1996 Jaguar XJR

Published: 10/02/1996  Updated: 10/02/2009 

What's New for 1996

After last year's rebirth, changes to the XJ sedans, including the XJR are limited to thicker side window glass that better insulates passengers from annoying wind noise and outside distractions.

Review

After 1995's last-minute resuscitation of Britain's favorite touring sedan, we didn't expect to see many changes for the 1996 XJ-Series. The sporty XJR with its 322-horsepower, 4-liter turbo engine remains virtually unchanged, but does now include a leaping Jaguar hood ornament, an all-time favorite of many of our staff members. In our opinion the XJR is one of the finest-looking cars on the road today, expressing individuality without dripping excess. Thanks to Ford's ownership of Jaguar, improved quality and reliability insures that these beautiful cars will spend more time on the road than they will in the shop. The XJR is still priced a bit dear compared to some less elegant luxury sport sedans, but how often do you lay your eyes on a car and find that no matter how hard you try not to, you keep looking?