What's New for 1997

Apart from gaining a contoured bench seat and three-point seatbelts for rear occupants (as with the rest of the XJ sedans) and losing the heater ducts for the same, the XJR cruises into this year unchanged.

Review

After 1995's last-minute resuscitation of Britain's favorite touring sedan, there aren't many changes two years later. The sporty XJR with its 322-horsepower, 4-liter turbo engine remains virtually unchanged, but does receive a comfier rear bench seat, along with three-point belts for those occupants. However, it may take those passengers a little longer to warm up during cold weather, as the car loses its rear heater ducts.

We consider the XJR to be 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 fleet yet sumptuous 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?