2005 Jaguar Super V8

Luxury cars with strong personalities have a way of sneaking their own cards into the driver's personality deck. In the case of Jaguar's latest, the Super V8 (a performance version of the new, long-wheelbase XJ sedan), a few seconds gripping the glistening walnut steering wheel and staring through the rearview mirror at the opulently expanded rear seat can trigger a desire to don a chauffeur's cap and ferry around one of those English soccer stars who has a pop-star girlfriend and needs a fast machine like this to escape all those bloody paparazzi. "I think we shook 'em, gov'ner," you mutter to your real-world passenger, who's staring at you, wondering where you got the hat and the accent.

The Super V8 is certainly super in two specific respects. Under the hood is the smooth-running and comparatively efficient supercharged 390-horsepower, 4.2-liter eight-cylinder engine--a rare V-8 indeed that can legitimately parry in performance and silkiness with the V-12s from Mercedes-Benz and BMW (while ducking their gas-guzzler penalties, thanks also to the Jag's light, aluminum construction). Cautiously probe the throttle at 10 mph, and the Super V8 wildly rears back and surges forward; try it again at 90 mph, and it wildly rears back and surges forward, as the scenery passes by nine times faster. It's unfortunate that such a fine performing engine is visually entombed beneath a drab, nearly featureless black plastic cover. When no one's looking, Jaguar traditionalists accustomed to artful engine design and finish will be tempted to tug at this apparent second hood to peer underneath.

But the rear seat area--call it the first-class cabin--just might top the engine in "super-ness." Owing to the stretched wheelbase and overall length (both five inches longer) and slightly increased headroom (resulting in a subtly more formal roofline), the rear compartment is a rolling gameroom for the cosseted class. There's space to slouch, straighten your legs, and properly read The Wall Street Journal; a DVD player with displays is built into the back of the front-passengers' (the staffs') headrests; and there are walnut-trimmed fold-down tray tables for a quick game of gin rummy and laughably thick lambswool carpets to kick off your shoes and irreverently wriggle your toes in. All this at a price that sizeably undercuts the long-wheelbase V-12 sedans from Mercedes-Benz and BMW. But let's not mention that to the driver; he'll only want a raise.