Test drive: Jaguar XJ

Sporty, stylish and seductive… this powerful big cat offers plenty of youthful zest, writes Richard Cree

One of my earliest memories is sitting behind the wheel of my grandfather's 1964 Daimler V8. With its wood panelling, red leather seats and a fancy clock, the car felt like something from another world – or the rarefied atmosphere of the gentlemen's club, as I later learnt.

Since Jaguar's 1960s heyday, the company has been on a similarly tortuous journey to other great British car brands. Now owned by Indian giant Tata, it is enjoying a renaissance by throwing off its stilted image and luring younger drivers.

All this is down to a simple but cunning plan to make cars that look great and are fun to drive. Jaguar design director Ian Callum has mixed aspects of the brand's visual heritage with striking new styling.

The new approach is most evident in the cabin. Although it houses descendents of elements that made old Daimler interiors entrancing, the XJ is stuffed with exciting gadgetry mostly lit up with fancy blue lights. The hi-tech steering wheel, for example, can control most of the car. The seats may be armchairs, but they can be electronically adjusted in every direction.

Other tricks include a virtual dashboard that allows each dial to display information the driver needs (sat-nav directions temporarily replace the speedometer as the car approaches a junction). There is also keyless entry and a keyless start (and the fob is almost as imposing as the car).

A two-in-one entertainment screen allows passenger and driver to see different things at the same time. And there's an excellent iPod-friendly stereo courtesy of Bowers & Wilkins.

Grace, pace and space was the mantra on which Jaguar was founded. And, having taken a long-wheelbase version of this XJ on an 800-mile round trip to Cumbria via Berkshire and Bristol, carrying four people and luggage, it almost lives up to the motto as well. Issues such as fuel economy and emissions were less of a concern when the company was founded, but they are essential today. Even lugging the fully loaded long-wheelbase version, the V6 3.0-litre diesel was more frugal than expected.

But the big surprise was this big cat's agility. I expected it to be more like driving a bus and less like a sports car, but I was wrong. Thanks to the ability to tweak performance with JaguarDrive Selector and JaguarDrive Control, it excels in pretty much all conditions.

In plain Drive mode it's an elegant cruiser, perfect for eating up motorway miles while passengers and driver luxuriate. In Sport mode things liven up, ideal for when you need (or just fancy) more zip. But it's when you press the Dynamic button (especially if it's already in Sport) that the fun starts. Blue dials turn red, as if to warn you against what you've just done. Then the previously serene XJ turns into a beast. With manual gears engaged, you're in control of what old-fashioned car buffs call "an exciting sports sedan".

For a car this big and so economical, it adds up to an unseemly amount of fun. I'm sure that my grandfather would have enjoyed driving it as much as I did.