1997 Jaguar XK8 – Project Profile

What if we told you that you could potentially own a beautiful British Grand Tourer with a stonking 4.0-litre V8 for potentially less than two grand? Cries of “don’t be ridiculous!”, “as if!” and “what have you been smoking?” may abound but the reality is this 1997 Jaguar XK8 is currently up for sale via the Car & Classic classifieds for £2,100 and seeing as it is a verified listing then serious offers can be made, which means that sub £2K price tag could indeed be a reality. Not only that but because it’s a verified listing you can rest assured that the seller is legit and a safe payment system is provided if you do manage to scoop a bargain. With 27 photographs of the car available too you can have a good old nosey at the thing before putting your hat in the ring, but this is listed as a project and there are things to address should you choose to take it on.

The Jaguar XK8 is getting on a bit nowadays, having debuted all the way back in ’96, but it remains a handsome, suave and powerful coupé (or convertible if that’s your Huckleberry). Ageing like a fine wine rather than a mouldy cheese the XK8’s beginnings were rather humble, thrown together, as it were, from a mixture of old and new parts. Derived from the XJS, development of the XK8 had begun as early as 1991 when Nirvana’s Nevermind, Enter Sandman by Metallica and Guns N’ Roses’ cover of Dylan’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door were dominating the charts. Ah, better times. It took another five years until the car would officially hit the streets, however, but when it did the public responded positively to the car’s powerful yet refined 3,996cc 32-valve V8 engine and smooth five-speed automatic transmission.

’98 saw the introduction of the XKR, complete with supercharger which upped peak power to 370bhp and the base engines received the treatment in 2002, increasing in capacity to 4,196cc and subsequently improving power from 270bhp to 300bhp in the XK8 and up to 400 in the XKR, along with myriad other improvements, the most significant of which being the swap from plastic timing chain guides to metal. The time is very much now to grab an XK8 because although they do represent somewhat of a performance bargain prices won’t stay the way they are as the car continues to firmly muscle its way into modern classic territory.

What is it? 

So what of the car in question then? Well, as mentioned above it’s an early ’97 model Jaguar XK8 that’s covered a shade over 100,000 miles. The car has been with its current owner for five years but due to a new addition to the family in 2019 hasn’t really been touched since. Black with matching leather interior the car has been slightly modified from factory condition with the addition of Paramount Performance front and rear bumpers, Khan alloys and an exhaust back box delete. Rude, as they say.

Why is it a project? 

Well, when the apple of daddy’s eye arrived back in 2019 there was little time for the Jag and so it took a seat at the back. Right at the back, in fact and it hasn’t moved since. The seller states that the last time the car passed its MOT (2018) the rear shocks were advisory items and that they have both been changed since, shortly before the car was parked up. A brief look at the car’s MOT history on the government website corroborates this, as well as the current mileage but that’s not really the issue. The main problems with this particular XK8 are bodywork related with rusty wheel arches and a rotten rear corner. The lacquer has also peeled on the roof and there is a dent on the offside wing. Inside the car the roof lining will need to be replaced and there is a crack in the windscreen but these are all relatively easy problems to address, in the grand scheme of things. The important thing is the engine which the seller states “doesn’t miss a beat.”

Five things to look for: 

Handily we’ve already covered this in detail with a stand-alone feature which you can peruse at your leisure here. This, along with our The Time is Now article dedicated to the XK8 should give you a sufficient jumping off point but as with any classic car purchase it’s best to get eyes on the actual vehicle in question. We have mentioned that although these cars can be had for not a lot of bunce they’re still a finely tuned performance car and as such keeping one on the road and in top condition can potentially be very expensive. As touched on in those articles, early models with Nikasil cylinder liners can be problematic so make sure to carry out a compression test before handing over any cash. A replacement engine from a post 2000 car could in fact be your best bet so bear this in mind.

What should you do with it?

Hell, for the price you could track it until it gives up and have a boat load of fun in the process but should you want to keep this XK8 for Sunday best then the first thing to do would be to assess the condition of the engine. As stated earlier, carry out a compression test to see if those pesky Nikasil liners aren’t shot. If the mechanicals are in decent shape then it’s on to a tidy up job with the bodywork and interior and you’ll be well on your way. Do your due diligence, take some brave pills and put in an offer. Yes it’s risky with these earlier models but no significant rewards ever came without it and at this price it’s sorely tempting.