This is the last Jaguar XK (X150) to be produced, coming off the production line at Jaguar’s Castle Bromwich plant on Thursday 24 July 2014. In a special ceremony at the end of the line, the car was handed over by Castle Bromwich Operations Director, Nicolas Guibert, to Mike Beasley, Vice-Chairman of the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust who received the car on behalf of the Trust for long-term safekeeping. It was registered with the special number JH14 XKR.

It is finished in Italian Racing Red with Warm Charcoal seats and fascia with red stitching. It has the optional Dynamic Black Pack featuring gloss black finishes to the front grilles, air intakes, side power vents and boot lid finisher as well as 20 inch Vortex alloy wheels. It is also fitted with a 174 mph speed limiter, Carbon Fibre Engine Cover and Adaptive Front Lighting.

Jaguar’s new sports car, known internally by its project number X150, was announced in October 2005. The New XK as it was called inherited many technical features from the XJ saloons launched in 2003. Unusually for a sports car it was designed as a convertible first to ensure the maximum rigidity possible with the all-aluminium construction following the same processes as the big XJ saloon. The coupé and convertible were launched with the 4.2 litre AJ-V8 engine with 300 bhp mated to the ZF six-speed automatic transmission. The XKR was announced for the 2007 model year in both convertible and coupé form. The 420 bhp supercharged engine, improved brakes, suspension and subtle trim changes differentiated the XKR from the normally aspirated XK models.

At the Geneva Motor Show in 2009 the XKs received a major boost with the replacement of the 4.2 litre engine with the AJ-V8 Gen III 5-0-litre V8 engines providing a considerable increase in performance. This gave the XKR 510 PS with heart racing performance and seamless power delivery with tremendous torque – up to 625 Nm. Steering and brakes were also upgraded.