Mercifully, the XF also happened to be a darn good car.
Today, Jaguar has transformed its product range more completely and comprehensively than any other auto maker over the same period, integrating not only a vastly different styling language, but also fresh chassis technologies, new engines and entirely new model lines with a renewed emphasis on performance. Today, Jag is the only mainstream automaker to field an entire lineup of vehicles with aluminum-intensive chassis.
So it's with a sense of occasion and trepidation that I approached this second-generation model. "Trepidation," because I was present at the launch of the outgoing XF, and that car provided one of the most memorable drives of my life. Would this new generation live up to the original that cradled me so speedily and confidently along Monaco and Nice's coast all those years ago? My drive of the 2016 XF would take place along different winding European roads, this time in the Basque region of northern Spain, including time on Circuito de Navarra, a challenging FIA-approved race track.
Let's get this out of the way right now: Despite similar outward appearances, there is next to nothing that carries over from the departing model. The second-generation XF sits atop a new aluminum-intensive architecture with its own dimensions, including a longer wheelbase (+51mm), shorter overall length (-7mm), and a lower overall height (-3mm). Yet to the naked eye, this new XF reads very much like the old one. That's good news in my book, because the first-generation car was always attractive -- particularly after its midcycle facelift addressed those unnecessarily bulgy light fixtures.