At a recent press reception for the all-new 2010 Jaguar XJ sedan in San Francisco – prior to its offical unveiling at the Pebble Beach Concours – I had the opportunity to speak with Ian Callum, Jaguar’s lead designer. A radical departure for the big Jaguar, the retro style of the previous car has given way to a new look that is thoroughly 21st century in every way.
Callum and I discussed the design of the car, as well as the source of his inspiration.
Lyndon Conrad Bell: Beautiful design Ian, I was studying a photograph of the XJ today and found it remarkable that even with this clean sheet design, there are traces of every XJ I’ve ever seen in it.
Ian Callum: I’m glad to hear that, it’s exactly what we were striving for. When you see the car in profile, there’s a lot of tension in the subtle curves of the shoulder line. This has long been a trait of the XJ.
Also, in plan view (from above), you’ll observe a tapering of the lines of the car at the front and the rear, this too, was an element of the previous car’s design. But, at the same time, we’ve completely redefined the XJ. It reminds the world that Jaguar is a modern car company.
LCB: I’ve heard you say a 1960 Jaguar was the car that originally made you want to be a designer.
IC: That’s true; the car was a 1960 Jaguar Mk II I saw as a lad. That experience really set me on my present path. It was the most beautiful car I’d ever seen and it also made me want to work for Jaguar one day.
LCB: And today you've completely remade Jaguar; the XK, the XF, and now the XJ look nothing like the cars that came before them, and frankly, bear little resemblance to one another.
IC: Yes, the goal from the outset was to establish a new design language for Jaguar. You do see some familial resemblance between all three cars, however we didn’t want to do what a lot of our competitors have done and replicate the same car – in different sizes. So while there is some commonality of language among the three, each has unique and distinctive traits.
LCB: The XJ is a relatively large car, yet it looks light on its feet, how did you accomplish that?
IC: It’s all about balance. A lot of fuss is made these days about short front and rear overhangs. And while that is quite important, you still have to get the proportions right. Converging the lines at the front of the car the way we have, gives the impression of a very short front overhang. Meanwhile, we drew the car so the rear overhang looks longer. This balances the design and gives the impression the car is moving, even when it is at rest.
LCB: The panoramic sunroof, aside from admitting more light into the cabin, does it serve any other purpose? 
IC: Viewed from the side, you’ll notice the roofline of the car is quite low in relation to its overall proportions. This adds to that tension I spoke of earlier. The low, arching roofline also gives the XJ something of a coupe profile. However, as Jaguar’s largest sedan, the XJ must also be spacious. The panoramic roof does not intrude into the passenger compartment the way a conventional roof does. By employing it, we were able to have our sleek roofline and still give people riding in the car lots of headroom.
LCB: So what’s up with those contrasting “C” pillars? I’ve never seen anything like them before.
IC: If you look at them in conjunction with the backlight (rear window), they make it appear to wrap around the car. This adds lightness to the rear turret, which is typically a rather heavy looking design element.
LCB: The interior is outstanding, it’s refined and sumptuous, but it also has a sporty feel and the materials are outstanding.
IC: Thank you, we also wanted to make it as spacious as possible. If you’ll notice, the overall shape is an oval. The dash appears to arc away from the occupants, giving them the impression of even more room. One of the factors that always made the XJ’s interior a standout was its reliance upon natural materials. Here, you’ll find the air vents are made of metal rather than plastic, and practically everything else is wrapped in leather. Also, woodwork is employed very generously.
LCB: The interior is tastefully traditional, but you’ve still managed to propel it well into the future.
IC: A big part of that comes from the advanced displays. The primary instrumentation is virtual. Displaying the "gauges" on a high definition screen gives them a futuristic look, but it also gives us the ability to reconfigure the dials any way we wish.
