There is one part of the collector car hobby I love the most: the undiscovered or forgotten car segment. Made up of cars that were quite popular when new, but are now almost completely overlooked by buyers. Often these cars were some of best in their market segment, and sold for quite a bit of money, but now are still simply used cars. This happens to many collector cars, think 1980s Porsche 911s, Aston Martin DB9s, even some Ferrari models.
There is nothing wrong with these cars other than they were surpassed by the models that followed and have been forgotten by their previous owners or are not on the radar of younger owners. This makes for what Maverick, in the movie Top Gun, would call a target rich environment.
One of these cars is the Jaguar XK8.
The XK8 was designed as the replacement for the aging XJS and in the design everything was new. Powered by a 4.0 Liter (later models got a 4.2 liter) DOHC V8 engine and with styling that had the look of a modernized E-type. The interior mixed the old with the new and featured copious amounts of leather and wood.
On the road the XK8 was properly fast and while it was not a sports car like the E-type it resembled, it was a was instead a world class GT car made for covering vast amounts of miles at high speed, in comfort and style. The XK8 exemplified the idea of Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons that his cars should be about “Grace, Space, and Pace.”
The Pick of the Day is the performance version of one of these excellent GT cars, a 2002 Jaguar XKR. The XKR differs from the standard car, as instead of a 290hp naturally aspirated V8 engine it had a 370hp V8 with a factory supercharger. This took a car that was already respectably fast and added more to the mix. The R package also included bigger brakes, more sporting suspension, and more aggressive trim pieces including a mesh grill. Think of it as a M version for Jaguar and you get the idea of what the R stands for.
The Chilliwack, British Columbia seller on ClassicCars.com states that this XKR is black on black with low odometer reading 94,848 km (56,900 miles) in top condition. It is a Canadian West Coast vehicle that was always kept indoors. Powered by the aforementioned supercharged 4.0 V8 engine, which also features a Magnaflow exhaust for a little added performance and an even better engine soundtrack. It is painted in Black with a Black leather and walnut interior. Other features include factory BBS wheels, R type brake calipers by Brembo, and a Alpine Premium Sound System with CD Player.
Now for the best part. In 2002 this XKR had a base price of more than $80,000. Today this car is being offered for a market correct price of only $22,900.
So if you are in the market for a true British GT car on a budget, I would highly recommend this XKR coupe.
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
Hiya Andy- that’s a gorgeous car. One caveat for this is maintenance and repair costs are heart stopping- a good friend manages a local multi shop auto repair business, for another one of my friends. They have a stellar reputation, many local customers. A couple of years ago they took in a standard XK8 convertible that had failed power seat and top motors, with other electric gremlins (Jag, go figure). The repair was slightly more than the Blue Book value for the car, the owner reneged, car was possessed on a mechanic’s lien and sold at auction for less than the repair cost. A lovely and worthy car, but there’s no such thing as a cheap exotic. Deep pockets are required.
You are correct, sir. I have a 2000 XK8 with only 47,000 miles for sale at this time. It has been extremely reliable in the 21 years I have owned it. Ford bought Jaguar in 1998 (I think that was the year) they became very reliable, good cars. However, any repair involving parts is expensive.
Jim Biggerstaff