Heads of state, top-level business executives and the independently wealthy are the typical purchasers of limousines such as the Jaguar XJ Super V8, the BMW 7-series and the Mercedes S-Class, and they heavily favor the German offerings if sales figures are any indication. But just being rich and powerful doesn’t make them right. Certainly, the BMW and Mercedes sedans offer impressive features, capable platforms and what many consider attractive styling. But they lack what the Jaguar has in spades - character.
That’s not to say the XJ isn’t an attractive and feature-packed car, however. Radar-adaptive cruise control, satellite radio, dual headrest DVD players, airplane-style seatback trays, supple expanses of leather and luxurious deep-pile wool carpeting are spotted on the briefest of glances at the vehicle’s spec sheet. But that’s not where the charm of the XJ lies. The atmosphere in its cabin, the feeling you get looking at it from across a parking lot, the shoved-back-in-the-seat acceleration when driving with a heavy foot - these are the things the XJ does so well.
To really understand the XJ Super V8, it helps to understand where the car fits in the Jaguar lineup - and that’s essentially right at the top. Featuring all of the luxury amenities of the Vanden Plas plus most of the performance features of the XJR, the Super V8 is Jaguar’s ‘best of both worlds’ offering. The car does an admirable job in both of its split-personalities, a surprising result as compromise cars are usually disappointing. The Super V8 continually raises expectations - its constantly-adjusting air-ride suspension offers both fantastic ride quality and precise handling, for example. Likewise the car’s high-speed stability is so great that rear-seat passengers will have no reason to suspect a 100mph (160km/h) dash is anything but a sedate 50mph (80km/h) cruise.

Comfort and style run hand-in-hand through the cabin, with the leather-upholstered surfaces appropriately soft to the touch and completely devoid of the chemically-treated slickness common in cheaper materials, and polished burl wood trim to offset the high-quality plastics and metal pieces used to accent the interior. It’s not the design of a 21st-century science experiment, or a vision of the future of corporate motoring. Instead, it’s an homage to hand crafted luxury and classic styling.
Like all cars, it has a few rough spots, however. The fit and feel of the gear selector, for example, is a bit flimsy and imprecise compared to the rest of the controls in the cockpit, though only the driver will notice this minor flaw. Similarly, the front sun visors are among the cheapest Ford Motor Company has to offer, despite the nearly $95,000 MSRP. Rear passengers have to make do with manual sun shades, which once pulled from their rests can be fidgety to secure and even more so to return to their place.
Another point of possible improvement is the satellite navigation system. Though it functioned admirably once set to a destination, finding that destination and avoiding routes no longer available due to construction or other alterations often required manual intervention and the assistance of an iPhone 3G. Finally, the all-aluminum construction, which turned out to be such a benefit to the performance and handling, may have something to do with the relatively high level of noise transmitted through the cabin.
Look past these inconveniences and you have a car that functionally equals the German class-leaders but does so with a style and panache they can’t approach. There’s surely a lot to be said for the technical excellence of precision engineering, but it doesn’t warm the heart or send shivers up the spine like the passion that drives the Jaguar XJ Super V8.