San Francisco: I
always feel special when I get a Jaguar to drive. As soon as I open the
door and slide onto the soft leather seat my personality changes. It is
as if this is the type of car I am supposed to be driving. My whole body
lets out an audible "ahhhhhh."
Unfortunately for me I
have champagne tastes on a beer budget and unless I win the lottery, a
one-week test drive will be the longest I will ever have a Jag in my
driveway. And it’s just my luck that I would get an XK Convertible
during the rainy season too. Thankfully the top is padded and nice and
snug so it was warm and cozy inside.
The XK was redesigned
last year and not everyone is pleased. There have been complaints that
the oval grille opening is too reminiscent of a Ford Taurus. You know
some people will complain about anything. Me? My only complaint is that
I do not like the "gills" on the side of the front fenders.
For the life of me I do
not understand why Jags are not flying off the dealers' lots. When I was
a kid Jags were lusted after, especially the XK-E. Other cars were
faster but nothing had the panache of a Jaguar. Maybe it is a
generational thing; the Jaguars of the 1950's and 1960's were the
ultimate sports luxury cars. People growing up in the '80's just knew
Jags as pretty and troublesome, remnants of another era.
That has all changed
and people really need to catch up. Ford has done wonderful things for
Jaguar, bringing the quality up to par with their competition and
keeping the British essence.
The 2007 XK Convertible
is such a wonderful car. Okay there is no longer the sound of a DOHC
straight six, now there is the rumble of a V8, a DOHC, 4.2-liter, 300
bhp V8 at that. Gone is the notchy four-speed manual transmission. Now
you get a wonderful six-speed automatic that is one of the few
automatics I actually like to operate manually.
Why? Because the
programming is neat, especially during down shifts, that is why. Click
the left paddle to down shift and the computer blips the throttle just
like you used to have to do with a manual! I love it.
The XK Convertible is
no slouch getting to 60 mph in 6.0 seconds and limited to a top speed of
155 mph. The supercharged XKR, which adds 120 bhp, gets to 60 in 5.3
seconds. Amazingly the XK is rated at 18-mpg city and 27 highway, which
seems about right as I averaged almost 25 mpg.
The XK is a true luxury
sports car, equipped to the max with all the amenities one would expect.
The base price of an XK Convertible is $81,500 according to the Jaguar
web site (www.jaguarusa.com).
My test car added two
option groups worth $5,175, the Luxury Package and the Premium Sound
Package, both worth the money. The MSRP for my Frost Blue with Ivory
Slate interior Jag was $86,675. With any luck one of these days I will
own the car I was destined to have. By Bruce Hotchkiss © AutoWire.Net
- San Francisco
Jaguar Home Page
Byline:
Syndicated content provided by Tony Leopardo © AutoWire.Net
Column Name: The XK is a true luxury sports car
Topic: The 2007 Jaguar XK Convertible
Word Count: 602
Photo Caption: The 2007 Jaguar XK Convertible
Photo Credits: Jaguar Internet Media
Series #:
2007 - 28
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the Microsoft Word version here:
2007 Jaguar XK Covertible
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2007 Jaguar XK Convertible
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