Even though the Jaguar brand is best-known for performance cars like the classic Jaguar E-TYPE and the 2017 Jaguar F-TYPE, the company’s model line has always included cars that emphasize luxury without sacrificing power. For nearly fifty years, that responsibility has rested on the Jaguar XJ. Here’s a bit of the history behind one of our favorite Jaguar models at Jaguar Peabody.
When the first Jaguar XJ was built at the company’s Coventry factory, it shouldered a heavy load. Over the next two years, it would come to replace multiple large models. That also meant, however, that for all but two years of its history, the Jaguar XJ has been the company’s flagship model.
The Jaguar XJ isn’t the kind of high-horsepower speed demon on which the Jaguar brand was built. During the early part of its run, that honor belonged to the Jaguar E-TYPE, and these days, the Jaguar F-TYPE brings the horsepower and the goosebumps. That’s okay, though. What the Jaguar XJ is designed to do — namely, cocoon its passengers in an amazing level of comfort and style — it does very well.
The Jaguar XJ has been around for nine generations, and should enter its tenth generation in the 2019 model year, just in time for its fiftieth anniversary. Ian Callum, Director of Design for Jaguar Cars, says that he can see a day when the car is retired. When the time comes for a new flagship sedan, that car will run in the long shadow of the Jaguar XJ.
Many classic Jaguar cars are museum pieces, showcasing the company’s long history of gorgeous design wedded to amazing performance. But why visit a museum? If you live near Newton, MA, wouldn’t it be more fun to visit Jaguar Peabody and get behind the wheel instead of standing at a velvet rope? Stop by our showroom at 247 Newbury St. in Peabody, MA today to drive a piece of automotive history!
