I’d been vaguely on the lookout for something wafty and comfy to take on a road trip I had planned. My 1998 Saab would have been perfectly tolerable but not an ‘event’, so when the Jag popped up, I jumped at the chance. £800 passed over and I was the proud owner of a 179k mile 3.2 V8 Sport. This engine and gearbox combo have a bit of a reputation for expensive failures, but the checking carried out by the previous keeper was reassuring, with all the potential sticking points covered off to one degree or another.

The car, having just returned from a 1,300 mile road trip to Le Mans, seemed to have proved its wafting credentials, so it was with great confidence that I pointed it down the A1 ready to attend the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Following that would be a trip back north via Stonehenge, Pendine Sands, St Davids and Portmeirion.

As with any car of this age there were a few foibles to adjust to, the only one of which to really annoy was broken air conditioning. Not always a problem, but we were uncharacteristically lucky with the weather and therefore obligated to spend huge portions of the journey necking bottles of water and peeling ourselves off the leather, not necessarily a huge surprise in a vehicle this age.

Jaguar’s slightly quaint mantra of “Space, Pace and Grace” perhaps lacks the modern dynamism the brand now strives for, but is still deserving of application to a car of this vintage. I’m happy to argue that those retro lines go part of the way to fulfilling the grace part of that promise, but it’s brought fully to fruition by the well insulated cabin that does a great job of isolating you from both your surroundings and the speed at which you’re passing through them.

That Classic Jaguar XJ cabin is, of course, coated in wood veneer on surfaces where leather would look strange and is a comfy place to be. Aided by an electrically adjustable driver seat, it’s easy to make yourself comfortable, so the 270 mile journey to Goodwood, the longest leg of our journey, passed without significant effort.

Space is a little more arguable. At five foot ten, I don’t struggle too much for headroom, but the cabin is pretty unexceptionally proportioned. Comfortably big enough for four with average rear legroom, there’s no space for TARDIS comparing rhetoric here. Thankfully Pace is rather more agreeable.

The 3.2 V8 under the bonnet is the smallest capacity offered of this engine, making that Sport badge feel a touch cynical, but it has plentiful firepower for making respectable progress. This example still felt strong enough to lay claim to all 240bhp originally quoted and made a delightfully smooth V8 burble at idle (possibly aided by the slight blow in the exhaust) that gives way to full-on NASCAR-hooligan when thrashed.

One clear oversight was the failure to include any sporting pretensions in the gearbox. Happy enough when blurring ratios around town or idling at speed on the motorway, it takes a hefty shove of the strangely long throttle pedal to initiate kick-down. Thankfully if you value niceties such as throttle response you can lock it in gear and sacrifice even more fuel economy. 25.6mpg average, since you ask.

So does that space, pace and grace mantra deserve its place here? More or less. Surprisingly good steering feel and turn-in mated to a V8 locked in second gear is a real pleasure but, while the pace part is acceptable, for a car that could accommodate a runway on the bonnet you deserve more room. I’ll forgive a lot of things for that shape though, ease of parking included.

As I mentioned earlier there’s a perfectly good (well, reliable but tatty) Saab outside so, without a commute to be bothered with thanks to the office that’s almost next-door, I really don’t need two cars. I’d never intended to keep the Classic Jaguar XJ long and it eventually sold on eBay to earn £21 more than its £600 reserve price. I took a loss of £179 over a few months’ ownership which, compared to the finance costs on an anonymous modern hatchback, seems pretty fair to me.

The obvious downside to running something like this as a daily driver is that constant nagging concern that it’ll not start, burst into flames, or deposit you somewhere precarious or inconvenient, and there’s not any way round that. I’ve known plenty of new cars sully their ownership experience with minor or significant teething problems but, on balance, I think you’re taking more of a risk with something like this. That said, I’ve just done a thousand mile road trip in a 3.2 litre Jaguar V8 around some stunning parts of the country and survived.

Take a punt, keep the V5 with you, and scrap it if it lets you down somewhere awkward. You can always buy something else for the run home…

Update: This piece first appeared on http://www.frontseatdriver.co.uk. I’ve since sold the tatty Saab mentioned in this, though I do miss it (turbo lag and all).

