Jaguar XJR

About This Competition

Grace, Space and Pace…

That’s what Jaguar built its reputation on. Back when their customers weren’t all retired golf captains discussing hedge trimming over a cappuccino. No, Jaguars were bought by successful business owners… and people whose businesses you probably didn’t ask too many questions about.

Massive armchair seats wrapped in leather, a boot capable of swallowing half your house without the suspension even noticing, and under that long bonnet a proper engine with enough power to make those flashing blue lights in the mirror feel more like a suggestion than an instruction. It’s no wonder every film villain, dodgy businessman and East End hard man seemed to arrive in a Jaguar. They weren’t loud or flashy… they were just effortlessly intimidating.

Sadly, that image has drifted off in recent years. Jaguar have taken the brand in a direction that can probably be described as… fascinating. We’ll leave it at that before someone on the internet gets upset.

So instead, we’ve gone back to when Jaguars were cool.

This is the X350 XJR, and in our opinion one of the greatest fast saloons Jaguar ever built. The first aluminium-bodied XJ, meaning it shed around 200kg compared to its predecessor, making it lighter, sharper and far quicker than a luxury barge of this size has any right to be.

Under the bonnet sits the legendary 4.2-litre Supercharged V8. From the factory these made a very healthy 400bhp, but this one has been treated to a smaller supercharger pulley, upgraded intake and modified exhaust, pushing it to around 460bhp. The result? Instant torque, that unmistakable supercharger whine, a V8 soundtrack that’ll make the hairs on your neck stand up and enough acceleration to embarrass plenty of modern performance cars that cost five times as much.

Then there’s the spec…

Finished in the only colour a proper Jaguar should be – British Racing Green – paired with gorgeous ivory leather trimmed with black piping, later XK alloy wheels filling the arches perfectly, plus some incredibly rare options including the electric rear blind and double-glazed windows that make the cabin feel like your own private members’ club while the world disappears outside.

It’s classy when you want it to be, unbelievably quick when you don’t, and still glides down the motorway with the comfort you’d expect from a Jaguar flagship. It really is the definition of a gentleman’s express… assuming that gentleman occasionally enjoys hearing a supercharged V8 bouncing off tunnel walls.

So if you’ve always fancied owning one of the last truly iconic Jaguars, a car that mixes luxury, presence and utterly ridiculous performance in equal measure, you already know what to do.

Because as they say…

It’s good to be bad.