How my girlfried came about that job, I won’t recall. Regardless, the idea of the girls’ mother being a jewelry designer held a certain fascination to me, though my girlfriend never elaborated much on the matter. What I knew: the wage earners were upscale and easy going, living in a trendy SF neighborhood. Part of that prosperity was thanks to the wife’s flourishing jewelry enterprise; her line of goods selling in a renowned high-end department store, well-known for its live piano music and subdued costly merchandise.
It so occurred that one time, during one of my girlfriend’s guards, she got stuck at her boss’ workshop. Could I go and pick her up there? Sure, why not? After a few indications, it turned out the jewelry workshop was located on a second floor loft, just above a burrito shop we frequented in the Mission area (above). I was finally going to know the place.
An Asian immigrant received me at the door and allowed me in. Where does luxury come from? Sweatshops, apparently. The medium-sized loft was filled with a dozen or so of Asian immigrants, diligently laboring on various pieces in their respective counters. An Asian woman in a fancy red business suit, and a foreman of sorts to her side, were overseeing the whole operation near the workshop’s entrance, sitting in a couple of drab desks. From time to time, the ‘woman in red’ gave indications to the artisans without leaving her seat; not shouting, but loud enough to know she meant business. It was a surreal scene.
I scanned for my girlfriend; she was in a corner table, standing next to the eldest girl, who sat in contemplation. From that distance, I got a glance of hers along the lines of: “Ok, you’ve seen it. Stop asking about it…”
Where’s this from, exactly?
I approached both, exchanged some minor talk, and signaled to leave. Could I give the teen girl a ride home? Sure, I could. That’s what my non-luxurious ’68 Beetle was for, basic city transport.
As we walked towards the exit, I looked over the workers’ shoulders as they toiled away. Then I noticed, next to the tools and jewelry materials, a bunch of labels that sat on each table: “Made in Pakistan,” “Made in Cambodia.” As soon as each piece was finished, one such label would be dutifully affixed.
My eyes widened. The whole perception of ‘exotic luxury’ the collection sold on was based solely on those fake labels.
No amount of ‘man-hours’ and ‘expensive materials’ can turn the Stutz into luxury. From the Cohort, by Johnh875.
What’s in a badge? And what’s luxury? A shifting target that molds from time to time, from place to place and from culture to culture. At times it is based on real perceptions. Attention to detail, engineering and assembly were Rolls Royce’s calling cards in the ’20s-’30s. Sometimes luxury is plain hype, as Gucci did by overflowing the market with their ‘own produced’ knock offs. And of course, sometimes luxury is just plain fad. Whatever luxury happens to be in time and place, what can’t be denied is that it is a tacit agreement by members of a group. An ‘undeniable desirability,’ that most members decide is the one to possess at a specific point in time.
I believe CC readers are kind of immune to these types of collective pressures. We like what we like and that’s it. We enjoy our objects for what they are, and are at times perplexed at the marketing hoopla behind such efforts: Why is a Lexus badge needed on a Toyota product? I would drive it all the same!
But badges and perceived worth do have meaning to non-car folks: Toyotas will be a ‘no zone’ with acquaintances of mine, while they endlessly swoon for any Lexus at close reach. Who rides a ’68 Beetle to a high school reunion in 2004? I do. Meanwhile, my ex-classmates made sure to arrive in the ritziest ride they could find.
I think we can safely say that Ford’s Jaguar’s X-Type suffered of a badge problem, to say the least. Yes, it was snooty of the Jaguar clique to label it as nothing but a glorified Mondeo. Never mind that it was better screwed and engineered than ‘real’ Jaguars of before. But then again, such is luxury; it’s snooty, and often pointless. Better for those who wish to enjoy luxury at discount prices (like a certain Mr. Klein at CC), as nothing depreciates like unloved upscale cars. The X-Type was certainly a market-dud for Ford’s global ambitions; yet, considering Dearborn’s spotty record with luxury divisions, the company’s worst vices were kept at bay. For the most part that is.
