Who designed the X300 / X308

[Zippyworld]

I was recently engaged in a conversation about cars with the best lines and general shape, of course I was banging the Big Cat drum.
It got me to thinking who is credited with the design of the X300/X308 shape?
I am not completely aware of differences between the two, but what has caught my interest is who the designer was, and what else is he, or she, credited for.....

If anyone knows the name I can satisfy my curiosity from there.

[a8hex]

The name I think you're looking for is Geoff Lawson.

The easiest way to spot the difference between an x300 and an x308 apart from the badges on the b pillar is to look at the bumpers.
The x300 has a chrome strip all the way across. The downside to this is that a minor car park kiss bends the chrome strip and so the whole bumper needs replacing. These were £1500 back in the day.
So the x308 got a cheaper alternative. It doesn't have the easily damage chrome all the way across. Instead it just has small chrome inserts in the corners.
The lights are also different.

[reg daly]

I think it was a joint venture between R.J Mitchell and Leonardo da Vinci.

[Zippyworld]

Ecurie Ecosse said:

Really good background to the development of the X300 and X308 here.

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/jaguar/xj40/t...

Designed by Geoff Lawson's team, the X300 is a mash up of the front and back of the stillborn XJ90 grafted onto the midsection of an XJ40. The wheelbase of the XJ40 and X300 are the same, and the X300 shares most of the late model XJ40's interior.

this was an excellent read, thankyou

[Zippyworld]

reg daly said:

I think it was a joint venture between R.J Mitchell and Leonardo da Vinci.

Am I missing something with this one ?

[Jaguar steve]

Zippyworld said:

reg daly said:

I think it was a joint venture between R.J Mitchell and Leonardo da Vinci.

Am I missing something with this one ?

You might be. Legend has it the X308 was built in the same factory used to make Spitfires in WW2. As a tribute to this little piece of history the compound elliptical curves in the 308 dashboard replicate the design of the Spitfire wing.

[fatboy b]

X308 was Browns Lane, not Castle Bromwich.

[Jaguar steve]

fatboy b said:

X308 was Browns Lane, not Castle Bromwich.

Involved in the war effort somehow as most of the Midlands factories were? That's what I'd read about the dash design, but no idea if its actually right - looks like it might be though

[dbdb]

The X300 is very similar structurally to the late battery-in-boot XJ40 - indeed, many of the car's metal pressings are shared between the two cars, as is all of the suspension and much of the driveline. My own car (a late XJ40) now has quite a bit of X300 welded into it, a consequence of rust repairs and the supersession of XJ40 parts by X300 parts. The X300 is basically a face lifted XJ40.

The interior looks similar, but I don't think many of the XJ40 parts are carried over to the X300 - the differences are much greater than just the seats as stated in the article. Pretty much everything other than the instruments themselves (the pod is different) and the ski-slope/ash tray was changed for the X300.

The XJ40 does bequeath to the X300/X308 a direct line to the old times at Jaguar, since the XJ40 was the last Jaguar to receive styling and other input from Sir William Lyons.





I'm never quite sure why journalists such as the writer of the AROnline article suggest the X300 somehow 'retrieved the situation' for Jaguar - given the XJ40 outsold the X300.