A large white outline of the upcoming Jaguar XF Sportbrake on Wimbledon’s Center Court gives us a glimpse of the next model in the XF lineup.
There are less than 70 days to go until The Championships, Wimbledon 2017. Soon the meticulously kept surface of the All England Lawn Tennis Club will host the world’s best tennis players and endure their constant running and the pounding of tennis balls. Recently, it served as a giant billboard to tease the design of the upcoming Jaguar XF Sportbrake. Head Groundsman Neil Stubley and his crew laid out a massive white line silhouette of the newest XF variant.
This is not the first time the XF has been given the wagon treatment. Jaguar made a Sportbrake version of the first-generation XF for several years.
Jaguar Director of Design Ian Callum said,
“With XF Sportbrake we’ve created a silhouette which sweeps towards the rear, almost into the distance, and really gives the car a sense of speed and sportiness. It will bring new levels of practicality to the range without sacrificing the dynamic design and agile handling our customers expect.”
At first glance it brings the F-PACE to mind, but another look reveals a rearmost pillar that appears more upright than the one on the Jaguar performance SUV. Whatever the 3-dimensional, metal version of the XF Sportbrake looks like when it lands in Jaguar dealerships this summer, it’ll be taking on the Mercedes-Benz E400 4MATIC Wagon, which starts at $62,300 and packs a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 with 329 horsepower and 354 lb-ft of torque. At the moment, the U.S.-market BMW 5 Series is only available in sedan form (one of which we recently tested). The same goes for the Audi A6.
So mark your calendars, everyone. Summer officially starts June 21. The Championships at Wimbledon 2017 run from Monday, July 3 until Sunday, July 16.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