Not that fear amongst the Jaguar cognoscenti was completely unwarranted. Ford didn’t appease matters when in ’94, it announced it would reorganize into a ‘worldwide firm’ based on platform responsibilities: former European operations would attend small FWD offerings, while US ones would handle V-8s and RWD platforms. Sort of made sense overall, though it left Jaguar and Aston out on a limb; traditional RWD purveyors. A Mondeo-based Jaguar and Aston? Ford tried to appease the skeptics; much had been gathered from previous errors, past mistakes would not be committed (i.e. no Versailles this time!) A respect for the brand’s history was essential for the partnership to succeed. Or so the idea was.
A little too much respect for the brand’s history perhaps, as the X-Type’s styling was referred to as a ‘pastiche of past Jaguars.’ And in retrospect, Jaguar personnel has complained of the model’s skin being sent ‘as is’ from Dearborn (what happened with the ‘worlwide firm’ idea?) Regarding the Mondeo underpinnings, Wiki quantifies those to ‘around 19%’ in total. In essence, more Jaguar than Mondeo? The question remained: Would shoppers see the X-Type as an ‘affordable Jaguar,’ taking by storm the lucrative 3-Series market? Or would they just see a Ford-of-Europe car in ‘Jaguar drag’?
Buyers who took to the car found a nicely assembled and competent entry. There doesn’t seem to be too many regrets on that end. Problem was there just weren’t enough of them. That and the fact that a common Detroit sin underlied the whole effort. In the case of the X-Type? A numbers sin: the lofty idea that Jaguar’s new 3-Series slayer would sell over 100K units a year. In the end, 350,000 got sold during its 8 years of production.
Of course, a good number of X-types are now found at nothing but discount prices. And if you’re mechanically inclined, or know a friendly garage shop, the idea is an enticing one. Either that or you purchase one as a temporary ‘status’ enhancer, enjoying it before those luxury goodies start to expensively malfunction.
Depending on surroundings, a shunned model can suddenly acquire a prestige it never attained. In a lower class neighborhood, a ‘real’ Jaguar may have no room. But an X-Type? Well, in such a case it can just be the ‘cat’s meow,’ you know? A something-something British luxury brand local populace faintly know about, without enough awareness to tell apart a Ford-Jaguar, from a Jaguar-Jaguar.
Today’s sample is obviously a US gray import, amongst the thousands brought in monthly. Between the favored Toyotas and Kias, some crazy entrepreneur decides to ‘spice it up’ occasionally, bringing in the unusual and the exotic: a 928, or a Cadillac. And in this instance, an X-Type. And a local family thought it worthy to pay for that ‘accessible’ upscale Jaguar feel. Whether they really know about the brand’s heritage, it’s beyond me (I suspect they don’t). What I do know is that it’s not quite the environment Ford execs ever dreamt for their 3-Series fighter.
So what’s luxury? In this neighborhood skirting San Salvador, the X-Type’s immediate surroundings are the definition of wealth. The Jaguar’s owners possess a large plot of land, where family members inhabit various quarters built over the last couple of decades. Farming animals wonder freely about, while a lunch buffet of their management attends daily local workers. The whole family is an enterprising lot, possessing a number of material goods many locals could only dream of. In other words, wealth. And the X-Type? The unnecessary and illogical luxury enhancement to shout out that prosperity.
As to me, what’s luxury? A few days in an isolated beach on the Caribbean coast. That would do it. There are no real restrooms, access is difficult, and local cooking is of questionable benefit. But it takes resources to reach, and a good amount of stored savings to afford waiting the hours pointlessly away. You know, to have enough wealth to ‘luxuriously’ waste time away.
More luxury examples? I’m aware office windows are a status matter in the corporate world, or used to be. I do know I hated being in a windowless cubicle during my California years. Then again, whoever possessed this view, had the lowest form of ‘status’ possible within the window-ladder echelons.
It didn’t take much longer before my Puerto Rican girlfriend left the babysitting job. And it was never quite the same whenever we visited the upscale department store in downtown SF, where the designer’s jewelry sold. We did come across her goods a few times, displayed in the store’s lobby, not far from the piano player performing live music. “Made in Pakistan,” “Made in Cambodia,” read the labels still. I raised an eyebrow in disapproval, much like Aunt Violet would do in Downton Abbey, though I couldn’t come up with a witty remark.
