The Jaguar C-Type’s arrival in 1951 might have quickly made the XK 120 obsolete as a racing car but the British Racing Drivers’ Club still chose the now four-year-old model when it was organising a Race of Champions event at the 1952 Daily Express meeting on 10 May.
The facelifted XK8s from 2003 onwards were the best of the bunch thanks to Jaguar’s new 4.2- litre V8 – and in non-R format they’re a terrific bargain that still come with plenty of clout.
After the closure of Abingdon and the end of MGB and Midget production, the prospect of a new MG sports car seemed a distant dream but, at Frankfurt in 1985, Austin-Rover stole the show
Jaguar may have pulled out of The World Sportscar Championship at the end of 1991 but it had one last season in endurance racing; the 1992 International Motor Sports Association’s GT series in the US. As with the WSC, Tom Walkinshaw Racing oversaw Jaguar’s IMSA entries and used a variety of cars for the 15-race series, including the V12-engined XJR-12 for the 24-hour events, plus the V6 turbo XJR-14 and its XJR-16 replacement for the others.
Packing a punch Jaguar's R Performance Options threw a raft of performance choices open to its customers in the late Nineties and early 2000s. We get to grips with a 4.2-litre XK8, that's just an engine away from being an R
The Daimler 3.6 was once the pride of the pack; today, less than 50 remain taxed and in use. The flagship XJ40 is now a seldom seen scarcity… A rare beauty.
Having had a hard life, this smart Chevy truck has had everything restored and replaced – but it’s not just for show. This rig will be working for a living, as Steve Havelock found out.
How would you like your DB5 Vantage: Saloon, Convertible or Shooting Brake? Or, if you’ve got a cool £4m sitting around, you could buy all three. We drive them — and fantasise about that Lottery win.
Both of these archetypal Eighties executives began their lives well before they went into production, one a joint venture with rivals, the other as a last stand at independence. With the Alfa Romeo 164 and Jaguar XJ40, they're both cars you buy with your heart over your head, one more so than the other.
