The future of Jaguar, the embattled British marque owned by Ford (for the moment, at least), stands at a crossroads. Buyers have ignored the aluminum-bodied XJ sedan, a technological tour de force and a lovely luxury car but visually indistinguishable from its predecessor. The S-type sedan, never a truly serious competitor to the usual mid-size luxury-sedan suspects from Germany, is a lame duck. And as for the X-type, which isn't long for North America, it recently landed on Time Magazine's list as one of the 50 Worst Cars of All Time. So until the all-new XF goes on sale this spring, the XK coupe and convertible are the flag-carriers for Jaguar.
At the XK's introduction in late 2005, the company called it "the first of a new generation" of Jaguar cars, saying that it marked "an exciting new era" for the company. That confidence from Coventry, not to mention the XK's sultry lines, convinced us to add one to our Four Seasons test fleet. We ordered a frost blue coupe (base price $74,835), adding on a luxury package (heated steering wheel, leather instrument panel, nineteen-inch wheels, and sixteen-way power seats) for $3300 and a premium-sound package for $1875.... Read full article