﹒Ex-Jaguar owned Super V8 with pre-production chassis number

﹒400bhp super saloon

﹒Amazing standard equipment

﹒One of only 180 produced

It may look fairly traditional but the alloy-bodied ‘X350’ marked an incredible sea change for Jaguar when it made its debut at the 2002 Paris Motor Show, with the manufacturer launching it ‘naked’ with no paint in order to show off its lightweight aluminium bodyshell. 

That polished alloy show car was the first of 180 strictly limited edition Super V8 models, which was the flagship Jaguar model, topped only by the Daimler Super V8 that was essentially the same car but with a more conservative character.

It was a car that got a rapturous reception from the automotive media, its wonderful ride and handling matched by surprisingly frugal fuel economy. Then there was the styling – it’s said that some people in Jaguar didn’t like it and found it too old-fashioned, but to most people it looked absolutely mega, even in cooking 3.0-litre V6 form. 

As you worked your way up the range it got beefier and brawnier, growing an extra pair of cylinders and a supercharger. Indeed, an XJR was positively rude – sleek and elegant from the outside, but with a mean and gangster-ish underbelly. It had 400bhp to unleash and it wasn’t shy about it. 

But it wasn’t the XJR that was the Lord Mayor’s muscle car. That honour was bestowed upon the Super V8 – a car that was sportier and more agile than the plusher Daimler, yet less abrasive than the sports-oriented XJR, retaining the more traditional wood trim and thick carpets from the more serene models in the range but keeping hold of the Eaton Supercharger and the 400bhp that came with it.

When new, the Super V8 would have set you back £71,970 and that’s before you even opened the options brochure. Start adding in extra toys and you could easily get the price tag close to £100k. 

And that’s what this car would undoubtedly have cost if you were to buy it at list price – TVs, a DVD player, rear sunblind, 20-inch Sepang alloys and even a manufacturer-installed Motorola car phone kit (which today falls into the chocolate fireguard category of usefulness) are among the boxes that were ticked – or would have been if this was a customer vehicle. But we’ll come to that.

Here’s where things get interesting. BD52 NFK was registered on January 10, 2003 – the very same day that the X350 went on sale in the UK. It was PDI’d and inspected by Jaguar’s Lawford Heath Vehicle Preparation Centre, which was home to the press garage and marketing demo fleet as well as Special Vehicle Operations and engineering cars. Given that it pre-dates the launch of the Super V8 by three months and has a chassis number about 80 cars before the official ‘first’ X350, there’s clearly an interesting story buried in the car’s past. 

It appears to have moved onto its next owner in 2004 and was maintained via a mixture of Jaguar dealers and independent specialists since, most recently by the reputable SE Jags in Charlton, South East London. It spent a lot of its life in Lancashire before moving to Wiltshire in 2015, with its most recent service stamp at 104,000 miles in 2018. A full service and new MoT will be carried out before delivery to the next owner, which will bring the service book up-to-date.

As well as the stamped-up service book, the car comes with a green leather wallet containing an owners handbook, ‘Quick Start’ guide, dealer directory, Rear Multimedia operators guide and instructions for how to use the car’s voice control system – a Jaguar fad that allows you to operate certain functions by voice. Though why you would when it’s easier to flick a switch is anyone’s guess…

The cabin of any X350 is a very special place indeed, but in the Super V8 it’s truly wondrous. This one has thick, supple black leather seats and matching carpets, but with cherry veneer to bring a splash of luxury and colour to proceedings. 

The multi-adjustable electric seats are ridiculously comfortable, while electric reclining and adjustment options aren’t solely the preserve of front seat passengers either – each rear seat also has electric adjustment for the very important behinds that may be positioned there. 

Those seats have memory functions and all work perfectly, as does the central touchscreen with ‘haptic’ feedback – essentially a pulse it sends through your finger as you press the screen to replicate the feel of a button. This was the absolute height of technology back in 2003, when a touchscreen was something you’d never even think of finding inside a Nissan Micra. 

The veneers are unspoiled and everything is in fine order save for a loose piece of trim on one of the dashboard cubbies and a small nick in the leather on the driver’s side door card, which has been disguised with black tape.

If you want a truly exceptional Super V8, then you’ll need the thick end of £15,000. This one isn’t perfect, nor does the seller suggest it is. 

What it is, though, is a very smart and presentable example that looks absolutely sensational from almost every angle. If you want a Super V8 just to use, it’s the real deal – a tidy and well-presented car that’s all there and looks good. 

Get up close and you’ll notice some slight colour variation on the nearside panels that’s visible more in some lights than others. The Zircon Blue paint on the nearside rear door in particular appears slightly lighter than the front, indicative of a past body repair. It’s a notoriously difficult colour to match. 

There are also a couple of areas of alloy corrosion, which is common on X350s. It’s never a major issue as it crops up where the alloy reacts with steel framework nearby and bubbles up, but unlike a steel bodied car it’ll never lead to any structural rot. On this car, there are some small bubbles around the offside tail light and boot lid edge, as well as on the driver’s side door bottoms. 

There are also kerb marks on all four wheels – again nothing that will make you suck air through your teeth. It’s a fine and presentable car that wears its almost 18 years of life extremely well indeed. It’s not concours, but neither is it hiding anything.

Finally, that leaper. Never standard on UK X350s, the leaping cat was still favoured by many buyers in the USA. Given this car’s history, it could well have been there since new as part of an accessory validation program, as it certainly looks to be a genuine item.

It looks great and is wonderful to sit in, but the Super V8s best is yet to come. Under the bonnet, it has a 4.2-litre V8 with an incredible 400bhp on tap, accompanied by a howling shriek from that Eaton supercharger as it sucks in enough air to spool itself up to speed.

What that leaves you with is a car that’s as happy cruising around town in ‘Drive’, steering with your fingertips and enjoying its serene ride and comfortable cabin, but with just one poke of the pedal it can morph into a screaming muscle car. It’s an absolute joy and is never boring to drive, whatever the road. 

There’s one mechanical issue to be aware of: the cruise control doesn’t work, and this is causing the engine warning light to appear. It’s certainly not enough to put us off what is a wonderfully engaging and exciting car. Not in the slightest. 

For a fraction of what this car would have cost new, you can get yourself one of Jaguar’s finest-ever cars and also one of its best-kept secrets. The Super V8 was probably the most luxurious Jaguar ever made – certainly before it evolved into a manufacturer of less traditional models. This is probably the last and the best classic Jaguar super saloon, well worthy of investment, and backed by a fascinating history that’s worthy of further investigation. It’s a marvellous car and one that you’ll thoroughly enjoy making perfect – on the rare occasions where you can resist driving it.