2006 Jaguar XK8 Test Drive

Faster Pussycat

The last version of the current Jaguar XKR, based on a platform that's nearly a decade old, proves there's still some fight left in this old cat.

The supercharged Jaguar XKR coupe and convertible, as well as its less powerful, less expensive look-alike, the XK8, is a modern classic — all the more so because 2006 will be the current car's final model year. Though there are a few to-die-for supercars that rival the XK's clean-yet-voluptuous styling, nothing under $100,000 can match its taut, unadorned sophistication. (The base price of the XKR is $82,330. The convertible version starts at $87,330.)

'The Advanced Lightweight Coupe prototype that Jaguar unveiled earlier this year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit gives a good indication of what the current XKR's successor will look like when it goes on sale as a 2007 model next spring. It will be a substantially different coupe with a bluff and upright nose in place of the current model's rounded prow —the latter a design element that harkens back to the iconic E-Type Jaguar of the 1960s. As of 2006, new European safety regulations will require all new models to meet certain pedestrian-impact standards, so get used to cars with less sharp "faces."

Though most buyers will want the first of the new, there will always be those who prefer the last of the old. Because the classicists tend to be a minority, Jag dealers could well be working hard this year to clear their lots of leftover '06 XKs.