Giametta's Driveway

What’s in the driveway? A chic new sedan that sweeps Jaguar into the 21st century. After dithering for most of a decade with a flagship that drove modern but looked hidebound, Jaguar bounds ahead with a radically re-imagined XJ.

The all-new 2011 XJ uses an evolved version of the 2004-2010 XJ’s aluminum-intensive chassis and body structure, continuing a several-hundred-pound weight savings compared to such rivals as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7-Series. The 2011 XJ, however, rejects big-Jag design cues that dated all the way back to the 1969 XJ6.

What’s in the driveway? A modern classic. Really. Lexus invented the premium-crossover category when it introduced the first-generation RX 300 in 1998 as a 1999 model. Two design generations later, the 2011 RX 350 remains the standard for refinement and effortless luxury in a midsize SUV. There are sportier-mannered choices, but the RX 350’s balance of talents in real-world driving tends to surprise doubters. There are more sybaritic alternatives, too, but they cost a lot more.

What’s in the driveway? The most fuel-efficient luxury sedan in America. By combining the talents of a specially tuned 2.5-liter four-cylinder gas engine with those of a battery-powered electric motor, this comfortable midsize four-door earns an EPA rating of 41/36 mpg city/highway. Among direct hybrid competitors, it’s more frugal than the smaller, costlier, and duller-to-drive Lexus HS250h, which is rated 35/34 mpg.

What’s in the driveway? That new midsize sedan advertised as “Imported from Detroit,” although this particular example, in White Gold with a Light Frost Beige interior, looks as if it’s been imported from a Detroit retirement home. The Brilliant Black example in which rapper Eminem is pictured prowling the Motor City night is probably the image Chrysler’s going after. The 2011 Chrysler 200 is, after all, supposed to represent a sort of prickly renaissance for the beleaguered brand, a scowling reassertion of its roots.