Autoblog UK

Autoblog's Will Powell reports from the Frankfurt Motor Show

The recently revealed Jaguar XJ has received a positive reception from punters here at the Frankfurt motor show. One static XJ show car takes pride of place on British brand's stand in the central hall, but Jaguar has cleverly been exposing its new luxury large saloon to the public, by ferrying executives around on the road in pre-production prototypes.

Last night, a chauffeur driven XJ was spotted parked proudly outside a well known centre-of-town hotel (the bar of which happened to be full of car hacks), while Jag boss Mike O'Driscoll popped in for a drink.

A Jaguar insider revealed that the prototype fleet of XJs that have been rolled into executive taxi service are actually on their way to the Nurburgring for final testing before the flagship saloon goes on sale next year.

No one was left in any doubt that the Ian Callum styled XJ - with its sleek, long and elegant shape - makes a more positive, eyeball-attracting impression in context on the road than it did on any motorshow stand. We can't wait to see it in showrooms in February next year.