Musty old Road & Tracks extolling the virtues of XK120s, 140s and E-Types have left the indelible impression that Jaguar is one of the pillars of
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| (Photo: John LeBlanc) |
post-World War Two car culture. Along with the man who, for half a century directed the company and was most responsible for the Jaguar image enthusiasts hold onto today--Sir William Lyons--those post-war Jags have become car culture icons.
But--by Jove!--that was forty years ago, man! We've put a man on the moon and movies on iPods since then. Worst of all, by cashing in on Jaguar's wood 'n leather design pastiches, for, well, what seems like forever, the perception is that Jaguars have become, ahem, an old man's car.
Nonetheless, despite generations of Jaguar cars mirroring the English automotive industry as a whole (i.e. languishing, near death, etc.), most
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| (Photo: John LeBlanc) |
everyone today knows what a Jaguar stands for: Simply, it should be gorgeous to look at, and luxurious to motor in. To that end, the new grand touring 2007
XK Coupé and XK Convertible are jaw-dropping successes.
From behind the wheel of the XK, the Jag does feel large, but Jag head pen, Ian Callum, has bravely eschewed past Jaguar styling traditions to deliver a cockpit that's functionally simple, yet crafted in traditional materials. Real aluminum, real leather, and, yes, real wood, can all be found inside. In fact, all three materials can be found wrapped around the test car XK Convertible's heated steering wheel.
Unlike recent Jags, the interior fit and finish is exemplary. There are no oddball ergonomic issues as in cats from the past. Unlike the older XJ
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| (Photo: John LeBlanc) |
sedan that the XK is loosely based on, the XK's controls look bespoke, not stolen from parent Ford's parts bin. Soft-grain leather covers all the seating surfaces and the instrument panel in XK's equipped with the luxury package. For the iDrive-phobic, a new touch-screen in the centre console allows control of climate, audio,
navigation, telephone and vehicle settings. Admittedly, as it is in a BMW 650i Cabriolet ($111,500), the XK Convertible's ($113,000) two rear spousal seats are better at holding a weekend's worth of luggage than real-sized humans. However, the XK Convertible's fully automatic soft-top's three layers mean it's quiet at speed. It disappears underneath a hard tonneau cover in only 18 seconds with the push of a button.
Like the slightly elder XJ sedan, the XK's calling card is that it's made from aluminium. With the addition of features and safety equipment, the new car weighs in almost as much as the old XK. But Jaguar claims it is 50% stiffer, but at 1,705 kilograms, the new XK Convertible isn't a lightweight sports car.
Although the aluminium body may be shiny and new, both the XK Coupé and XK Convertible carry over with the 300 horsepower, 310 pound-feet
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| (Photo: John LeBlanc) |
of torque 4.2-litre vee-eight hooked up to a six-speed sequential manual transmission. But with all that weight, the XK never feels fast. Smooth and refined--yes--but never neck snapping. Jaguar claims the XK Convertible needs 6.2 seconds for the 0-96 km/h run, about one tenth slower than the new XK Coupé. Of course, the XK-R (Coupé $117,000, XK Convertible $127,00), with a supercharged version of the same vee-eight and an additional 120 horsepower will shave a little more than a second from that time. If you do need to play boy racer in your grand touring ragtop, the XK Convertible will comply, up to a point.
