Worthy New Jaguar XF Rejects Concept's Pizzazz
You may remember the stunning looks of the new Jaguar C-XF, which was unveiled at last January's Detroit Car Show.
To be fair to Jaguar, this fabulous looking car carried a health warning in the form of the suffix C for concept, reminding us that we should not get too carried away. It might not look quite so exciting in on-the-road form.
The front end of the concept reminded me of the air intake of a 1950s jet fighter crossed with a Maserati. The muscular lines sweeping to the back hinted at Aston Martin. But the final XF looks worthy rather than exciting, with a touch of Lexus GS towards the rear. The face now looks almost meek compared with the concept's aggression.
The picture, from Paul Cox, shows the C-XF concept alongside the XF version which will go on sale.
Jaguar design chief Ian Callum, presenting the car to journalists this week in England, said that the design of the new XF had already been finalised when the C-XF was unveiled. So all that excitement and anticipation was for nothing. Callum said that Jaguar wanted to signal to the world that its design language was changing.
I'm not sure if raising buyers' hopes to fever-pitch with a concept car like the C-XF, then deflating them with the real thing, is the best way to sell new cars. What is undoubtedly a terrific replacement for the slow selling and dated looking S Type, will start its life in this potential buyer's eyes as a disappointment, when the C-XF might have persuaded me to buy a Jaguar for the first time.
The real XF has a stunning interior, with beautifully designed instruments, and with much aluminum on display. Jaguar says that although the dash board doesn't use traditional wood, the interior has more wood in total that the previous model, with inlays in the doors and other cabin decoration. When you turn on the ignition, the gearbox controller slides upwards from a flush position, and the air conditioning outlets rotate to open, suggesting its readiness for action. Pointless really, but cool.
The Jaguar XF 4.2 litre V8 mid-sized sedan goes on sale in America in March priced at $49,975. The XF Supercharged version costs $62,975.
