“Hey Dave, an old Jaguar just got traded in for a Polestar 2,” our video manager Griffin told me. “Oh boy,” I thought. A 16-year-old Jaguar. This is going to be an absolute steaming pile.” Then I drove the car, and I was blown away.
“Yeah, so the XF was kind of the start of a new era,” The Autopian’s Thomas Hundal told me over the phone as I drove to work. “It’s the first Jaguar sedan built under the leadership of legendary designer Ian Callum,” he continued. “It’s not what you think. It’s not a janky, poorly built Jag. This thing was, you could argue, the first really modern Jag. One of the most important cars in the brand’s recent history.” Then Thomas, whom I call when I need really obscure information on relatively modern cars (he’s an encyclopedia), told me something interesting: the XF is built on the same old Ford DEW98 platform as its predecessor, the retro-styled S-Type.
So how can the XF be so revolutionary if it’s just based on the same old Ford-based bones as its predecessor, and if it shares some of the same engines like the 4.2-liter V8 in my test car? Well, you’ve got to realize that the Ford bones were actually excellent; they just weren’t wrapped in the right car. In fact, that Ford platform underpinned the Lincoln LS, whose suspension was designed by none other than The Autopian’s own Huibert Mees, who said in his introductory piece a few years back:
As is normal in a company like Ford, I worked on many new designs that never got past the prototype stage, but then I became part of the D/EW98 platform, which became the 1999 Lincoln LS and Jaguar S-Type. As part of that project I spent two years in England at Jaguar Cars doing the ride and handling development of the S-Type. I learned all about ride, handling, steering, vehicle dynamics, and about how to make a car comfortable but still fun to drive.
Sure, Huibert may have been relatively early in his career, but the man is an absolute ace, going on to develop the suspension for the Ford GT and the Tesla Model S. Needless to say: By the time I arrived at work, my entire perspective going into this Trade-In-Tuesday had changed. Yes, the bones were old, but they’re excellent bones that, for 2008, were finally wrapped in a beautifully styled car thanks to Director of Design Ian Callum.
When I got behind the wheel, I was in awe. This is a sub-100,000-mile car that our partner-company, Galpin, has for sale for only $10,860. It is 16 years old. Its powertrain is dated, its infotainment is dated, and I was convinced every electronic would be toast, in typical British car fashion. 
Instead, I found myself firing up the engine to a car that, even all these years later, feels like a masterpiece, and a well-built one at that (sans the trim piece shown on the right and the speaker at the center of the dash, which had warped a little from the sun).
When you fire up the 300-horsepower, 4.2-liter V8, the air conditioning vents slowly and elegantly rotate about the Y-axis (i.e. the cross-car axis) to face you.
Down at the center tunnel, the shifter for the six-speed automatic — this beautiful, substantial aluminum jewel of a rotary dial — pops up from below:
Just look at the wood; it’s perfect, even after all these years.
I love the analogue gauges:
Every surface of the XF is top-notch quality. Door cards, center console, center stack, steering wheel, gauges, dash — this thing felt luxurious even 16 years later. 
The two things this car needs to really feel modern are 1. An updated center screen and 2. Maybe a different motor.
If you look at reviews when this thing came out in 2007, you’ll find them all to be absolutely glowing. The chassis was always ready; it just never had an elegant tophat, but Ian Callum fixed that, and now Jaguar had a sporty, luxurious sedan that was truly gorgeous inside and out and that could hustle with the Germans.
My car had the smallest V8, the 4.2-liter making 300 ponies and, with the help of a ZF 6-speed, it gets the sedan to 60 mph in the low 6-second range. Not bad, and with the paddle shifters, you can have a lot of fun getting some growl out of that V8.
But, as quick as my trade-in felt, it was really its remarkable ride and silent interior that surprised me. The thing felt like a sensory deprivation chamber, silkily gliding through the world, bathing me with top-notch materials.
The XF eventually ended up with a 5.0-liter V8 engine option in both naturally aspirated and supercharged form, with the latter making up to 510 horsepower in the XF-R. With that engine and the dated-but-decent six-speed ZF auto, this Jaguar rips 0-60 times in the mid-4s. That car, with a new infotainment screen, seems like an amazing enthusiast’s machine for $25 grand. The $11,000 one I drove was no slouch, either, even if it was more of a cruiser than a bruiser.
After 16 years, the interior quality, NVH, and chassis tuning still felt impressive. And I wasn’t expecting that from an old Jag trade-in.
Top graphic images: Griffin Riley
