Crapwagon Outtake: 2002 Jaguar XK8

Anyone over 30 years of age reminisces about "the one that got away." The high school sweetheart. The big fish on the lake. The chance to buy AAPL at $3/share. My dad always talked about the E-Type he let slip through his fingers.

My folks lived in New Jersey at the time, and I was yet to be. Dad spotted an E-Type — I'm guessing BRG, but that's not important right now. It was the '70s and the Jag was merely a used car, not the revered classic it is today. The quick loss of power on the test drive followed by the flames from the sidedraft carburetors meant my dad walked back through suburban Cherry Hill without making a deal on the sexy English roadster.

Jaguars are like that. Beautiful to a fault — and then the electrical or mechanical faults. Ford-era cars of the current millennium seem little changed from the Leyland years. How else can one explain this car, and the dozens like it across the web? $12,000 for a luxury convertible, with satellite navigation, and merely eighty thousand miles on the odometer. The Jaguar XK8 has close to 300 horsepower on tap, and by all accounts handles well for a big car. New at $75k, these can be bought all day long for the price of a new Versa.

Let's hope Jaguar has turned the corner under Tata. Elsewhere on these pages today, you'll find Aaron's impressions on the riotous new F-Type, which promises plenty of performance and luxury at a seemingly astronomical price.

Part of me hopes I can buy an F-Type in ten years for pocket change — but, honestly, that would be a shame.

The post Crapwagon Outtake: 2002 Jaguar XK8 appeared first on The Truth About Cars.

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