by Thanos Pappas
- Modified Jaguar X Type spotted in West Virginia with unusual bodywork.
- Sedan features ATV panels, PVC pipes, and an extra set of headlights.
- Donor car appears to have been damaged before its eccentric makeover.
The American car scene is as unpredictable as its backroads. Wander into the right parking lot and you’ll see everything from lovingly preserved classics to builds that look like they lost a bet and then doubled down. This one’s firmly in that second camp. It started out as a Jaguar sedan, but what it’s become is now something altogether… different.
Needless to say, it makes the controversial Type 00 concept look like a stunning piece of automotive art in comparison.
More: This Digital Mashup Of The 10 Ugliest Cars Is A Nightmare On Four Wheels
The modified big cat surfaced via Reddit user Al Leftwich, drawing the kind of attention typically reserved for UFO sightings or Lamborghinis parked like they own the lot. It was reportedly seen outside an auto parts store in southern West Virginia, hinting that the owner might not be done with their vision just yet.
The donor car looks to be a pre-facelift Jaguar X-Type that had a run-in with something less forgiving than a curb. Rather than sourcing factory panels, the owner appears to have embraced improvisation, repurposing parts from wherever they could be found
Al Leftwich / Reddit
The yellow hood with black plastic trim looks like it was lifted from an ATV or side-by-side, probably one of the cheaper Chinese-built ones. Sitting on top are a pair of auxiliary headlights that vaguely resemble the Nissan Juke’s bug-eyed upper lamps, though they seem to be borrowed from something else entirely.
If you look closer, you’ll see that the original headlights haven’t been removed, just buried under a set of homemade aerodynamic covers and matched with a hand-built splitter.
If layering one hood on top of another wasn’t enough, this Jaguar pushes further into the abstract with PVC pipes running the length of the car. They’re arranged like roof rails, but their actual purpose, if there is one, is anyone’s guess.
The side profile comes across as slightly more reserved, or at least, less chaotic. Here, modifications are limited to cosmetic touches: mock side vents, angular mirror extensions, and some extra chrome trim on the seven-spoke alloys. Compared to the front, it almost feels unfinished.
More: Is It Halloween? Chrysler PT Cruiser Identifies As A VW
The rear of the car is mostly hidden in the available photos, which, ironically, might be its saving grace. It could be the last part still clinging to the original X-Type, quietly resisting the rest of the car’s descent into aftermarket chaos.
Remember The X-Type?
The Jaguar X-Type launched in 2001 as the brand’s most accessible model, staying in production until 2009. Underneath the familiar shape was a platform shared with the European Ford Mondeo, available with either front- or all-wheel drive.
Its design was the work of Geoff Lawson, the same man behind the exotic XJ220 supercar. The next time Jaguar took on the compact executive segment was in 2014, introducing the XE, a rear-wheel-drive return to form under Ian Callum’s direction.