Fast Cat
Over the last decade or so I’ve spent an unhealthy amount of time reading about other people being paid to drive various cars that don’t belong to them, so on the very rare occasion someone chucks me the keys to something I haven’t driven before and asks me what I think I can only jump at the chance. It doesn’t happen very often, but today I drove a friend’s original XJ40 based XJR. Welcome back to the world of the ‘80s city stockbroker.
Four miles isn’t enough to form much of a bond, but it’s just enough to get a few first impressions together. The first thing you notice the instant you begin to move is the steering, which is heavy. The small wheel jigs all over the place in response to every tiny imperfection in the road surface which those wide tyres seem to be so good at finding. If that’s what it’s like at low speeds, I got the impression that keeping this leviathan pointing where I wanted it with a few more horses unleashed would be a bit of a struggle, but thankfully that wasn’t the case on my short drive. The engine’s the standard 4-litre AJ6 used elsewhere in the range, and as I’d expected it’s all very serene at lower speeds. Kickdown from 30 didn’t initially result in any fireworks but it does seem to come to life more and more the faster you get – most of the power seemingly emerging once beyond about 3500rpm.
And beyond that I’ll have to reserve judgment. It will be interesting to find out how the later supercharged XJR compares, and I’ve a feeling I’m going to have ample chance to do that.