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… we get one that’s styled just like the XF. Oh well. Welcome to the 21st Century, XJ!
32 Comments on “After Decades Of Jaguar XJ Styling Stasis…...”
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You were expecting “classic” styling?
I think it looks great.
While I think it is a mistake to abandon the iterative design of the XJ and I absolutely abhor the XF, I like this design (minus the rear). The headlights in particular are a huge improvement over the XF. Also the change to a slightlty less ungainly fender vent helps immensly. Mostly, though, the added length and huge nose diminish the odd slab side proportions of the XF and make for a handsome sedan, IMHO.
Cross between an XF and an Audi A6, and it mostly looks very good.
But what’s up with the blacked-out D-pillars? Not only does this make no sense, but the black-out does not fit the side window outline.
Really ?? What a disappointment. I have been waiting ages to see the revolutionary new XJ…and they just copied the XK and stuck in a bit of Tesla S and probably didn’t even bother doing anything to the powertrain…Hmmm I guess 6 litre V8 dino-juice guzzlers @100K are just what loads of people are looking for at the moment. Good luck with that.
P.S I just sold my Z yesterday. 30,500 swiss chf or $27,500 – 2005, 40,000 on the clock…yay !!
Damn am I glad to get outa debt…And this fatcat piece of metal ain’t convincing me to go back that’s for sure!!
The new design is great. I never liked the old snobby British Jaguar design themes. It seemed a little overpretentius and poseurish, suitable perhaps for a movie star but not for an average guy who can still afford it. I think it’s the reason the previous generation S-type and X-type never quite sold well in the US.
It actually looks fresh and innovative compared to the same looking XJs over the past 40 years. The last XJ with the protruding lower lip front bumper was hideous.
Twotone
I like the current XJ way better. The classic styling just says “Jaguar” to me. I never understood why people have railed on the XJ for its classic looks, but Bentleys and Rollers get a free pass. The new XF looks great, but to me the XJ should not look like lesser Jags.
Nice car, but I wouldn’t peg it as a Jag, which is about the only appeal the brand had left. Looks like a Lexinfitura now, just like the XF. I wouldn’t pay extra for that, which I’m sure is the case. Let’s hope they do better with the roadster…
It’s great. Probably the best large luxury car out there, though I like the Lexus LS’s looks too.
This car looks like a Jag, has some classic lines to it (more than the XF, which is appropriate), and it looks modern at the same time. It also removed the stupid round headlight cutout that the XF has. Bravo.
Looks pretty good, but completely non-distinctive. Put a different grill on it and that car could be from any number of makers.
It looks kinda’ like a Volvo to me.
Volvo on Edmunds
I like it, but that cannot be the XJ.
The rear looks like the new Citroen C6.
I was not impressed with any of the current Jags when I saw them at the NY Auto show. Esp., the interiors. Very non-stylish by all means.
I like it, and having driven an XFR around a track during a Jaguar event (and then some time in a 2010 XK), I think this is going to shape up to be a great car.
A colleague of mine owns a ’91 XJS V12 drop top. You know right away it’s a Jaguar. Sure, the interior is baroque, and it’s completely impractical. It needs a full time mechanic, and don’t even ask about fuel efficiency. But that’s why it’s a classic Jag. On the other hand, heads turn when he’s driving–anywhere.
Slap a different grill on it, and this car could be the new Lexus. Probably a nice drive in it’s own right, but not distinctive in an “I sure wish I owned THAT” sort of way.
I actually saw an XF and a new Lexus GS parked next to each other. They were like chalk and cheese. The Jag has a far more sophisticated, detailed and nuanced look to it full of subtle cues from older Jags. The sweep from the door mirrors down to the headlamps reminded me of the same on an XK120.
Jaguar haven’t made any money selling the same old car to eccentric anglophiles. So they have to deviate from the norm. The original XJ was a huge departure from the MkII and S-Type and it took ages before the XJS was accepted as a “proper” Jag.
