08 Sep 06
The latest XK is, Jaguar insists, gorgeous. True - but so was the previous model, and that can cost you less than half the price of a new XK. It still turns heads and makes everyone who loves cars - and plenty who don't - drool.
Jaguars have traditionally involved a lot of car for your money, and the XK8 and the supercharged version, the XKR, are better value than most Jags: big-engined cars, loaded with extras, for comparatively little money. Indeed the simple act of spending a few hundred quid on a number plate that doesn't give any clues to the car's age will fool the neighbours into thinking you're doing very well for yourself. There were so few changes during the XK8's decade in production that few people not employed by Jaguar could spot the difference between an early one and a late one.
The XK8 spoils you in so many ways, being hugely comfortable, with more than adequate performance and above-average refinement. The fact that there are some massive blind spots, and that the rear seats are for tiny kids, hardly matters at all, because this Jaguar makes you feel so special. And, with a few rogue exceptions, the XK8 is one of the better built Jaguars for several generations.
