Jaguar XF 2.2 SWB: one cool cat
IN THE NINE plus years that I’ve been writing about cars, I’ve driven a whole lot of mass-market cars (almost every Japanese, Korean, American and the like), a good number of premium-luxury cars (mostly German), a slew of performance-oriented cars (mostly German, followed by some Japanese and Italians) and just plain cool cars (MINI does come to mind). But I can only ever remember reviewing three British cars (aside from MINI, which nowadays seems more German than English, but all the better for them). I’ve reviewed one Range Rover, briefly tested a modern XJ when it was new and now, finally, a full-on proper road test of the facelifted XF. And boy was it worth the wait!
While Germans seek absolute performance, and Japanese seek absolute efficiency, the English seem to prefer to balance things out by putting equal importance to coolness, smoothness, performance and efficiency. Confused tactic or is it something we should all be looking into? Jaguar’s latest XF moves the argument forward.
Just look at the shape: It’s part coupe, part fastback, part saloon, but completely head-turning in a somber way only the British can do right. Swoopy lines mask superfluous details such as various creases on the bodywork to break the monotony of slab-sided doors and fenders, while the vents on the front fenders to evacuate hot air from the engine bay and front axle seem out of place in a cozy saloon, yet look cool, because Jaguar designer Ian Callum knows a thing or two about crossing the line between beauty and efficiency. Callum said in an interview that “Jaguars should be perceived as cool cars, and cool cars should attract interesting and edgy people.”
A truly cool car
Indeed, the XF has succeeded in being a truly cool car. Cool not because the performance is amazing (but it is impressive, indeed), nor of whatever other reason people think it to be. It simply is plain and simple. And thus it has attracted me to it (this is not to say that I aminter-