Jaguar XF - Co-efficient of Jag

Jaguar XF - Co-efficient of Jag
We put the normally aspirated XF 5.0 V8 to test, while its grandpa tags along

Sleek and smart, the distinctive lines of the Jaguar saloon make an immediate appeal to the connoisseur of fine motor cars, whilst a few moments at the wheel are sufficient to convince the most experienced motorist that here is a car with a performance to give delight to the most fastidious.

That’s not me, that’s from a Jaguar product brochure from way back when. As the brochure says, a few moments at the wheel are enough to let you know that all Jaguars are special. And the new one especially makes it a point to reinforce that fact. There is more attention to detail, there is more effort to proclaim that it’s exclusive and different and there are some really funky, unseen-before features. In other words, the new XF tries really, really hard to please. Does it succeed? Sure it does, but according to me, that’s only after you cut through the James Bond-kind of gimmicky stuff and get to the heart of the car. You know, it’s easy to get swayed by the aircon vents that swivel into place or the way the round gearshift, um, dial rises up from the console when you switch on the ignition or the touch-sensitive spot to open the glove box (I believe the ejector seats are part of the options list). But the Jaguar-ness of the XF is not these cocktail party conversation starters, but another set of attributes altogether. And that is design, interiors, performance and value for money. So I got a benchmark Jaguar saloon from 1940 to check whether seven decades have dimmed Jaguar’s feline nature or not.

Whether it is the 1940 SS Jaguar 2½-litre or the XF, the lines of both the saloons are indeed distinctive. Where the old-timer has that gorgeous grille flanked by independent headlamps and beautiful, flowing fenders, the XF has got a coupe-like silhouette. Twin pipes emerge from the rear ends of both cars, hinting at performance and aggression.