In Mike Grundon's review of the XK Convertible, he describes how "I watched a racing driver grin as I pulled slowly out of his drive, my B&B landlady in the Loire valley dream of past adventures in an E-Type, a retired German police bodyguard get his camera out, and a little kid near La Rochelle just stand and gape in silence at its nose." I can't say I had the same experience with the XK Coupé tested here, but it certainly impressed the couple I met in a chip shop in Ayr.The car was stationary with the engine switched off for most of the time, so they had little chance to hear its sound, which is one of the best bits. Of all types of engine, the V8 is the one that seems to me to have the most distinctive national accents. Italian V8s sound different from German ones, which are not the same as American ones, and so on.And so with the Jaguar. Its voice suggests refinement but also - in the form of a slightly off-beat rumble - a suggestion of cold showers and beatings at public school. Floor the throttle and keep it down until you reach the red line, and the XK sounds like it's saying, "My dear fellow, let me tell you that I'M BRITISH AND BLOODY PROUD OF IT!"For this and other reasons, the XK has become the darling of the motoring media. The most often-voiced criticism is that it looks too much like the Aston Martin DB9, but this seems a little unfair. I'd say instead that both cars demonstrate the undeniably effective design vocabulary of Ian Callum.I must admit that I questioned his treatment of the headlights when I first saw pictures of the XK, but it makes a lot more sense when you see the car in real life. In the same way, the transformation from two to three dimensions turns the XK from something merely interesting to something rather beautiful.Callum is impatient of compromise, and it shows most clearly at the rear of this car. The most seductive lines congregate back there, and they leave little room for practicality. The XK is a venomous thing to reverse because there is so little glass area behind the driver; on one occasion I had to reverse through a tunnel six inches wider than the car and three times as long, and I needed four attempts to do it. Without the aid of the parking sensors I would have done untold damage to the bodywork.And I was probably lucky at that, so if you have £60,000 to spend on this car it might be as well to budget for the extra few grand your Jaguar dealer will almost certainly charge you for regular visits to the bodyshop.The swooping rear lines do, however, leave space for luggage. The cargo volume is 320 litres, which is quite good for a coupé. One thing that reminds me all too acutely of the car this one replaces is that there is damn all room for back seat passengers. I understand that market research among previous owners revealed no clamour whatever for an improvement, which is just as well. I can't believe that anyone over the age of two ever travelled for any distance in the back of an old XK, and they're not going to be able to in this one either.Different story up front. I found the last XK to be ludicrously cramped considering its overall size; even with the driver's seat in its most suitable position for me (which meant actually touching the seat behind) I was too close to the steering wheel and my head was jammed against the roof.These matters are things of the past. There is now much more room for taller drivers, who can travel long distances - in my case a bizarre journey over several days which involved visits to Belfast and St Andrews within a few days - without discomfort.So far, so favourable, but it isn't all good news. To look at it, you would imagine the XK to provide a fine driving experience, and up to a point it does; maybe the electronic handbrake could release itself more elegantly, but the steering is an absolute delight and the brake and throttle (not clutch - you get automatic transmission or you buy something else) are nicely weighted.In other respects, though, the XK is not a patch on the XJ saloon, which I continue to insist is one of the most splendid cars to drive on the market, whether in turbo diesel or supercharged XJR forms or indeed anything in between. In particular, the front end of the XJ is superbly well controlled, yet in the case of the XK that just ain't so.It simply isn't set up the way it should be. There's a nervousness over uneven surfaces (often manifested in a strange rocking motion), an uncertainty on turn-in, an incorrectly damped pitching when you hit the brakes. None of these things is a fundamental problem - though why would we talking about fundamental problems in a £60,000 coupé? - but they all deny the XK the grace which, along with pace and space, was one of the three cornerstones of Jaguar's marketing philosophy in years gone by.The first time I ever drove a current XK (for half an hour - not long enough to publish a road test about the experience) this was my strongest impression of the car. I still hope that Jaguar will sort it out in a not-too-distant upgrade, but having now lived with the XK for a week I admit that there are plenty of compensations. Engine 4196 cc, 8 cylinders Power 300 bhp @6000 rpm Torque 310 ib/ft @4100 rpm Transmission 6 speed semi-auto Fuel/CO2 25 mpg / 269 g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 5.9sec Top speed 155 mph Price From £58749.00 approx Release date 16/03/2006
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