AN incredible sports car that Jeremy Clarkson once said he’d “fallen so very badly in love with” can be picked up second-hand for a reasonable price.
The stunning Jaguar XKR Coupe, which was built by the British firm between 2006 and 2014, is a supercharged V8-powered beast capable of hitting up to 174 mph.
Clarkson reviewed the incredibly fast motor back in 2006 for The Times, and said: “I have fallen so very badly in love with the new Jaguar XKR.”
Known for its sports car handing, fun value and charisma combined with a comfortable ride and classy interior, the XKR seemingly has it all.
Clarkson added: “It sits on fat, low-profile tyres and has aluminium gills so you expect it to be as hard as a sideboard and as unforgiving as an enraged barbary ape.
“But you’d be wrong, because it is wonderfully soft and compliant.
“Getting out of, say, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage and into an XKR is like climbing off a kitchen chair and getting into bed.”
While motoring legend put the XKR through its paces, he also noted its surprising practicality.
He said: “After a few laps of the Top Gear test track I actually felt that it had been deliberately set up to look good in our power-sliding shots.
“I know of no other car that’s so easy to kick out of shape and hold there until the tyres burst. I absolutely loved it.
“I also loved the creamy-smooth automatic transmission, the remarkably spacious boot and the fact that I really could get two of my children into what looked like ridiculously small back seats.”
Indeed, the XKR has 330-litres of space thanks to its hatchback style boot, to go with the body-hugging sports seats and leather trim.
Depending on the version, which ranged from a 4.2-litre to a supercharged 5.0-litre V8, the XKR Coupe was priced at £84,550 at the very top end from new.
Speaking exclusively to Sun Motors, Wheeler Dealers duo Mike Brewer and Marc Priestley explained how you can pick up an underrated hatchback that “drives like a sports car“.
Mike explained: “There are some brands out there like Kia or Skoda.
“They’re really good cars, some of the smaller Volkswagens like the UP! are good.
“They get overlooked because they’re so small, but inside they’re big, they’ve got air con, electric windows [and] they drive like a little GTI or a little sports car.”
Marc added: “The Ford Focus was a good example; it was underrated in that it was just a typical family car.
“But actually now that we’ve had the benefit of a bit of time…it was really revolutionary in terms of how its technology shaped the market.
“We can look back with a little bit of hindsight and say probably that car was a bit underrated.”
But this steep price has fallen in recent years, with second-hand examples starting as low as £5,000 according to Parkers.
We found a gorgeous 2007 XKR Coupe on the Autotrader website for just £7,450, with an automatic gearbox and 94,000 miles on the clock.
This comes as a future classic sports car that Jeremy Clarkson compared to the Mazda MX-5 can be yours for less than £8,000.
And elsewhere, a car expert picked out a handful of modern classic motors that can be bought for less than £5,000 that may make “good investments”, including a very stylish Peugeot.
