Automotive aesthetics can be an extremely subjective topic, but one opinion that's rarely controversial is when a car looks... a little long in the tooth. Jaguar's XJS (née XJ-S) coupe, introduced to supplant the classic XK-E back in 1975, was decidedly dated looking by its twentieth model year. It was supplanted by the more clean and modern-looking XK8 in 1996.
The XK8 itself soldiered on for a decade before being supplanted by a new XK for the 2006 model year.
The new XK, known internally as the X150, was more modern in every way than the car it replaced and, thanks to extensive use of aluminum, was several hundred pounds lighter in the bargain. You wouldn't guess it from looking at the cars, though.
While the XK8 had a lithe appearance intended to evoke the E-Type, the X150 went for a more brawny style. Instead of looking like it had muscular haunches, though, it looks to me more like it has cellulite hips, especially in the ragtop version with the lid raised.
Under the hood was a 4.2L version of the AJ-8 DOHC V-8 that had been powering Jags for the last decade, now putting out 300 SAE net horsepower.
Car and Driver tested a 2006 XK convertible with the six-speed auto and recorded a 6.0 second zero-to-sixty sprint and a 14.7 quarter at 98 miles per hour. This was definitely "relaxed grand tourer" performance for the era, leaving the big numbers to the supercharged XKR variants. The "leaper" on the hood of the '07 Liquid Silver convertible in the photos is an owner-added mod, looking somewhat out of place on the low snout of the X150.
The photo of the car parked in the rain was snapped in November of 2020 using a Nikon D7000 and a 16-80mm f/2.8-4E zoom lens, while the action shot was from September of 2023, using a Nikon D7100 and the same lens.
No comments:
Post a Comment