I wish Jaguar every success with this one.
The xf and a6 are Great cars!
-So this should be, too.
People always talk about how they liked the old designs better, but where were you when they were selling those? I personally love the new styling. It looks great.
The interior of this car looks really good.
I tried talking Ian Callum into putting a second nacelle above the interior headlamp to evoke thec classic XJ quad headlamp motif, but apparently he didn’t listen. the expansive flat section in the hood is evocative of the old XJs, but nothing else in the design says XJ to me.
Far be it from me to tell Callum how to draw cars, his work with Aston Martin guarantees his reputation as a designer, but I still think they could have done it my way.
The curve at the top of the fender, whose interior line comes to the front of the car just inside the outboard headlamp could have been widened to end next to the grille, arching both headlamps units. A slight crease in that panel between the headlamp units would creat the effect I’m going for.
Lookalike cars haven’t hurt BMW or Mercedes, but I think making the new XJ look more like an XJ and a little less like a big XF would have been preferable.
I’m an XJ fan. My favorite is the Series III revision of the 1980s, done by Sergio Pininfarina, so I think it’s possible to tinker with the basic shake, but an XJ needs quad headlamps.
Harrumph!
i love the it, although i wish it didn’t look so much like a larger XF
Wow. Very cool. The interior is great. I just watched the unveiling video – the rear looks much better than in photos.
I love it. Can’t wait to buy one for $23K in 3 years!
Like KixStart I immediately thought “Volvo” when I saw this. BTW that’s not meant as a dis… it just doesn’t LOOK like a Jag that’s all.
I see Paris, I see France! I see this Jag’s French underpants!
So I’m not sure about the back end…but it is a bit daring for an English car.
I am afraid I see a character line cresting the front fender and falling in an even radius to the nose. I bet that – from the side, I’ll look like the new Focus. That would be…unfortunate.
The front? In one shot I saw, the grille looked very upright. Towering over the headlamps and protruding forward. Looked – at once – of Volvo and Dodge Ram Pick-up.
That said, Jags are the true beautiful women of the automotive world. Somehow, the character of a Jag makes it a bit more than just the sum of it’s parts.
The interior looks absolutely Mega!
The rear end is horrible, and there’s FAR too much rear overhang. The blacked out pillars just look stupid. The front end is a minor improvement over the XF. The interior is a disaster.
meh, the 40 yr old XJ is still drop dead gorgeous in my book. It is a shame they were such a maintenance nightmare.
While I love the old XJ’s looks, like most people here (except for the tacky-tack-ons on the last facelift), this is actually a very good effort at modernizing the nameplate.
It’s muscular, striking and individualistic… probably a bit too Quattroporte in the proportions (such items as the grille and the tail-lights), but very uniquely its own. And they cured the ungainly cockeyed look of the XF.
I’ll miss the old car, but this is a good look for the replacement. Can’t wait to see it in the metal.
Right, I slept on it and it still looks like a fat lumbering XF and a good point made above, it should definitely have 4 headlights !!
and the rear view is just soooo peugeot and uninspiring, in fact it is worse than that, it’s is just boring.
http://www.jaguar.com/gl/en/#/allnewxj/gallery?id=69543
I am even more disappointed now I have seen the back end. What is Callum getting paid for for goodness sake ? I could have fattened up the XF in MacPaint and arrived at this!!
This looks more like the XF concept than the XF does.
Not bad I guess, but it won’t turn around Jaguar either. I think Jaguar should have stuck to their “classic british elegance” design language, that might be a niche market but at least its there and it would be unique. With this design, they’re spotting their cars directly against Audi and BMW. Why would anyone buy a Jaguar now?
I saw one new XF one the road today, all I can say it looked just like an generic lexus, BMW, Merc crossed.
Mr Tata also had regrets about buying up the Landie, Jaguar division from Ford.
Mullaly & Billy Clay Ford must got the last laugh now. I suppose the good Lord had answered their prayer?