So what’s in a badge? That you have to work for, unless you purchase or fake it. What’s luxury? That’s whatever you wish it to be. Just don’t expect others to agree with you.
For further reading, Jim Klein’s X-Type saga:
Curbside Project Car: 2005 Jaguar X-Type AWD 3.0 Wagon – Will It Be A Hellcat Or Hellokitty?
Curbside Project Car Update: 2005 Jaguar X-Type AWD 3.0 Wagon – Purrific Progress
I still can’t (and shan’t) begrudge Jaguar their first foray into the lower end, after all it brought them a new set of clients and 350k units is still 350k units they didn’t have before. There are surprisingly lots of these cars still around for a car whos best years were two decades ago. I also note it’s very easy to find an older Jaguar for practically milk money, assuming one is able to overlook a foible or two. Or a hundred. That’s not unique to the X, there are plenty of similar era XJ and other models out there for the same (or even better) money.
Both of ours have been objectively reliable cars. They fall down somewhat in the “ease of repair” aspect with quite a few things being more difficult than need be but at least there is tons of online support. Starting out relatively inexpensive as new cars and very inexpensive as used cars they often attract people that can’t afford to pay others to perform such maintenance and repair and thus often fall into disrepair sooner than many others. Which presents opportunities for those willing to get their own knuckles dirty. But parts are cheap and easy to find and routine stuff isn’t difficult, they drive quite nicely and are more advanced in terms of safety and accessories than many other cars from their era. Ford may have had a lot to do with their development and parts, yet in the US at least it wasn’t possible to get an equivalently equipped Ford, Mercury, or Lincoln branded car or wagon at the time. (Full time AWD, V6: manual or auto, sedan or wagon).
+1
I had some trouble accepting the sedan shape as a “proper” Jaguar, to me it is a bit too cropped version of the XJ.
The wagon does not have that and is a little more pleasing to the eye.
My 7,5 year owned wagon has had its repairs, mainly age related (suspension rubbers, plastic gone brittle), usually not too expensive. Being an old car now (19 years), it still drives very well and smooth. I cannot find a good reason to get rid of it so it will probably stay – until a major cost comes up. Which I do not expect soon.
Buddy of mine owned one of these, and liked it _a lot_. He wasn’t a Jaguar purist, but he drove this car happily and relatively stylishly for many years.
The Mitsuoka Viewt always pops into my mind, whenever I see one.
Could have made quite a nice Lancia, but just didn’t sit right as a Jaguar.
Tranny bits can get leaky, but I always loved the interior.
Oddly enough, the ‘proper’ Jaguar XE was similarly a sales disaster.
If an X-type interior was put in an XE shell, who knows? Ifs and ands, semi-colons & ampersands…
The wagon version of these are rare and beautiful. Hopefully you’re mechanically minded….
Why bother when there’s better/cheaper more reliable cars. I’ll never understand the need for status, seems to me a manifestation of low self-esteem.
My original Triumph dealer bought one of these with the five speed for his wife. She loved it, I got to drive it a few times, and would happily have owned one once late-model used. Always considered it a very underrated car. Complaints? The only one was the styling. While I liked it, I really wish it had looked a little less “shrunken XJ” and been something more expressive like the S-type.
Very interesting essay on the nature of luxury! I particularly like the story of how the high end jewelry was supposedly made in foreign countries but actually was made right there in SF. I don’t know squat about jewelry, I wouldn’t have thought Cambodia or Pakistan would be desirable origins. If they’re going to lie, I would have expected somewhere in Europe, maybe. Heck, Made In USA is a pretty valuable label with anything I buy. It strikes me as ironic that something would be legitimately made in USA and they would fake a label that it was made in the third world.
You’re right, I think most CC readers would be largely immune from superficial status labels when it comes to cars, at least. Genuine quality or perhaps historical significance is what would have status here. I also agree that time may be the ultimate luxury. Unless you’re homeless, people with little money don’t tend to have time. They’re too busy making ends meet. Rich people often don’t have time because they spend all their time getting rich or richer. You’ve really got it made when you have enough money to do the things you want to do, enough time to do them. True luxury.
