The Jaguar XJR is dead. Long live the Jaguar XJ

Jaguar has killed off its “Kray Twin” super saloon, the XJR 575. According to British publication Auto Express, the firm (Jaguar that is, not the other firm) has had to cull the big cat due to ever more stringent Euro emissions test benchmark requirements.

This means the XJR — the sportier strain of big Jag that has more-or-less been with us since 1994 — has officially gone from the model roster.

It also means, in the UK at least, that the only XJ now available to buy is a diesel one.

What a strange world we live in. In this age of compact crossovers and ride-sharing, the XJR

575 V8 luxo-barge was never a strong seller, even in its homeland.

Jaguar New Zealand had a restricted number for sale, but the tap being turned off in the UK means the model has effectively disappeared from our shores, too. (The bruiser version has been the only XJ variant available here for the past year or so.)

Persistent rumours suggest the XJ will be reborn in its ninth generation as an all-electric luxury model; a sort of limousine-like take on tech already seen in Jaguar’s clever I-Pace BEV.

That will be on sale in a couple of years’ time by all accounts.

But the disappearance of the XJR certainly represents a lump-inthroat moment for fans of pure fossil-fuel derived horsepower.

It’s an exhaust burble we will certainly miss.