October 10, 2006 - 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 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 we hold 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, ever, 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), most 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 alone.

Unlike any recent Jag, the interior fit and finish is exemplary, and there are no oddball ergonomic issues as in cats from the past. Unlike the older XJ 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 leather also covers 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. As it is in a BMW 6 Series ($111,500), the XK Convertible’s ($113,000) two rear spousal seats are better holding a weekend’s worth of luggage rather than real-sized humans. The XK Convertible’s fully automatic soft top’s three layers means it’s quiet at speed and disappears underneath a hard tonneau cover in only 18 seconds with the push of a button.



Like the elder XJ, 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 one. 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 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.



To help, Jaguar has replaced their old J-Gate console shifter with a conventional one and a Sport mode accessed by sliding the shifter to the left from the D position. And, as should be in any kind of manumatic, there are steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters as well. Use either the Sport gate or the paddles and the tranny hangs on to gears longer and downshifts more aggressively when slowing for corners. According to Jaguar, upshifts using the paddles happen in 600 milliseconds (i.e. that’s really effing quick) and downshifts are met with a nice throttle blip. Unfortunately (and this is why a good ol’ manual still works for car zealots), the tranny will upshift automatically when you run the engine to redline.

Whipping the droptop XK along a twisty backroad, and one surprise is the excellent steering feedback. Yes, this is a big car—a grand tourer—but up to 8/10 driving it behaves surprisingly composed and confident. The stiff chassis helps the suspension do its thing quite well, no doubt. Yet there’s still a smooth ride available, as expected of any Jaguar. Even in the open-top version, there is little chassis flex.



Just remember, the new XK Convertible is not a sports car. Porsche’s 911 Carrera has that portfolio wrapped up. But if you like to drive, you can relish in the precise steering, generous grip and the unexpected agility of this big cat. The other traditional Jaguar grand touring attributes—the styling, the luxury, the image—are also along for the ride when called upon.

It took a decade, and a little help from parent Ford, but Jaguar has finally created an aluminum l'objet d'art that should finally smash any misunderstanding of Jags being the exclusive domain of cash-rich seniors.

The 2007 Jaguar XK Convertible is a car that Jag owners who like to drive don’t have to make excuses for. A modern, competent machine that illustrates the most quintessential of Jaguar slogans: “Grace, Space and Pace.”

- John LeBlanc, Publisher, straight-six.com



Just the facts...
Build quality
Features
Performance 
Fun-to-drive 
Overall value 

TYPE OF VEHICLE: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door convertible
ENGINE: DOHC 4.2 V8
POWER: 300 h.p. @ 6,000 rpm., 310 lb.-ft. of torque @ 4,100 rpm
TRANSMISSION: Six-speed sequential manual
TIRES: (front) 255/40 ZR 19, (rear) 285/40 ZR 19
PRICE: BASE/AS TESTED $113,000/$116,850
OPTIONS: Luxury Package: 19" Carelia wheels, softgrain leather seats, softgrain leather-wrapped instrument panel, doors, and center console, 16-way power-adjustable seats, heated wood-and-leather-trimmed steering wheel and wood-and-leather-trimmed gearshift knob $3,850