Jaguar XJ Long Wheelbase

When I was a child growing up in the 1960s on a garage forecourt in the West Country, Jaguar stood for performance, quietness and terrible reliability due to poor construction quality. It is good to report that the first two qualities remain alongside a certain quintessential British styling, but the downside has gone.

There is something very consoling and even comforting about the traditional styling of the big cat. The walnut facia, the logo on the wheel growling into your face, being swathed in leather and pile carpets; this is what luxury motoring is all about.

Modern amenities blend into this nostalgic, or even retro, environment without disturbing the overall harmony. The hi-fi is naturally at the high-end and operated out of a TV screen which controls the navigation system, and also the TV.

In the rear, and with the extra wheelbase this is very much a car for chauffeur-driven passengers, there are twin TV monitors and a separate entertainment console. Put-down the tray at the back of the seat and you can work comfortably as well.

However, this is not a laid-back limousine. The Jaguar XJ is astonishingly light due to its all-aluminum body, and this contributes to some outstanding performance: 0-100 kph in five seconds is in the grand league of sports cars, and the speed is delivered in the utmost quietness and silky ride that made Jaguar famous in the old days.

The aluminum body structure makes the car 40% lighter and 60% stiffer than a comparable steel body. And there is a host of benefits of using this technology that include improved performance, fuel economy, safety, vehicle dynamics and lower emissions.

What could you possibly criticize about the biggest cat in this manufacturer's jungle? Perhaps the side sun-blinds could be electric as the upper Mercedes and BMW models offer. Maybe the Alpine stereo is not quite the best in the market. But this is clutching at straws.

The new Jaguar XJ Long Wheelbase is a car apart. I took it on half way to Abu Dhabi and back - and will not be revealing how long that journey took - but suffice to say that they use a lot of aluminum in aircraft and the sensation of driving the XJ has more than a passing resemblance to flying.

The question a reviewer always has to ask is: would I buy one? And the answer is 'yes' if I was in the market for a chauffer-driven car with a touch of eccentric British style. This is a very fine motor car indeed, and I could almost imagine myself back in the 1960s West Country admiring the nicest car to visit my father's garage that day!