2009 JAGUAR XF First Steer
April 30, 2008 by Anthony Crawford
2009 JAGUAR XF First Steer & Review
“Jaguar says they are building ‘Beautiful fast cars’. They’re right. The new XF is a superb car in every way and is bound to give its German rivals a migraine or two”
- By Anthony Crawford & David Twomey, photos by Paul Maric.
- Part One & Part Two.
I’m not sure why it has taken so long for this British stalwart to start building “beautiful, fast cars” again.
The incredibly ‘cool’ E-Type series, produced from 1961 through to 1974, still sits on pole position, as one of the best looking cars of all time.
And before that, it was Jaguar’s Mark 11 saloon, which preceded the beautiful XJ6 Series 1. Both were stunning automobiles, with a huge following throughout the world.
In fact, it was these three Jaguars’ of the past, which most inspired chief designer Ian Callum and his team, to attempt to return the company to one, which creates “beautiful, fast cars”.
I don’t think anyone expected the XF to deliver the kind of driving experience you get from behind the wheel of this extraordinarily rewarding car.
The XF is definitely better looking in the metal, than any digital SLR rendition we shot of the car, at the Australian launch this week.
You can clearly see both XK and Aston Martin DNA have contributed to the overall stying of the XF, and as far as inspiration donors go, you could do a whole lot worse.
It’s a fast looking shape which looks more like a coupe from the rear/side point of view, with beautiful curves on the side window frames and the rather extreme rake of the rear window. Stunning.
From the A-pillar forward though, is where it gets a little more aggressive. The large side vents are identical to those on the XK coupe and real mesh front grille is more a revolution from that overly retro look which adorned the S-Type.
I got an XF to bad it’s 21 years old with a ford badge, can i swap it for this. this is a nice looking car.
I dunno, the exterior styling still looks a bit contrived to me. The chrome strip around the rear side window looks a bit too thick. The headlights look too big and ugly. The grille – mmmm… The thick chrome strip across the boot looks like it was copied from a Statesman ! Can’t see it would be any better than a CLS Merc to get into the back of…
The inside though looks good and has a few new gimmicks to get the punters in. The silver switches IMHO are a bit tacky and their function isn’t as easy to see in daylight as those with a black background but generally it seems a nice place to be !
But would I buy one – nah…
Interior : Nice
Side Profile : Nice
Rear End : Nice
Front : BUTT UGLY
Lovely, lovely, lovely! Beautiful – some people who didn’t know too much about cars would mistake it for a 4 door Aston Martin. My friend in Manchester just got one and I went up to see it and its sooooo much nicer than my old S-Type. I got rid of the S-Type about 5 years ago because the interior wasnt all that pleasant and it had bad electrics but I may be about to get one of these.
Fantastic looking piece of automotive sculpture, and very overdue for anyone with respect for what Jaguar’s were in the past.
My only wish is that the headlights were more aggressive like the show cars. Otherwise, brilliant. Love the interior too.
With good road manners too, Jag should finally be onto a winner. I’d buy one if I had a spare $100k or so.
the concept photo looks awesome.
yes i can see that many cues ended up on the production version, but why is it that the concept photo looked a mile better.
compare all the body lines and they are the same.
its like the production version got a bit bloated.
ahh the front lights spoil the whole car. everything else looks sophisticated and those lights look like something kia would do… there you go.. i said it.. kia lights.
Front is ugly, Rear only looks good because it’s very similar to an Aston Martin. Looks like they couldn’t decide to copy Aston Martin or Bentley. Then someone decided it didn’t have any carry through Jag styling, so they mixed in a Jaguar light bulge that carries through the bonnet.
I tend to agree with TP, I love it from every angle, except the front. Not sure why but it just doesn’t cue in to the rest of the car, I think mainly it’s the large outboard headlamp. The prototype front looks better IMO.
I thinks it looks great all-round, however the headlights are the least attractive part. why could they not be more like the concept showcar? probably cos they would look dated too soon. Obviously not a car for our friend the Stig. Stick with the statesman then.
As for the techno bits, I love to see them, why have a big clunky lever when a small knob will do, why have a bloody great lever for a hand-break when a little one attached to servos will do. Most of the manufacturers fail on this point burying their heads in the sand and thinking lets stick with the Dinosaur age thats what we know best. BMW’s idrive cock-up accepted.
Looks yuk and nothing like a Jag.
Best days now that curry-eaters are running the slow are OVER
PASS, get a Benz or Lexus
Cheeers
F-0
I think it looks fine and tad sad – will be better in metal but! If that looks yuk, well your outta luck as you support Toyota whitegoods that are as exciting on the WOW factor as watching grass grow!
frugal if it looked like a older jag then you would whinge that it looked the same am i correct??
I think that is a hot looking car bar the front, looks like they have bought some cheap mesh to finish it off with!
Nice looking car……….you can easily see the similarities to the lovely sleek Mondeo and the FG Falcon, not surprising really seeing that this was really designed by Ford. Looks like the doors would go straight on to a FG !!! The headlights could be better but still look ok…….
TONYN -
Prezactly, the front looks like it was done by Koreans.
What sort of drugs do Koreans take anyway?I want some!:-)
Ssassyong[sp?] and early Daewoos…..wow spaced out designers on rec.type drugs 4sure!!
Cheers
F-0
Front lights spoil an otherwise nice looking car
Hyundai Elantra Coupe anyone?
Are you a comedian by trade cameron?
Price in UK $A70 700 – $A114 500
Price in Australia $105 500 – $166 700
Please explain why is there such a great difference Jaguar-LandRover Australasia?
Yep – the reason is you guys get ripped for lux cars. Whereas we get ripped for everything but lux cars. Try mondeo Au = ~A$34K UK = A$39K
The imported Mondeo is not subject to the Luxury Car Tax (LCT) but LCT on the $A105 500 XF is $A11 020, so on this occasion someone other than the government is responsible for the majority of the rip-off.
The headlight bumps are usually at the bottom part, as in many BMW, but the XF’s are on top. It looks a bit odd, maybe too artsy fartsy but the whole car looks pretty promising outside. It’s about time the S-Type be replaced; even the previous generation 5-Series was far better than that.
Pity the new Jag isn’t aimed at younger crowd in Aus as it’s being marketed to in the rest of the world. Unfortunately us aussies get the honor of paying the highest price in the world for the XF. For example the bottom of the line model in the US (which by the way is the N/A V8) is US$49,995 ~ in Aus it was around AUD$135,000, not including on road costs and not including the new tax hike… so lets call it US$50,000 verses AUD$155,000. So if you want to project the image of an obese, balding (with perhaps a comb over) 50 ~ 60 year old with yellowing teeth then go right ahead and get this car because that’s the demographic jag is squarely aiming for in Aus.
A more glowing review of the car couldn’t be writen by Jag’s own PR department.
Yes, it’s a great car…But come on guys, let’s hear the flaws along with the superlatives please?
rising gear selector and pulsing heartbeat start button, all cool stuff granted, but won’t that novelty wear in time?