Every year we say goodbye to brilliant vehicles pulled from the Australian market, and 2024 was no different.
While previous years have produced a long list of notable discontinuations, there were a couple that left a particularly sour taste in our mouths this year.
On one end of the automotive spectrum, we lost a charming and well-rounded small SUV from a popular carmaker. At the other end, we bid adieu to a sports car that represented a certain British brand’s storied past, as it prepares to enter a controversial future.
Oh, and we couldn’t forget the death of another V8 icon. Without further ado, these are the vehicles we’re saddest to see go.
Paul Maric: Jaguar F-Type
This is a car that propelled Jaguar into the modern age.
It worked so perfectly well with that sonorous supercharged V8 – and even if you went for the V6 version, it still offered an incredible note you won’t find on any other car today.
But, a lack of investment (and care?) by Jaguar ensured its demise as the brand heads toward a bizarre all-electric future.
Marton Pettendy: Ford Puma
The Ford Puma, because it was the best light SUV money could buy at any price – certainly better than the half-baked EcoSport it replaced, as well as the Hyundai Venue and Kia Stonic.
Despite being cheaper, Ford’s smallest SUV was also more dynamic than the Toyota Yaris Cross, Volkswagen T-Cross, Renault Captur, Mazda CX-3 and Nissan Juke.
Yet it remained almost invisible to SUV-loving Aussies because Ford’s marketers and dealers preferred to invest more time and money on more profitable Rangers, which is also what led to the demise of the Escape this year, and the Fiesta and Focus last year.
All of that leaves the Mustang as Ford Australia’s only actual passenger car and, now that it has backflipped on importing the Puma Gen-E, the unloved Mustang Mach-E as its only electric SUV.
And with the exception of these plus the popular Everest, it puts all of the Ranger Motor Company’s eggs into the commercial vehicle basket.
James Wong: Jaguar F-Type
These days it takes a particularly special kind of car to stir my soul, and the V8-engined Jaguar F-Type was one of them.
With a design that was as equally gorgeous as it was timeless, teamed with engine notes that made you squeal with excitement, the F-Type was a slice of high-end supercar motoring just within reach of many people’s attainable dream-car budgets.
Get it in the right colour (i.e. British Racing Green over Tan) and you had a gorgeous modern classic, complete with one of the best soundtracks ever known to modern man and woman.
What a shame Jaguar’s electric-led rebrand (which I’m incredibly nervous about, mind you) spelt the end for one of its most iconic and arguably successful models in recent history.
May thee rest in peace.
Max Davies: Jaguar F-Type
Although I’ve never really been particularly taken by the British car industry, I was genuinely disappointed to learn Jaguar would be steering away from its roots and towards luxurious electric vehicles earlier this decade.
What was most disappointing about that was the fact it’d be killing off all its current models and nameplates to replace them all with brand-new, never-before-seen EVs instead.
While it wasn’t the only car to get the axe, the most significant to me was the F-Type, Jaguar’s final petrol-powered sports car.
For a brand that in recent years had continuously angled towards SUVs with both internal combustion and electric powertrains, Jaguar’s F-Type appeared like a much-needed palate cleanser among a range of vehicles that, while still cool, didn’t really feel like proper representations of Jaguar and its iconic sports cars of the past.
In contrast, the F-Type had the flash and allure expected of a Jaguar sports car. It was a gorgeous car with an equally high-end interior, available in both convertible and coupe body styles.
It was a fair nod to Jaguar’s past too, something the brand itself recognised with a handful of special F-Type editions paying homage to the legendary E-Type over the years.
Beyond that, it was one of the few “cheaper” soft-top convertible sports cars sold with a V8. You can manually remove the roof on something like a Corvette, sure, but an American V8 sports car was always a completely different kettle of fish to anything the Jaguar of old could muster.
Rubbing salt in the wounds was Jaguar’s recent revival… which speaks for itself. As the F-Type itself will likely now remain further out of my reach than it was before, I’ll continue to admire the handful of circa-1990 Jaguar XJ Sovereigns still kicking at the hands of my relatives as a reminder of the brand’s past instead.
William Stopford: Ford Puma
There isn’t another vehicle in the Puma’s segment – the “light SUV” segment, as if any punter would call it that – that I like more than this charming little European Ford. I enjoyed it so much I recommended it to a family member who ended up buying one.
Its outputs are modest but its charm is immense, with genuinely enjoyable handling that makes this quite fun on a winding road. Interior space is decent, the tech is good, and it’s cute in a frog-faced kind of way.
Alas, Ford Australia doesn’t seem interested in competing in more affordable volume segments as it becomes more and more of a commercial vehicle brand.
So, despite an updated model debuting in Europe – and an electric version, the Gen-E, joining the range – Ford Australia pulled the plug on the Puma earlier this year, even though it was far from the worst-selling vehicle in its segment.
Josh Nevett: Jaguar F-Type
Without wading too deep into Jaguar’s controversial rebrand, the F-Type’s demise really does represent the end of an era for the storied British manufacturer.
But on a less existential level, it’s also just the end of an excellent car.
Developed as a spiritual successor to the legendary E-Type, the F-Type launched in 2013 to critical and public acclaim, praised for its stunning design and playful personality.
Initially available with a choice of V6 and V8 supercharged powertrains, the F-Type sounded as sexy as it looked, and those traits remained until the axe fell earlier this year.
Indeed, an F-Type wouldn’t look out of place parked next to exotic metal twice its price, especially to the untrained eye.
I never got to drive one, but I’ll make sure to keep an eye on used values while queuing up for a lottery ticket.
Jordan Mulach: Jaguar F-Type
The spiritual successor to the gorgeous Jaguar E-Type reached the end of the line this year, as production stopped for the F-Type.
It was never able to fully capture what its predecessor stood for, but it gave life back to Jaguar in a time when it tried – and failed – to make itself a British BMW.
Of course, that’s not implying that it’s the reason why Jaguar is going through its major rebirth, as the brand has never really been as successful as some want to believe it was.
However, with the F-Type gone the world now has one less interesting sports car, which by all accounts was a decent thing regardless of which engine you picked – and there aren’t many vehicles where you can say that.
Jack Quick: Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series V8
There’s nothing more iconic than the LandCruiser 70 Series when it comes to pure hardcore off-roading as some modern equivalents just don’t cut the mustard.
It’s a sign of the times but the 4.5-litre V8 turbo-diesel engine is no longer available and it’s a key reason why people are still buying this car.
Sure it’s now available with a version of the HiLux’s 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, and it’s technically faster, as we proved, but it lacks a lot of character.
My last experience with the V8-powered LandCruiser 70 Series was the wagon that Paul reviewed earlier in the year, and I was enamoured with it. In particular I loved how it was basically un-stallable.
MORE: Everything Ford Puma
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