While British manufacturer Jaguar has made numerous luxury and sports cars over many decades, the XK series of sports cars tends to be quite underrated. The car that started the XK series of sports cars would be the XK8, which was introduced in 1996.
The XK8 was available in both coupe and convertible versions. Compared to earlier models, the XK8 looked a lot more modern and more or less matched the theme of the sports cars from that time period. The XK8 would be the first Jaguar model to use their new 4.0-liter V8 engine, the company would continue to use V8 engines of different varieties for the entire XK series.
Jaguar would also bring in a more powerful variant of the XK8 called the XKR, which had a 4.0-liter supercharged V8 engine that could go up to 370 horsepower. The XKR too came in both coupe and convertible versions.
Even though the XK8 certainly wasn’t the rarest sports car around and in general considered an underrated car, it still got plenty of attention, especially back in the day. In fact, the Sultan of Brunei seemed to like the car enough that he filled an entire section in one of his garages with first-generation XK8s and XKRs in a variety of colors.
The XK8 looks simple but stylish, especially as a soft top convertible like the white and beige example that is seen in the featured photo. Production of the original 4.0-liter XK8 would end in 2002, being replaced by a 4.2-liter version. The XK series itself would continue on for many years, with a new model in 2006 and several variants and facelifts.
As the car that started the XK series, the XK8 was a significant model in Jaguar’s history. Even after all these years, the XK8 represents the kind of cars Jaguar is known for. Stylish, luxurious, sporty, and not over the top.
Featured Photo Credit: Motorcar Gallery
Share:
Leave a Reply