The Jaguar XJ is a cab rearward design and is incredibly riveting to stare at as it sits back on its haunches with as much cool as James Bond lighting a Chesterfield. In black, with the big-dish 20-inch wheels, the car is sinister enough to warrant its own RICO investigation.
Jaguar Cars managing director Mike O’Driscoll, who’s peddled more than his share of schlock over a 35-year career with the company, is smiling more lately. He says the mission was to recapture the uniqueness of the original 1968 XJ but in a modern form. They looked at the class stalwarts, the Mercedes-Benz S-class, the BMW 7-series, and the Audi A8 and the more driver oriented oddballs, including the Maserati Quattroporte and Porsche Panamera, and decided to shoot for a middle ground.
If you focus on those front three-quarter shots, you’ll wrongly dismiss the 2011 XJ as just an XF with a pituitary run amok. Skip down to the side and rear profiles to capture the XJ’s more exotic stance. The beltline is pulled way up, the side glass is pinched narrow, and the flowing taffy stretch of aluminum sheet metal ends in a high, short trunk.
The C-pillars are clad in wonky glossy black panels that bridge the side glass with the backlight. You don’t hear odes to the Jensen Interceptor very often, but Callum is fascinated with the way that car’s rear glass wrapped around the body sides to isolate the roof. He wanted to create an unbroken black band around the car’s cranium, like the Lone Ranger’s mask. On lighter colors the effect is more pronounced and a little forced, frankly but it’s definitely not something Jaguar’s competitors would ever do.
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12 years, 9 month(s) ago