Not at all. The X-308 was criticized by many for being so large on the outside and so small on the inside. Even to the point that USA regulators classified the XJ, based on its interior space in cubic feet, as a “compact” car, in the same league as a Dodge Dart!

The rear seats in my 2001 XJR are too cramped for today's adults. But people forget that when the XJ was introduced in 1968, the average Englishman weighed 167 pounds — which is the weight of the average American woman today.

It gets worse. Sir William Lyons, himself a tall man, nevertheless was relentless in keeping his car’s low-slung with rounded off rocker panels, similar to an airplane's fuselage. Even Tesla's sleek big sedan towers over an X-308 XJ8, which is only 53” high. Inside, the driving experience is as if in a cocoon, also in the aircraft tradition. For me, at 5’10” and 170 lb., it is a perfect fit. In contrast, in my 1998 BMW 740i, I felt as if I was sitting in a barn.

That sleek roofline created problems for the VDP. Yes, it had the legroom is so badly needed. But the roofline was so low, the only way the designers could compensate was by using “shorty” rear seats whose bottoms were sharply angled upward, placing the passenger's butt at the crux of the steep vee where the seat and seat back meet. The result was that taller men's knees were nearly parallel with their chins. Thigh support was non-existent, and to top it all off, men 6’ and taller would still feel their scalp against the headliner.

But still, of the three X-308s I’ve owned, the one I’ve never forgiven myself for letting go was a rare-as-hen's teeth 2001 Vanden Plas Supercharged. The factory built just 250 of these per year for the world market. My 2001 platinum VDP SC was, I think, the high water mark for the XJ, being far more powerful and efficient than earlier 12-cylinder versions. Foolishly I sold it and now must struggle along with an ‘01 XJR. (Which I also love, but still . . .)