At first glance on the lead photo, I thought there was a fire behind the car. Trick of the light!
I’d always thought if the S-Type had been given this look, there’d have been no need for Jaguar to dig down to the X-Type market.
Great essay, a lot to unpack and ponder, and the perfect car to use as an analogy. Nicely done.
Haven’t ridden in one of these, so can’t speak to the luxuriousness of the X-type. Luxury is in the eye of the beholder. Any car was a luxury to me during certain periods of my life. A few years ago, during a particularly cold day, I worried that my 10+ year old Saturn might not start. This concern was fleeting as I reminded myself that I’ve reached a level of wealth that allows me the luxury to call a taxi and have the car fixed without worrying about the rent. A BMW I once rented left me feeling cold…it was technically competent enough but somehow fussy and demanding. Call it luxury moderne. By far, the most luxurious ride I’ve experienced was in the back seat of a (rented) 1939 Packard Twelfth Series 120 Touring Sedan. The pace was sedate and ride was not especially well “controlled.” It was no BMW. However, the seats were uncompromisingly plush and there was a certain luxury to our unhurried progress. The thing I will remember best was how the deeply stained wooden window frames framed the passing scenery. The trees seemed greener and the lakes had a bit more sparkle. Some cars may make the driver/passenger look better. This Packard was able to make the world look better. I’ve not experienced that level of luxury (in a car at least) since.
Would Ford be better off rebadging the Mondeo as a Lincoln instead of the Jaguar? Jaguar people are snooty so that’s why the X-Type was never accepted into the Jag Family. Maybe there would have been more sales as a Lincoln and this would open a whole new market for Lincoln. Almost like a Lincoln Catera or CTS. This version for Lincoln would have complemented the LS.
Lincoln pretty much did exactly that with the Zephyr/MKZ, it didn’t do Lincoln any favors either
The idea of the X Type was solid, look how successful prestige makes like Mercedes and BMW have been in broadening their line up, to expand sales into the lower price market. The danger, of course, is that these lower priced models could tarnish and dilute the exclusivity of their traditional high end models. It seems that Mercedes is still riding high on that wave.
Great stuff to ponder here.
The only folks I’ve known who have owned an X-Type were a couple who lived down the street from me. They weren’t flashy people at all, and I often thought that they didn’t resemble what I considered to be Jaguar People. I wonder whether how/if typical X-Type buyers deviated from the “Jaguar People” stereotype – not just in terms of economic status, but in general personality. Did X-Type buyers see their cars as a Luxury Badge at a Discount, or were they sold more on the car’s merits, whatever the badge might be.
I have no idea, but I find it an interesting question. And incidentally, my former neighbors eventually sold their X-Type and replaced it with a RAV-4. Not too many other Jaguar owners would take that route.
Also interesting concerning the jewelry. Jewelry isn’t something I know anything about, and I’m just shaking my head thinking about the San Francisco sweatshop. I’m curious, though, what is so alluring about a Made in Cambodia or Made in Pakistan label? I’m surprised that countries with relatively low-wage labor would command a premium on the jewelry market – to the extent that it would be faked. Were they sold as “sustainably produced” luxury goods, or something of that sort? Again – just curious – it’s not the type of counterfeit label I’d expect.
I’d guess the ‘Made in….’ label makes the buyer feel good that they’re supporting workers in a ‘developing’ country, and thus sort-of excuses charging a higher price.
What a scam though.
As for the car, I’d happily have one as a used purchase. After all, you can’t drive image. Let somebody else pay the premium and cop the depreciation. As a Ford-based product it should be okay – if and only if I knew service backup for the unique-to-this-application parts would be readily available.
Let’s see, here’s my take on that question:
I gathered the allure of the ‘Pakistan’ etc. labels was to give shoppers the idea they were buying something exotic and handmade. On my first year of college in California, my roommate happened to be from a wealthy LA neighborhood and I was invited a couple of times for Christmas season. The house was worth somewhere over a million (in 1990), and from time to time, when his parents or grandparents spoke about belongings, there was some effort to stress an object’s provenance: “The wood in this dining set came from Honduras,” or “This was handpainted in Japan.” It seemed like a generational thing, as they admired stuff that seemed ‘distant and foreign,’ while at the same time, surrounded by industrial goods, they enjoyed the idea of owning something that took human effort to make.
