What's Old Is New Again With The Porsche 968 And The Jaguar XJS

Welcome to Sunday Matinee, where we highlight classic car reviews or other longer videos I find on YouTube. Kick back and enjoy this blast from the past.

I think that automakers are a lot like Hollywood sometimes. Every now and then, they give us something new and exciting that we genuinely haven't seen before. Other times, they give us a boring rehash of some existing product, the end result of which is neither exciting nor relevant.

Case in point: the Porsche 968, the final evolution of the 924 line that began in the 1970s. I think we can all agree that while the 968 is a decent enough sports car, it was not Porsche's best effort.

Jeremy Clarkson agrees in this 1992 episode of Top Gear, when neither Porsche nor Jaguar had the financial chops to create an entirely new, more impressive car. Clarkson has praise for the 968 as an enthusiasts' car, but he notes that it's outclassed in nearly every department by the Nissan 300ZX. (That's a good reminder of how that class of Japanese sports cars from the late 80s and early 90s forced the Europeans to up their game.)

Moving on to Jaguar, he shows us the refreshed XJS, another car that had been around since the 1970s. He gives the "big Brit bruiser" high marks, calling it the "definitive grand tourer," although he shows us what a gas guzzler it is.

Which of these facelifted cruisers would you put in your garage?