foolhandy

Following up this post, I’ve been doing a bit of online reading in between packing and sleeping.

Contributors to CAR Magazine’s online forum also thought it looked like a Buick or a Lexus. Helen thought Daewoo, Nissan or Chrysler. It is of course the new Jaguar XF. Hmmm…

A look through the mentions other car makers get in reviews of the Jaguar’s styling see Ford, Subaru, Hyundai, Saab, Chrysler, Buick, Volvo and Aston Martin all mentioned - but none as much as Lexus. Jaguar’s new make-or-break saloon has drawn creative inspiration from that most competent but bland of brands, Lexus. Lovely.

The XF is designed by Ian Callum, who has been responsible for a number of Aston Martins and Jaguars in the past. My feelings for him as a designer are probably best summed up by Sniff Petrol, so I leave you with their take on him…

 CALLUM’S UNSURPRISING SALOON SHOCK

There was excitement at Jaguar this week with the news that top designer Ian Callum has finally designed a saloon car. Callum, whose work includes the Aston Martin DB7 coupe, the Aston Martin DB9 coupe and the Jaguar ALC concept coupe, had reportedly been struggling to translate his favoured design themes of a long thrusting bonnet, bold rear haunches and an elegant tapering tail onto a saloon body style, until now. “What he’s done is very clever,” said one insider. “Basically he’s taken the same old design that he’s been doing for the past few years and he’s sort of drawn some back doors on it”. A Jaguar source later denied that the reason for Callum’s delay in creating a saloon design was because someone had lost the key to the photocopier room.