CIRCUIT MODERN BREAKOUT
IT STARTED as a joke. “We’ve made one of the PalmerSport XKRs road legal,” says Gary Robinson from Swallows Jaguar when I bump into him during the JEC track day at Blyton Park in June. “You can come and drive it if you want.” A kind and generous offer, but because I have already track tested one at Castle Combe, in September 2015, I say it would need to be a different kind of feature than a straight-forward drive. “Like taking it to the shops or my kids to school,” I suggest tongue in cheek. After thinking for a second, Gary replies, “Sure. Take it away for a few days and use it.”
So, I did.
A quick refresh. In 2006, British track day experience specialist PalmerSport – launched in 1991 by former F1 and sports car driver Jonathan Palmer – modified ten early X150-generation XKRs to be highly driver-focused track cars. The interiors were stripped, the suspension and brakes beefed up, and the removal of the car’s speed-limiter saw them able to reach 60mph in just 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 185mph. On the outside, there was a huge GT3-style wing, plus huge bucket-sized front air vents to ram more air into the engine.
Being fast with great handling, the cars proved popular with
