On Wednesday, Giles Taylor, Jaguar's chief exterior designer of the new XJ sedan, visited Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He brought along an example of the car. This was the first glimpse of the car on the East Coast, after its unveiling in London in July.

It will not be in showrooms until next spring.

Mr. Taylor and the XJ are making an unusual tour of automobile design schools that began at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., and includes Parsons The New School for Design in New York and the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.

At Pratt, Mr. Taylor talked about the car inside the school's gymnasium near folded basketball goals on a tarp protecting the wooden floor underneath. Mr. Taylor pointed out themes and details of the car to students.

"We tried to keep the basic architecture of the car very pure," he explained. He noted the restraint in details, accent and badging and showed how some features subtly carry the eye downward, to "plant the car."

The test, he said, is how much you can leave out and still keep the essence of a design. He pointed out the simple shape of the steeply angled rear of the XJ.