The earlier XKR coupe is beautiful inside and out, has more than enough performance, and is as classy as a Jag should be. People often ask and are shocked when I tell them the age of my car. I think that this body style will continue to age splendidly. Even taking into account my obvious bias, I believe that these are classics.

 

Thats the best thing about Jaguar. You dont look at it and say thats an old Jag or new Jag, you just say oh wow thats a nice Jag. The body body styles an interior styles up until a few years ago were very different from any other car that in an overall position they dont fit into a class and cannot be classified as an 80s car, 90s car, and so on. They are Jaguars.

 

There you go injecting reason into things

 

I think that both styles are beautiful although the earlier style is definately "classic".

I would transition to the newer version for nothing else but the built in tonneau on the convertible if it were economically viable for me.

Would also be nice to be able to squeeze a few more ponies out of the older 4.0 or 4.2 without breaking the bank......

 

The first time a saw a 97 style XK8, it was love at first sight. Seeing it in a car magazine or wherever it first was, that car had something to it. It was definitely a jag, definitely a sports car, and definitely sexy. I was looking forward to the new design when they started talking about it mid decade, but then when it came out... nothing. When I saw it, I thought it looks OK. But it didn't have the same visceral reaction of simply thinking... damn that's a good looking car. All I think is... damn, thats a nice car. Not quite what you should get from your XK. And the interior -- where is the abundance of wood. This is a jag after all.
I ended up getting rid of my '98 and moved up to an '05 instead of an '07.

 

I've only had mine for three weeks or so, but I've lost count of how many times I've been complemented (it's an '03). Then, my wife and I went to eat at Waffle House the other day (we like to hang with the riff-raff sometimes) and everyone in the restaurant was staring out the window at it and talking about it. As we were getting ready to leave the cook asked me if it was an Aston Martin! I told him it was a Jag, and he told me what a nice looking car it was, then three or four other people chimed in and said how nice it looked. When we got in the car my wife was like "Oh, you just love that, don't you?"

By the way, in the three weeks that I've had this car, I haven't seen any others on the road. Not a single one. I've probably seen five or six 911s, a couple dozen Mercedes SLKs, and gobs and gobs of Z3/Z4s. But not a single XK8/R. I like the rarity of the car.

 

Yes, it is a bit ironic when my wife takes the X350 shopping at Walmart. Something just not right about buying toilet paper in bulk on sale and stuffing it into the trunk of a black XJ8....with 20% tints...

 

LOL, too true! I was going to reply back with something sarcastic about your need for the extra TP, maybe you have IBS or some other problem, but we men know where all of it really goes... right??!? can I get an Amen Sam?

You should balance the scales and take the XK8 down to the 7-11 for a couple packs of feminine products... yahhhh.

 

I do the same thing with mine and love it. I also dont look like a Jag owner either so it makes it even better. After parking at walmart I then get out with my saturday morning bed head, my stained ripped jeans, sandals, knee socks and a shirt if I have one. Its the weekend and unfortunatly that is the only time I find to drive the Jag. The reactions I get are priceless though

 

I personally prefer the 98 to 06 body style, it is quite simply, a Jaguar. The newer model, while still a good looking car does not exude Jaguar to me. I always think it looks too much like an Aston Martin, which is by no means an insult but it isn't a Jaguar. It just doesn't have that crouching cat look about it, that feline presence that I think just screams Jaguar.

And with a smaller trunk, the 07 and later would defintely not get my vote! The trunk is one of the aspects that sells the car for me, two sets of golf clubs! That is what a sports car should have!

Completely off topic (and just because i spent $1500 having it repaired), who's brilliant idea was it to have a hydraulic latch on the convertible top? A simple hand lever would have sufficed and you wouldn't need to rip the entire rear interior out of the car to fix it if it breaks! The tonneau cover is manual, why not the convertible latch? Keep it simple stupid!! End rant... moving on.

Kip

 

I had opined this very same thing after my latch started leaking about a month after buying the car from a private party. I had already been alerted to this problem by lurking around forums like this so when I saw the first drop of oil on the console it was off to the dealer. Anyway, the Rube Goldberg contortions that the designers had to come up with just so the latch would be "automatic" were obviously ridiculous. Manual latches would have been just fine (probably one at each end of the windshield) and I was even throwing out the idea on this forum whether or not there was some way to convert the existing hydraulically powered central latch to manual.

Anyway, since you have recently gone through the hose replacement I hope you have also installed the pressure relief valve (search the FAQ area for info).

Doug

 

I doubt whether my mechanic would have done the valve without my asking so I would have to say no, that didn't get done.

Oh well....

Kip

 

NO--you do the valve yourself! If you look in the FAQ section you should find some information about the valve (developed by 2 forum members--Gus and Walt) and the valve is available from LSI Controls http://www.lsi-controls.com/JagKit.htm

Doug

 

Dougs absolutely right It's a very simple job, takes about 30 to 40 minutes if your not mechanically inclined and it's a must. You'll be replacing them again if you don't.
Doug

 

From one Doug to another?

 

Doug always refers to himself in the third person. He's like Bob Dole.