The establishment is revolting. As British Conservatives try to build a new modern image, another bastion of middle England, Jaguar, is opening its model range to more populist formats.
A diesel Jaguar: it's as anathema as an electable Tory leader. Yet the times are changing.
Under the guidance of American parents Ford, Jaguar is trying to win favour with a wider audience. To some it may seem like a high risk move, for many businesses that try to be "all things to all men" end up being nothing to anyone. Yet adding a few diesel engines and a load-carrying estate is hardly tantamount to anarchy.
While there will undoubtedly be the small minority of Jaguar owners who see this as the thin edge of the wedge, the vast majority will welcome Jaguar to the diesel fold, another firm with a strong tradition of technology and development that will undoubtedly lend itself to the overall advances in diesel technology.
There have been Jaguars powered by diesel engines before, but these were after-market conversions, the sacrilege carried out in the confines of back-street garages. We once knew a person who confessed shamefacedly to having converted his old XJ to LPG.
He converted in the hope of combining economy without losing neighbourhood kudos gained from driving the big cat. However, he wasted a great deal of his fuel savings travelling to outlying suburbs to get fuel, so as to avoid prying eyes.
Newcomers will have no such qualms and it's no longer simply a plebeian pursuit to pull up at the diesel pump. Even some of those with cravats now opt for the black pipe.
Admittedly Jaguar is late for the party, where Britain has joined five other leading EU states in selling more diesels than petrols, including the home states of traditional petrol-heads, Italy, France, Spain, Austria and Belgium. Figures for the first nine months of the year show diesels now represent 53 per cent of car sales in Britain, with this percentage expected to have grown further by the end of the year. That's a mammoth rise from the 22 per cent in 2000.
Indeed it was this dramatic growth that drove Jaguar to borrow an engine from parent Ford, rather than wait for a smaller engine to seep out from the work underway with PSA/Peugeot-Citroen. The first engine from that partnership is likely to be a 2.7-litre and will go into the S-Type in about a year.
So to the car, and the changes are clearly invisible to fleeting eyes. The body and format remain unchanged, apart from some minor tweaks to accommodate the extra weight at the front.
It's not the fastest cat in the litter, but it does offer some really impressive pulling power. In this time of penalty points and soon-to-be privatised speeding cameras, top speeds become less important and torque is king. For the unitiated, that's the pulling power or the take off when you put your right foot to the floor.
Measured in Newton Metres (Nm), the two-litre diesel has bags of Nms, more in fact than any of the petrol powered X-Types or even the S-Type range, apart from its performance R version. Then again, that's to be expected of diesel (BMW's 330d is more torquey than the M3). The added benefit, of course, is a fuel consumption figure in the realms of 48-50 mpg, vastly outstripping any of the petrol equivalents.
Recently we demonstrated how the premium for diesel charged by several marques means the benefits of improved fuel consumption are outweighed by the extra initial cost, resulting in owners doing average mileage having to wait for perhaps five years before really reaping the benefits of opting for diesel power.
However, Jaguar has joined the resistance movement and is offering the diesel version for the same price as its equivalent petrol model in all specifications. Credit where it's due.
The fact the engine is the latest two-litre from Ford (it features in the Mondeo) is not a mark of shame in any way. Ford were slow to catch up with diesel developments a few years ago, but since then have produced a 130 bhp two-litre that's significantly quieter than the original, with more power and better economy. It's this engine which features in the Jag.
Of course, some may be put off by the harping of some motoring snobs, who deride the car as nothing more than a Mondeo, while knocking back the Pimms at the local golf club. But after a swift clip with the sand wedge, it's worth reminding them that the Mondeo is not that bad of a car in terms of fundamentals and that it's these elements that are shared.
The outer shell and inner cabin is Jaguar. Besides, these days with so many firms sharing platforms and parts, can any of the regulars on the 19th hole confidently state where their cars' origins lie?
Besides, the X-Types main rival is likely to be the Audi A4 Tdi, which itself has a larger more populist parent, VW. The Audi comes in at €400 less for its base model than the X-Type. If proof were needed of the popularity of diesel in this most competitive of family car segments, one only has to look at Audi's A4 sales. Over 60 per cent of A4s sold here are diesels, despite the fact that only two oil-burning engine sizes are on offer, compared to six petrol.
So is it better than its petrol equivalent? On paper yes. Ours was the Sport model, complete with stiffer suspension and 17-inch wheels. This, of course, contributed to a slightly harder ride on back roads and for the average Jaguar owner, the luxury version with a softer ride may be more in keeping with their needs.
It does suffer some of the diesel traits: a little rattle on start-up and a distinctly deeper note when revved hard in the lower gears. However, the rest of the time there is little or no difference to noise and performance levels compared with petrol, bar of course the sharper drive when pulling off.
Jaguar engineers have worked hard to balance the extra weight at the front and they've done a good job. It offers good ride comfort with a relatively flat cornering attitude, particularly in the Sport model with stiffer suspension. However, the steering needs to feed back more information if it wants to be considered as "a driver's car", feeling rather numb when pressed.
Regrets, we have a few. The diesel model lacks the four-wheel-drive option, a common feature on the petrol X-Types. Another let down is the limited transmission options.
While six-speed boxes are de rigueur with premium diesels these days, only a five-speed is available on the X-Type. There's also no automatic on offer at present, though one is expected.
Specification levels are high, with entry-level models featuring air conditioning, electric front windows, CD stereo, front, side and curtain airbags, anti-lock brakes and alarm.
So, overall we welcome the X-Type to the Irish market, particularly its keen pricing. The only problem may be in perception. Some may consider that Jaguar have merely bought themselves a ticket to the cheap seats of this latest technology show.
But that would be unfair. The car deserves consideration and the badge carries the sort of cachet many in the family market desire. Match that with competitive pricing, frugal consumption and it should open new avenues to the marque. Perhaps it's this sort of thinking that could get even the Conservatives elected.