The usability of the X351
A CHAT with editor Paul Wager about the X351- generation of XJ recently reminded me of the many examples I’ve driven over the years. Just a few memories include taking one across the A66, ‘living’ in a top-of-the-range Autobiography for 24 hours (pictured), comparing one with a then current Range Rover and driving an XJR575 to Le Mans in 2018 to mark the 30th anniversary of Jaguar’s sixth win of the famed 24-hour race that kickstarted the R brand.
Yet no matter the model or situation, these features always revealed the XJ to be a refined, powerful, and luxurious saloon. What you don’t get to see in the magazine is what happened afterwards. When the article was completed, I’d usually drive the car for a few days until it was collected and returned to Jaguar’s press office. Away from the razzmatazz of a magazine photoshoot, it was these more ordinary trips when I’d really get to know the car.
So as part of the 2018 Le Mans trip, I took the XJR camping, the big grey saloon looking as out of place surrounded by tents as Roger Moore would in a Lidl. And following the A66 journey we packed the car and enjoyed a family weekend on the Lincolnshire coast.
AWAY FROM THE RAZZMATAZZ OF A MAGAZINE PHOTOSHOOT, IT WAS THESE MORE ORDINARY TRIPS WHEN I’D REALLY GET TO KNOW THE CAR
What these more domestic journeys proved was despite that refinement, power and luxury, at its heart, the XJ is simply a spacious five-seat saloon, more so the long wheelbase version which is what we took to the seaside. With my kids just ten and seven at the time, they looked like Lilliputians in the vast leather-lined acreage they had to sprawl out on. What XJ interiors aren’t, though, are easy to wipe clean when your eldest offspring becomes violently travel sick, the velvet-lined cubby hole in the fold-down centre armrest especially. I blame him being a poor passenger; my wife blames my ‘energetic’ d
