2008 Jaguar XJ Super V8: One cool cat
June 5, 2008
Car review
Jaguar’s redesigned XJ has enough flair to make you feel like an aristocat.
Just look at it.
The magnificent elegantly sculpted aluminum body. Old school to the bone, yet there’s enough modernity in the partially redesigned 2008 XJ Super V8 that not only invokes nostalgia to baby boomers who remember when Jaguars’ English genteel made them special, but has enough of an air of danger to hold captive teenagers bred on Ipods and loving German and Japanese street racing cars.
As I drove the XJ through Yakima’s streets for a week, there was the youth in the old Undercover Brother type Caddie who gave me the thumbs up at Hollywood Video. Then there was the young guy at Burger King who during one of my midnight escapades in search of a burger for my wife (as a Catholic, she fasts on Fridays, but come midnight…) made sure the sprinklers didn’t streak my tester car in the drive-thru.
“That’s a Jaguar, right?” he said as he brought my order to the parking lot. “That’s a nice car!”
Yes, despite Jaguar designer’s almost fanatic devotion to the past (at least when it comes to the XJ), there’s something intrinsically cool about this luxury sedan that separates it from rivals Mercedes, BMW or Lexus. While some drivers of the former brands may conjure elitist, yuppie notions like the ones critics blamed on Obama some months ago (whether or not they are true is another matter), there is something so hauntingly romantic about this Jag that though it has a $95,000 sticker price, the car doesn’t come across as a snob.
With its long wheelbase, gigantically gorgeous hood, the Jag’s imposing presence doesn’t summon envious, “eat the rich” thoughts. The XJ is like the motorized version of Daniel Craig, the new James Bond, who’s macho Brit tough mien makes him more accessible, more of the people, without watering down a sort of aristocratic joie de vivre.
Sorry, but I couldn’t help but be impressed by the XJ’s mystique and brand equity. There’s simply too much heritage here, enough that the Jag’s richer, status-conscious rivals can’t touch.
Still, despite the Jag’s impressive talents, its foes have it pinned to the ground when it comes to gadgets and other modern amenities. Mercedes, BMW and Lexus cars in the same price range offer more.
For decades, Jaguar has struggled financially as a company and the cost cutting shows in some of its cars. In March, embattled Ford sold the Coventry-based brand to Tata, an Indian automotive company.
It would appear as if the newer, richer more techno-savvy foes have the noble but cash-strapped Jag cornered. To many, perhaps it would look like that in a car culture dominated by some snobby “I am holier than thou” hybrid owners, the XJ’s 400 horsepower V8 seems almost anachronistic.
Wrong.
It is true that the XJ’s plush interior, like the thick carpets and the dazzling wood doesn’t offer much more gadget-wise than cars that go for less money. But if we concentrate on that, we’d be missing the point.
Because as soon as you turn on the car with its switchblade skeleton key (it’s so cool it makes you feel like a gentleman thug), the supercharged 4.2 liter rumbles to life with a soothing purr. But don’t be fooled, this, as C.S. Lewis wrote about Aslan in the Narnia Chronicles, “is not a tamed lion.”
Not by a long shot. As I stepped on the gas in Highway 12 heading towards 82, the V8’s purr turned into a demonic wail, like something from The Exorcist. The XJ can go from 0 to 60 in five seconds, but it feels a lot faster.
A driver in a Ford King Ranch pick-up must have heard me coming, because he quickly changed lanes, probably not knowing what to think of the madman pouncing from behind at such speed in a big, red car. As exquisite as it is, the XJ can become one scary ride at the drop of a foot.
Then there’s what I call the “curing the inferiority complex factor.” Octavio Paz, Mexico’s late poet and writer wrote about the overt submissiveness that has plagued Mexicans ever since the Spaniards conquered our Southern neighbor.
Short, Latino, swarthy, middle-aged and wearing a mustache, I sense that whenever I drive regular cars, others might think of me at best as an undocumented worker, ready to be plucked by Border Patrol officers. But behind the wheel of the Super V8, most people treated me as a bona fide Hispanic gentleman- or at the very least as a successful drug kingpin.
Yes, just like that the Jag erased centuries of inferiority complex…and the color line as well. Beats therapy.
No need to elaborate that the XJ is a very fun car to drive. It turns every chance behind the wheel into an event.
I guess that is really what people expect from a Jag. Anything else would be uncivilized.
JAGUAR XJ Super V8
BASE PRICE: $94,085.00
AS TESTED: $95,200
TYPE: Front engine, rear-wheel drive, five passenger, large sedan.
ENGINE: 400 HP, 4.2L V8. 6-speed automatic transmission.
MILEAGE: 15 MPG (city), 22 MPG (highway).
TOP SPEED: 170 mph.
Length: 205.3 in.
WHEELBASE: 124.4 in.
CURB WEIGHT: 4,006 lb
OPTIONS: Sirius Sattellite Radio: $450.00
TRANSPORTATION AND HANDLING: $665.00
