New Jaguar XF

[Wizzo]

Anyone interested in this major new launch for Jaguar can view the electronic XF brochure here:

http://jaguar.tagworldwide.com/xf/080/xf080_en_GB.php

[Chameleon]

We can dream, I guess.  Starting to look a bit like a BMW though, isn't it?

[cosworth151]

AutoWeek's daily e-mail news letter had a write-up about the car yesterday. In part:

"The XF sticks close to the S-Type, with the same double-wishbone front suspension and subframe-mounted multilink rear axle. Both cars share a 113.5-inch wheelbase. There will be a 3.0-liter V6 with 235 hp, a 4.2-liter V8 with 298 hp and a supercharged V8 with 416 hp. A six-speed automatic transmission with override paddles on the steering wheel will be standard on all cars.

Jaguar’s design director, Ian Callum, wants there to be no doubt that the XF marks a new departure for the brand.

“We’re going back to the values of William Lyons: Make it straightforward, and make it simple,” said Callum. “It would be fair to say that the XK was the start of a design journey and that this is the next phase.”

Despite having one of the most glittering résumés of any major car designer, including the Aston Martin DB7, Callum admits that the XF is actually the first sedan he has ever designed, the XJ being signed off by the time he took the job at Jaguar.

The original plan was to keep the traditional Jaguar single kidney radiator grille.

“I’m very glad that we got that out of our system,” confessed Callum. “It turned out to be a blind alley. A grille like that would never have worked with a car we wanted to make as modern as the XF.”

Instead, the XF’s front end is dominated by a squarish radiator grille inspired by the 1967 XJ but with elongated headlamps that cut off the familiar round Jaguar optics."

This really seems to be a make or break model for Jag. I hope it works for them.

And I hope the Bonehead from Boeing gets the boot before he can sell off Jag and Land Rover.