2006 Jaguar Sovereign 4.2 Supercharged

This car has returned from Japan to the UK.

This tells us two things.

Firstly, that it has spent its life immersed in a culture where people tend to take pride in their cars and usually spend a great deal of time and effort pampering them and making sure no harm comes to them.

Secondly, that it comes from a country where salt is thrown over the shoulders of sumo wrestlers, not chucked all over the roads in industrial quantities like it is in the UK.

Actually, there’s a third thing we know for sure about cars that come our way via this particular vendor.

He is very well-known to us and has built a successful niche business on the back of his expert understanding of the Japanese Jaguar market and his ability to select and import only the very best examples.

Well, he’s certainly brought us an extremely rare and special example with this stunning car.

As a marque aficionado with a particular penchant for XJ variants, you will know that there are Jaguar XJRs and there are Jaguar Sovereigns (among other iterations).

The former are ferociously fast supercharged beasts offering up truly monumental amounts of thrust and twist.

The latter are smooth, refined, luxurious and quietly powerful in a very British, very civilised way.

This car, however, is both, and was specified as a special order car…and in the even rarer SWB configuration.

It combines all the brute force and blistering pace delivered by the supercharged 4.2-litre V8 engine with the sumptuous cossetting that comes with the Sovereign trim.

The vendor tells us that the car drives superbly and does everything asked of it with lashings of capability and competence.

It has a full (Japanese) service history from new, a verified mileage of 71,661, and has clearly been cared-for without compromise or concern for costs.

Always pet- and smoke-free on the inside and salt-free on the outside, the car’s long list of features includes the following.

• Double Glazed Acoustic Glass
• 19" Custom Alloy Wheels
• Xenon Headlamps with Power Wash
• Upper Mesh Grille
• Front and Rear Parking Sensors
• Goodyear Tyres All Round
• Heated Front Seats with Memory Function
• Heated and Reclining Rear Seats with
• Rear Entertainment Console
• Rear Electric Screen Blind
• Rear Door Blinds
• Electric Adjustable Steering Column and Mirrors
• Satellite Navigation
• Speed Limiter and Cruise Control
• Automatic Headlights and Wipers
• Factory-Fitted Alarm and Immobiliser

The car has been fully prepared for UK use and has MPH calibration on the speedometer, full-sized number plate plinths, and UK radio and SatNav functionality.

You’ll struggle to find any faults whatsoever on the exterior of this car.

We’ve had a good look and we can’t see any dinks, dents, creases or nicks of any consequence anywhere.

The shut-lines and panel gaps look crisp, consistent and even from what we can see.

The paintwork is equally impressive and even entirely standard stone chips and thin scratches are far more notable for their absence than their presence.

All four wheels would appear to be pretty much unacquainted with kerbs or other obstacles.

A little lacquer looks to have flaked away on the o/s/f wheel.

The matching Goodyear tyres appear to have plenty of life left in them.

The car’s chrome-work is untroubled by any foxing, pitting or tarnishing that we can see.

The lights, lenses, badging and all other exterior fixtures and fittings look like the rest of it – virtually showroom-fresh.

Nobody does the wood and leather combo quite like Jaguar and the interior of this Sovereign is a fine testament to what can be achieved with a few yards of cowhide, some burr walnut veneer and a lot of hard work and skill.

The wood veneers are particularly striking in this car and have an almost tiger-like pattern and colour palette. Everywhere you look the wood is glossy, unmarked and possessed of a real depth of shine and lustre.

The Barley leather upholstery is in exceptional condition even for the car’s low mileage, let alone its age.

The only creases we can see are the ones deliberately nipped and tucked into the ruched leather on the seat squabs and back-rests.

There are no meaningful signs of wear anywhere that we can discern.

The door cards are excellent and the headlining, having been replaced very recently, looks brand-new.

The steering wheel, gear selector and handbrake are following the same script in terms of quality, condition and presentation, as are the chocolate-brown carpets.

As far as we’re aware, all switches, dials, buttons, levers and instruments do exactly as they’re told in a timely and faithful fashion.

The boot, which contains a space-saver tyre, is in impeccable order from what we can see.

There’s not much to look at under the cowls and covers in the very full engine bay, but rest assured that underneath them resides a hugely potent supercharged 4.2-litre V8 capable of summoning-up 400bhp and 553Nm of torque.

That’s enough to propel over 1,700kgs of metal, leather, wood and glass to 60mph in just 5 seconds.

Everything in the engine bay looks as clean, dry and correct as you’d hope and expect to find on a car that’s been so fastidiously cared-for and curated.

We’d give it 5 stars on a food hygiene rating, never mind a mechanics report.

The undersides of the car seem to us to be only barely acquainted with any sort of road grime, or weather, or use, and look pretty much minty-fresh and squeaky clean.

The car comes with a full and comprehensive service history. You may need to brush up on your Japanese language skills if you’re going to fully understand the contents.

Rest assured, though, that the vendor only ever sources the best cars from Japan, and that invariably means that the cars have impeccable service, maintenance and repair credentials.

The car comes with 2 full sets of keys, a UK handbook, an HPI report, a mileage verification certificate and an MoT, with no advisories, that’s valid until 8.10.25.

As so often with this vendor’s Japanese import Jaguars, this example is as near as you can get to buying a brand-new 2006 car in 2025.

Not only is it a low mileage example and in fabulous condition, it’s also a very rare and hugely capable vehicle.

Given that this Jaguar doesn’t carry ‘XJR’, ‘Supercharged’ or even ‘4.2’ badging, this is a proper wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing car and one that, with power and luxury in equal and abundant measure, truly offers the best of both worlds.

What’s more, you’ll be ULEZ and CAZ compliant, and you’ll be insured as a UK RHD vehicle.

This, then, is a whole lot of very impressive car.

One thing’s for sure - you’ll be a long time waiting for a better one to come along.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £12,000 - £15,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this particular car is located with the vendor in Lyne, Surrey. To arrange an appointment to inspect this vehicle, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.