Jaguar assembled a gaggle of celebs at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea to launch the all-new XJ limo last night (July 9th), but not even Elle McPherson could deflect attention from the radical new flagship saloon.

The new XJ represents the same sort of departure from Jaguars of old as the XF did when it was unveiled - and look how successful that's been. What's immediately apparent is Jaguar's renewed confidence. The new XJ is bold, modern and about as avant-garde as a top-level executive limo can be. It will divide opinion.

The front end clearly nods to the XF, though the prominent grille and recessed lights give it a more powerful presence, and the rear... well, where did that come from? Inside it's a feast of sumptuousness-meets-technology, with the warm blue light accenting of the XF making a prominent return and modern circular air vents puncturing the leather and wood dashboard.

Available to order now (with first deliveries early 2010) the XJ kicks off at £52,500 for a 3.0-litre V6 diesel in basic Luxury spec. As expected, the new Gen III 5.0-litre engine will feature under the hood too, both in naturally-aspirated and supercharged forms, though the latter has 470bhp as opposed to the 510bhp output of the XFR and XKR.

The top seller will undoubtedly be the diesel, which returns impressive figures of 40.1mpg and 184g/km. All variants are available with short or long wheelbases and the range goes upwards from Luxury, through Premium, to Portfolio then on to the flagship 470bhp SuperSport. That costs £85,000 - though there's bound to be an R variant at some point too.

Our man Kyle was at the launch, so when we can drag him away from Jay Leno's hotel foyer we'll get him to spill the beans on the XJ in a more detailed way. In the meanwhile, you can see the car's unveiling below:



Mark Nichol - 10 Jul 2009