Background
Launched in 1996 and always more of a grand tourer than an out-and-out sportscar, the Jaguar XK8 shared its chassis with the Aston Martin DB7, making it the thinking man’s choice for anyone in the market for a powerful, rear-wheel-drive luxury sportscar.
Available as both a 2+2 coupe and a convertible, the XK is, like the Kray twins, available in two varieties: mad and madder. The mad one, which we’ll call Reggie, is the XK8. Fitted with a normally aspirated V8 engine - albeit one with four litres and 32 valves - it develops 290bhp and 290lb/ft of torque, enough to propel the XK8 on to a top speed of 155mph after passing 60mph in under seven seconds.
Ronnie, Reggie’s even madder twin brother, is the XKR. Ronnie has a supercharged V8 under the bonnet - and that Eaton supercharger spins at almost twice the speed of the engine, helping it churn out 370bhp and 387lb/ft of torque. While the XKR shares the same artificially limited top speed of 155mph as the XK8, it knocks around a second-and-a-half off the normally aspirated car’s 0-60mph time, clocking in at around 5.5 seconds.
The engine capacity grew by 200cc in 2002 for both models, giving a small but welcome boost to both torque and power. Simultaneously, small stylistic changes helped freshen its face and further (largely cosmetic) changes came in 2004.
The final run-out model was the ‘S’. Both Ronnie and Reggie were fitted with 20-inch alloy wheels and unique badging, and the supercharged car gained Brembo brake calipers and some interior carbonfibre trim. The 0-62mph sprint time for the XKR-S dropped to 5.2 seconds, which is the automotive equivalent of how Ronnie would’ve reacted if you’d been rude about his mum.
Oh, and it cost £59,995 when it was new, which was a lot of money back then.
Jaguar had built almost 100,000 cars in total by the time production ended in 2005, which means there are plenty out there to choose from, like this absolute peach of an example.