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Now that Jaguar has finished the important business of separating its current model line up from memories of the X & S Types, rounding out the saloon models with the F-Pace and F-Type, it’s moved its focus to the business of continuous improvement and keeping the line up fresh, which means there’s a new XF in the brochures.

Aggressive frontal styling sets it apart nicely from the previous generation, the grill standing proudly upright. When viewed from anything other than head on there’re rather too many similarities in the XE and XF styling, which is great for brand identity but less so for model differentiation. Even after driving the XF for a week, it wasn’t always possible to identify this generation of XF from the previous, or even the smaller XE.

The UK-built Ingenium 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine fitted to this top ‘Portfolio’ spec car knocks out a modest 180hp, but backs that up with 430Nm of torque, but that doesn’t sound like enough motivation for a car pushing 1,600kg. Once up and running though, that chunky torque figure allows for brisk enough performance when the gearbox can been coerced out of the highest gear that it can maintain. One benefit of sticking in the high ratios is fuel economy, a motorway run returning an impressive 56mpg despite diversions and hold ups. Over a week this dropped to a more realistically attainable 45.3mpg.

With the opportunity to drive a little more enthusiastically in the Yorkshire Moors than would be wise in a town centre, the sporting nature that’s a key pillar of the brand could be explored. Setting the transmission to Sport and the adaptive chassis controls to Dynamic allows the driver to take full control of shifting duties, confirmed by the rev counter shimmying to the centre of the instrument binnacle. Everything looks the part but, after a few miles, all those reports of good body control and sporting intentions had to be questioned. The ride wasn’t perfect when presented with broken, under-funded Northern town centre roads, but motorways were as deftly dispatched as you’d expect, so it was a bit of a shock to find back road undulations breaking the car’s composure. The XF might have held its line perfectly well, but the car didn’t inspire confidence.

Sure enough, something was amiss. The Dynamic mode had somehow been compromised so that the dampers remained in soft-and-comfortable standard mode, while everything else had tightened and sharpened itself as intended. Suddenly everything fell into place and the superbly upholstered Jaguar began to make progress at significant pace, easily giving life to the cliche of larger sports saloons shrinking around the driver and becoming easy to place on the road.

As far as the interior goes, there’s something of a sense that Jaguar is still trying too hard to shake off the burr walnut image with lots of stark black surfaces and leather, contrasted on this car by grey wood insets. The contrivance of those vents that reveal themselves highlights the swathe of slightly tacky silver plastic that dominates the passenger’s side of the dashboard, while the roller that covers the drinks holders will remain easy to keep out of sight and ignore the multitude of tiny scratches it absorbs.

There’s an abundance of things to press and a large touchscreen that acts as a portal to many, many more toys, some of which might be used more than once (be honest, how much use will anybody get from a G meter in this car?) but the system feels lethargic and dated. The optional InControl Touch Pro system comes with a Meridian audio system that deploys drum n’ bass to such effect as to rattle the change in my pocket and, while largely effective and easy to navigate, would justify the £1,225 price a little better with snappier responses to inputs.

This isn’t a car without faults. Expectations of ride and handling balance from a Jaguar are high, and the XF failed to meet the (perhaps unrealistic) demands; things were too choppy around town (not helped by the 19” wheels fitted to this car) and compromised too much in general to retain the luxury feel. The car only comes into its own when pushing on beyond what could be considered acceptable, or boring one’s way down a motorway.

It’s not even that spacious. Despite being of decidedly average height, headroom was a little tight; repeatedly a bottle of water was bopped against the headliner while maintaining hydration, leading to the inevitable spills. Spillages were also an ever-present fear thanks to the irritatingly small cup holders. It’s easy to dismiss stuff like this as niggles, but this kind of thing is the detail that makes living day to day that much easier, and the kind of detail that should be well resolved on a £38k car.

The XF might be a comfortable and adaptable car to live with that can be pushed into a decent turn of speed when the fancy takes you, but the cabin isn’t flawless, and it’s not as polished as its German rivals. Jaguar represents brand values that stand apart from those offerings though, and those values can, to an extent, make up for some flaws.

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Think a Jag is an old man’s car? Jaguar wants to prove you wrong with the Jaguar F-Pace…

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