THE SEVEN-YEAR TITCH

Outgoing baby Jag is plush, practical and now eminently affordable

- SAM PHILLIPS

The soon-to-be-retired E-Pace transformed Jaguar when it was launched seven years ago, diversifying the brand away from its regular crop of buyers by appealing to a younger and trendier audience - and this bold move proved successful, with the compact SUV having scored almost 100,000 sales across Europe to date.

The F-Type sports car had the biggest influence on the E-Pace's design, with its ovoid headlights, wraparound tail-lights, pronounced haunches, and wheels pushed as close to the car's extremities as was reasonably possible. It's a handsome thing that still has presence today.

Less appealing was its technical make-up: it had an all-steel body and sat on an old Ford platform, which meant it tipped the scales at 1768kg, making it similar in weight to the considerably larger F-Pace.