Mazda 6 vs Jaguar XJ

What's the difference?

Has it really been 20 years since the humble Mazda6 station wagon hit our roads? You betcha, but I was more shocked that I remembered when it did!

I have a sudden flashback of questionable fashion choices, glittery butterfly hair clips and how Skipper was making a play at being the coolest 'Barbie' (she wasn't).

I've always had a soft spot for wagons, they are the forgotten heroes for family hauling. It's hard not to glide over them when the market is dominated by SUVs but if you happen to remember they still exist (albeit, barely) you might remember why they were popular back in the day.

Being a 20th Anniversary Edition means there are some nods to the past in this model but unlike the low-slung jeans of my youth, they're stylishly done. With some luxuriously-appointed rivals to contend with, like the Skoda Octavia and Volkswagen Passat, does it offer enough to be considered by a modern family?

My little family of three has been in it all week to find out for you!

As a child, my parents - who aren't car people - would see a Jaguar and point. It didn't matter if it was an XJ, Daimler Double Six or a Mark II, there was a great deal of mystique around these bastions of Britishness. It also didn't matter that these weren't necessarily good cars. The Seventies and Eighties saw the brand slide into a funk while being passed between owners like hot potatoes.

Somehow, the brand survived its brush with Ford's useless Premier Automotive Group strategy which only came good towards the end as Jaguar's management woke up and put in place a change in direction that produced the Ian Callum-designed XF. Riding high on that design, Jaguar then promptly introduced the very pretty Jaguar XJ.

It has been on sale for ages, but with the addition of a few bits and bobs to stay competitive, it's as compelling as ever. Most importantly, the performance-focused R has kept its unique supercharged V8.