NEW 2010 Jaguar XJ: A 4 door sports coupe? This is how you do it!

By Cor Steenstra

We just critiqued Porsche’s Panamera for the way Porsche had manage to get the interpretation of its brand image into a 4 door sports coupe wrong, and immediately we are confronted with the introduction of the new Jaguar XJ, a 4 door sports coupe that show how a brand image can properly be translated in this type of vehicle.

In contrast to the Panamera we don’t see a problem with neither the center line section nor with the visual side view. It is just not that hard to get right. Jaguar Design Director Ian Callum describes the new XJ as “a thoroughly modern interpretation of the quintessential Jaguar. Its visual impact stems from the elongated teardrop shape of the car’s side windows, a powerful stance and wide track. It is the most emphatic statement yet of Jaguar’s new design direction.”

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Jaguar XF Supercharged Design Evaluation

By Cor Steenstra with Photography by Chris Jones and Cor Steenstra The models in our extensive photo gallery are Grace Chavez from HBO’s Zane’s, and Jonathan Eng.

The Jaguar XF in both the Supercharged version that we drove, as well as it normally aspirated version, is a very high quality 4 door sedan with a semi-hatch/coupe like body style, very much in line with what Mercedes with the CLS, VW with the CC and Porsche with the Panamera are already producing or about to introduce. We found that the design immediately impresses on passers-by, which is quite a surprise since it does resemble the European larger hatchbacks in a way, but the way the design was executed here, there is definitely no mistaking here: This is a High-End, High Quality dynamic vehicle.

Fit and finish on both exterior and interior was of very high standard, and, as with the XK we drove earlier, the quality of the leather used in the interior and especially the way it was used on the dashboard is really impressive, with clean stitch lines and precise fit. The interior also made quite an impression with its novelty detailing, the air vents that are in hiding when either the airco is not switched on or the car is switched off, and the turn-knob gearshift that is also hiding flush when the ignition is switched off.

Interior space is excellent in the front, and comfortable in the back provided the occupants are not excessively tall. All round vision is very good, and the gadgets at the driver’s disposal for safer driving are plenty. The Supercharged version also was of course very quick on its feet, with enormous power in acceleration and very safe and comfortable drive at higher speeds. We never felt out of control once, which is a sharp contract to for instance our experience with the Lexus IS-F.

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Design Evaluation Jaguar XK Convertible

We had. of course, a lot of fun and attracted a lot of attention when we evaluated the Jaguar XK convertible. The quality of the vehicle was so much better then expected. Here we show you the extensive video of this experience, and we can tell you now that we will be driving the XF pretty soon, so click back for that experience.