Jaguar XF goodbye - In the beginning

A year-and-a-bit later, I found myself at Stratstone Jaguar in Burnham (01628 668361) being handed the keys to an XF 2.7-litre V6 diesel in Luxury trim by dealer principal James Roberts. Botanical Green metallic paint, champagne and truffle leather with satin American walnut, 19-inch Carelia wheels, Bowers & Wilkins hi-fi with digital radio, on-board TV, parking sensors with rear camera, and carpet mats – it was everything I'd envisaged when I configured it.

The total was £39,530 for a car listed at £33,900.

End of the line
Six months down the line, I was at Jaguar's engineering and design centre to be told that the XF 2.7D was no more. In future, the engine would be a 3.0 V6 with more power and better economy and emissions – so lowering the car's benefit-in-kind tax rating.

Normally, my mood would have blackened at a new car being superseded so soon after it was launched. This time, though, not a bit of it. For one thing, I'd already done two epic European trips in my car, taking in a driving day at the Nürburgring race track, and the 50th birthday of a mate who has decided that the charms of rural France are greater than those of west London. I can't think of many other cars I'd have been as happy to do these trips in.

It also seems as though resale values of the 2.7 aren't suffering because of the change (my car shed £8000 in a year – not bad in present circumstances). Anyway, I'm pretty philosophical about the pace of technological change: just look at how out-of-date a new laptop or mobile phone seems within days of being taken out of the box.

There were to be two more European drives. Three of us took the car to the Geneva motor show in March, and then I drove it to the Le Mans 24-hour race. Journeys like those are what the XF was made for. Once the engine had loosened up it would easily do 450 miles on a tank of diesel (it is also the epitome of refinement), and its controlled yet supple suspension and cosseting seats mean you always step out as fresh as a daisy.

Jaguar has some demanding roads on its doorstep on which to help develop cars, so the XF works just as well over here. Even around town, the optional 19-inch wheels hardly impair the ride. On empty rural roads you can use the engine's torque, the sweet-shifting six-speed auto gearbox and the brilliant damping to make indecently rapid but totally smooth progress – as I found out when I took the scenic route on a fact-finding mission to Bowers & Wilkins in Sussex.