Jaguar's XJ exposed

It's not supposed to be unveiled until early Friday morning Australian time, but the leaks are coming from left, right and centre.

The Netcarshow wallpaper website has risked Jaguar's wrath and gained notoriety by posting several of the official images of the new XJ model, a crucial model for the prestige brand.

The images, which were supposed to be removed, have spread like swine flu across the Internet appearing on thousands of websites from Albuquerque to Zurich.

With a mild resemblance to the Jaguar XF model, which has done wonders for the Jaguar brand, the all-new XJ is the flagship vehicle in the leaping cat range. It will compete against cars like the BMW 7 Series, Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Audi A8, both in terms of interior space and outright luxury.

Officially due to be released on Thursday July 9 in the Saatchi Gallery at 8.30pm London time, by car fiend Jay Leno and Jaguar's managing director Mike O'Driscoll, the cat is now out of the bag, so to speak.

While the in-depth details are still not known (stay tuned for the full details on Friday), we do know that the new model is the first in the Jaguar range to feature an 'aerospace-inspired aluminium body architecture' which should make it relatively light, at least for a luxo barge.

Furthermore Jaguar's meaner and greener Gen III petrol and diesel powerplants will be offered, which the Carsales Network sampled recently at the XFR launch. The twin turbo V6 diesel will be one to watch out for and could prove to be a thorn in the side of Jaguar's German rivals, such is it's refinement (read more here).

Another engine that has been confirmed is the supercharged V8, which should provide the range-topping Jaguar XJ models with enough acceleration to keep Mercedes-Benz big bruisers honest.

Jaguar will offer the XJ in both standard and long wheelbase models and we also know that the Indian-owned British brand will offer a panoramic glass roof.

We won't comment on the design too much at this stage because these are leaked images and not of the highest or cleanest quality, suffice to say, however, that it's big departure from XJs of old.

More like the XF and with some impressive design cues, the new XJ is sufficiently grandiose and it's fair to say that Ian Callum, Jaguar's director of design, has earned his keep. Stay tuned for more.

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