Well, in typical Ford fashion the poor thing's been bean countered to death,
but I hear from friends within the organiozation it's a really great
improvement on the XK8. Under the skin it's still basically the DEW98
platform, which now the foundation fro the Lincoln LS, Ford Mustang, For
Thunderbird, Jaguar XJ & S-Type.  It isn't a bad platform, it was outdated
when launched in '99 and clearly doesn't match the refinement of
competitors.

Are we talking about the model so very similar to the Astin Martin DB
productions?  I thought it was slated for production in 2007 ... either way,
if this is the model you're discussing then on my part I love it's look and
can't wait to purchase one as soon as possible!  I always felt the current
XK incarnation was a bit lack luster in appearance (which is why I purchased
my XJ-8 instead).  I've wished for a devastatingly beautiful
redesign/restyling for the XK and for me, this new design has done it
completely.  The only thing that I wish they would do differently is put
wood back on the dash, I'm not a fan of the graphite / metal styling but
that's not enough to hold me back once they become availble.

Rick Piatt