2002 Jaguar XKR (4.2) Coupe

First registered 10 July 2002, this Jaguar XKR finished in metallic Jaguar Racing Green features the later 4.2-litre supercharged V8. It’s three owners were all from around the Croydon - Bromley area south of London, the third of whom kept the car from 2006 until late 2018.

Accepted into the trade as an MOT failure in November 2018, the current vendor spent in the region of £5k to get it through a test in December of that year, intending to have other more cosmetic works completed since. Having not been able to find time to do so, he’s now decided to sell and let a new owner get this deserving XKR up to its full-on aesthetic glory.

Whilst the Jaguar Racing Green paintwork is generally solid, the exterior condition is a long way from perfect. There are several scuffs and marks on the nose cone and around the headlamps, including a 3-4-inch crack on the offside of the whale-mouth grille which will need a repair. A few scuffs again on the rear bumper and door mirror caps. There is also a little bubbling in the lacquer on a few of the window trims, a small tear on the driver-side door/window seal and the rubber front windscreen seal has dropped in one corner. Finally, the nearside door mirror anti-glare tint is no longer clearing.

So there are a number of areas where the exterior finish can be improved but this is by no means a scruffy car and the largely age-related wear and tear imperfections mentioned above shouldn’t put off anyone who wants to show some love and care to such a deserving car.

The five spoke BBS ‘Detroit’ split-rim 20-inch alloys are mostly in reasonable condition although a couple show minor kerb damage. They are fitted with a mix of tyres with good tread, again mostly in good condition aside from minor damage to one or two of the tyres’ sidewalls as can be seen in the photos.

For a closer look at the car’s condition, why not use the ‘Contact Seller’ button to get in touch with the vendor and arrange a personal inspection or, if you’re understandably limiting your social exposure, set up a one-to-one video call to discuss the car in more detail and home in on any areas of concern.

The black leather interior with smoked maple veneer trim appears in good condition throughout with no evident undue wear to the seat bolsters, rips or tears in the upholstery or scratches to the harder surfaces. The Jaguar-branded sill kick plates carry only the light surface scuffing you’d expect given their purpose but still polish up and present well.

The carpets and floor mats appear clean and intact and although the headlining is sagging in a couple of places, as indicated in the photos, it is generally clean and sound.

This is a well equipped car, with electric windows and mirrors, heated front seats, heated front and rear screens, original radio/cassette player with CD multi-changer and phone connection, cruise control and trip computer. According to the vendor, all items are functioning correctly although since a new battery was fitted, the radio code needs to be sourced from a main dealer and input. Also to note is that a couple of backlights to the heater controls and instruments have failed but neither affects visibility or operation.

Under the bonnet, the embossing to the intake manifolds leaves you in no doubt that you are looking at a Supercharged V8. All looks clean and in good order with no apparent corrosion or perishing around the engine bay or ancillaries.

Under the car, as can be seen in the photos (and explained in the History Highlights), there has been some welding done to cut away and patch rusted structures and floor pans. The condition elsewhere underneath can’t be seen but the vendor reports no known issues with the undersides of the car.

Inside the boot, the original warning triangle is still in place under the bootlid and the carpets and linings present in a good condition. Embedded into the side compartment is the CD multi-changer unit and under the floor cover, we understand, is a space-saver spare wheel with jack and wheel brace.

The online MOT history of this car seems all good up to about 65,000 miles in October 2017 when suspension components started to require replacement, quickly followed by brakes and tyres. An eventual pass in December 2017 gave some respite before a failure on multiple counts in November 2018 just before the vendor acquired the car. B&W Automotive then carried out just over £5k of work - as can be seen in the documents gallery - to address the MOT failure items and had the car retested with a pass in December 2018.

This remedial work included: discs and pads, welding front footwells, inner wings and chassis legs (shown before, during and after in the photos), replacing suspension bushes, ball joints and anti-roll bar drop links as well as an oil and filters service. It is understood that all genuine Jaguar replacement parts were used.

The car comes with an embossed leatherette folio containing a service booklet which appears to have been issued as a replacement early on in the car’s history and has several stamps from a geographic spread of servicing JLR dealers and specialists.

There is very little other documentation aside from an HPI check report from last year and a wheel alignment/geometry report which is wrongly dated 2003 but it was done at the same time as the remedial work above. There is also a newly programmed replacement key although the remote unlocking fob is currently not working.

The car underwent an MOT on 22 June and a copy of the report is included in the gallery.

First generation XK8s and XKRs are now strongly back in favour with their classic lines appealing to drivers and collectors more than the modernised second generation model. As a later 4.2-litre engined example there are none of the bore-lining issues of the smaller V8s, and likewise the six-speed ZF gearboxes are more resilient than the Mercedes-Benz units fitted to the earlier ‘Rs.

With its classic green paint and black leather interior combination, low ownership and low mileage, and a new MOT, our XKR is a very usable example of this under-the-radar classic. We understand that it drives well, although the vendor reports an intermittent and almost imperceptible hesitation when accelerating slowly. Give it the beans and you’ll do well to top 20mpg, but on an easy run you might see 30mpg or more – a very creditable figure considering the thunderous performance available.

Interest and prices for this generation of XK and XKR have solidified in recent years and the very best cars now fetch very good money. We estimate this example will sell between £7,000 - £10,000 - it just needs a new owner who wants to make it look as well as it goes.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the vendor in Cheshire; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Footman James for classic car insurance Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car and AnyVan for transporting it.

This vehicle is not with us at The Market’s HQ near Abingdon, which means we have had to rely on the owner’s description of it, in conjunction with the photographs you see here, to compile the listing.

With this in mind, we would encourage potential bidders to contact the owner themselves and arrange to view the car in person, or to arrange a dedicated video call in which they can view the car virtually and ask questions.