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Our British spy took to lurking in the tall grass adjacent to a stop light near Jaguar's Tech Center to nab this first-ever, clean look at interior of the Jaguar XF. Just as in nature, an earlier attempt at a target that was too alert and well-protected ended without success - yielding an entertaining facial expression, but nothing else of the prototype's heavily shrouded dashboard. But persistence, and a well-timed pounce finally paid off, as we caught an XF prototype clean and uncovered - and its driver unaware and defenseless as he waited for the light to turn green.

The resulting image shows a tastefully restrained interior, far removed from the crazy modernity of the Jag CXF concept car. The show car's wacky neon glow and chiseled surfacing has given way to the traditional themes of high-end wood and leather. The XF's inside does appear to have steered away from the usual cozy country club look of the XJ, and is now a bit more serious and performance-oriented. The dash-top and door panels have some nicely detailed stitching effects, and the center console's switchgear are finished in slick brushed metallics. The driver's hand hides any signs of an i-Drive-style joystick for the Sat-Nav, audio HVAC controls, but that's probably because the XF will retain Jaguar's touch-screen driver interface. We also can't make out any console-mounted shift lever for the transmission, so we'll reserve comment and that set-up. Steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters are plainly visible, however.

Jag's CXF concept showed a fresh edgy, driver-oriented direction for Jaguar's future, and it has been carried over to production, but only to a degree. The Jag faithful should still feel quite at home in the new XF, but those used to the look and feel of BMW and Audi interiors should find a lot to like as well.