Jaguar introduced the all-new, largely aluminum XF sedan today and used the occasion to perform a slightly perplexing feat: The company had a stuntman drive an XF across the waters of London's Canary Wharf, precariously perched on a pair of cables barely thicker than an inch. Apparently the stunt broke a world record.
Jaguar claims that the feat, which had the car suspended as much as 59 feet above the water's surface, was the world's longest high-wire drive, clocking in at just over 787 feet from end to end. Stunt driver Jim Dowdall, a veteran of the Indiana Jones, Bourne, and Bond movie franchises, was at the wheel, and although the Jag rode the carbon-fiber cables on specially grooved wheels, we imagine it was still a white-knuckle voyage.
Also, we know what you're thinking: That giant Jaguar counterweight slung beneath the XF looks like it's been Photoshopped. It's not—it's just painted to look like a reflective surface, which it isn't. It's totally there, as you can see in Jaguar's video of the stunt.
Jaguar says the feat was designed to highlight how lightweight the new XF is, having trimmed a claimed 132 pounds from the rear-wheel-drive model and a staggering 256 pounds from the AWD variant, thanks to an aluminum-intensive architecture. The car's curb weight may not have been the first thing on our minds watching the car drive along the cables, but we'll never criticize a company for cutting pounds.
That wasn;t the only new vid that Jag dropped yesterday, either. Here's the official release video for the new XF, which shows it on terra firma:
And finally, here's Ian Callum giving a design walkaround of the new car:
NYC native, now in suburban exile. Miami Hurricanes alum. Brown-car evangelist. Beleaguered Knicks fan. Prefers IndyCar to F1. Wants you to stop clogging the left lane, already.
