After 18 years, production of the Jaguar XK and XKR will cease this summer. It’s the inevitable result of the range’s conspicuous overlapping with the F-type; shared engines, similar price points but an obvious disparity in age and styling meant the older car was always likely to make its bow sooner rather than later.
It’s been a great couple of decades though, the launch of the XK8 in 1996 kicking off an era of 2+2 Jaguar GT cars that in time have developed into sharp rivals for the likes of Porsche, Maserati and Aston Martin. The wild XKR-S GT, one of the car’s final iterations, is a tantalising example of what how honed a Jaguar can be now, and hints at how spectacular an RS version of the F-type Coupe could be…
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Closing off XK production will be two editions; the Signature, based on the entry-level 380bhp 5-litre XK, combines the usual leathery luxury with a £54,950 price tag – that’s £5000 less than a similarly powered, though smaller and rear seat-less F-type S Coupe. If you need a supercharger (and who doesn’t?), the XK Dynamic R gets the XKR’s 503bhp 5-litre V8 engine and a £69,950 price tag, making it around £25,000 less than a BMW M6.
If you’re intent on buying an XK, there’s plethora of special editions and performance variants from over the years to choose from, too. The highlights are below – click the pictures to enlarge them.
