Jaguar XKR - the fastest Jaguar ever - Buying and owning

Order books for both the coupe and the convertible open in July. Prices are £8500 above those for the standard model (coupe £67,495; convertible £73,495), although the differential will soon be reduced by £1000 when the regular XK gets the computerised suspension that's fitted to the R.

To get anything comparable from Germany would cost you a lot more. A BMW M6 (0-60mph in 4.6sec) is more than £81,000 and available as a coupe only, while the Mercedes SL55 AMG with folding metal roof is over £97,000.

The Jaguar will be expensive to run, but 22.9mpg touring economy is not bad, and a 71-litre fuel tank gives a potential range of more than 300 miles between fuel stops.