I think the store where the collection sold spoke to this kind of old-world way of thinking, kind of like Victorian elites who prided themselves in Japanese fabrics and Chinaware during the 19th century. Of course, if I ever said a line like that to my regular college pals (The wool in my jacket came from Peru!), they would either laugh or wonder what was wrong with me.
As an aside, not long after the sweatshop incident, news broke of the Feds detaining the Bay Area’s largest human trafficker; who mostly brought in Asian immigrants to the West Coast. I regret to inform I had nothing to do with it.
Rich and Peter, thanks for your takes on on this. It’s an interesting topic – something new to me, and I can definitely see there being a generational aspect to the appeal of buying something from “an exotic place.”
Audi don’t seem to have had a lack of success selling a reclothed VW Golf as a sedan/hatchback, the A3, and without a roof and only two seats, the Audi TT. They also sell cheaper brand versions of the Golf with Seat and Skoda branding, and I’ll guarantee they share more than 19% parts between them.
I think the main problem with the X Type was the dated retro styling rather than it’s well-resolved under-pinnings.
Thank you for this article .
I remember when the X typ Jaguar was introduced, as it was indeed mostly a Ford under it’s skin I thought they’d do well and become popular trouble free Jaguars but it was not to be .
As far as the fake labels, that’s standard practice from the Chinese and in Centro – America as I’m sure you’re well aware .
When I lived in Guatemala in the 1970’s there were very popular jeans with carefully made “HECHO IN LAS ESTADOS UNIDOS” (Made in the U.S.A. in Spanish), my then wife was all set to buy some until I pointed out that no clothing made in the U.S.A. ever has Spanish tags .
When we went back to visit by brother in law took me to visit his buddy’s marketplace, they were buisily attaching “RAY-BAN” stickers to obviously fake and extremely cheap sun glasses, I asked what the deal was and the guy said ” I can get up to $30.00 for these with the stickers, normally they’re $3 / pair .
My B.I.L. was looking covetously at them so I offered to buy him a pair and he was gobsmacked ~ I said ” Luis, $3 isn’t going to break my bank” his ‘buddy’ said ‘oh but you wanted the REAL ONES ~ ‘ .
When I pointed out thet :
A: he’d just told me they were all fakes
-and-
B: Ray – Ban has the name molded or engraved in every pair, they never use stickers, he still wanted $30 so I knew this idiot was no friend to m B.I.L. but he, like my ex wife couldn’t get past the _idea_ of getting a brand mane for less than 50% of retail price .
Being ignorant isn’t a bad thing, choosing to remain so well……
-Nate
I’ve often wondered that if one were to photoshop the front axle 100mm/4″ forward, would the X-Type look like a real Jaguar?
Platformifically impossible, but I’m not sure it was the styling per se that was wrong. It was wrong for a Mondeo on a 50mm shortened wheelbase.
The Audi reference is a good point – by knocking off the corners, they avoid that overbodied/underwheeled look that I think is the main problem with the X-Type.
I’ve actually been looking at getting one of these this week so seeing this article pop up in my feed was a nice surprise. If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t mind a bit of wrenching on it when issues pop up, these cars seem like a good choice for the budget conscious, can be had for a steal, and appear to be very reliable if they’ve been serviced regularly and driven sensibly.
I get that “ballin’ on a budget” vibe from them. They’ve also aged really well, style wise, and the quad headlights, hood ornament, and chrome bumper strips stand out in the sea of black, white and silver blobs that modern cars have turned into.
I’ll let you guys know if I end up getting one.
Grif
Go for it Grif. You have summed up the advantages of owning an X-type. There are many that have had better maintenance, or have been more cared for than the usual modern car. There are many great bargains to be found.
If you are in rusty country, watch out for sill corrosion which is a weak point of these cars. Many cars are scrapped because of this. It is hard to see from the outside because of the plastic oversills fitted.