JAGUAR XJ LWB AT THE NURBURGRING

Something about this isn't quite right. I'm sitting in a long‑wheelbase Jaguar XJ with a man wearing a checked shirt (the Englishman sort, not the lumberjack sort), a quilted jacket, and who owns a labrador called Sam. This is not how I had pictured my first fast passenger lap around the Nordschleife with a legendary 'Ring hand at the wheel.

But all is not what it seems. The Jaguar in question is a long‑wheelbase version of the latest Jaguar XJ (which, incidentally, looks better balanced in stretched form) and the be‑jacketed chap in the driving seat ‑ Frank Klaas ‑ may be Jaguar's new global director of communications, but he also happens to have participated in the legendary Nurburgring 24‑hour race no fewer than 14 times.

This is an unusual CV for a chap on the marketing/PR side of the car business, but it does rather suit Jaguar's recent reinvention of itself as a sportier, younger brand ‑ and dovetails nicely with the company's own development centre based at the Nordschleife.

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