Final frontier
IT’S A problem that has troubled automobile manufacturers since 1895, when Karl Benz replaced his original Motorwagen tricycle with the four-wheeled Velo: how to keep a soon-to-be-discontinued car desirable until production finally ends.
For some, the answer is to discount and discount again. For others, it’s to add as many hitherto optional extras as possible, creating a highly specified and, therefore, sought-after limited edition. This is the route Jaguar took with the final few examples of the two generations of XKR: the 4.2-S from 2005 and Dynamic R nine years later.
Both were loaded with the results of a decade’s worth of improvement and more equipment than Doc Brown’s time-travelling DeLorean, making them the most desirable of their generation. But, which is the better end-of-the-line, runout model?
When Jaguar revealed the Advanced Aluminium Coupe (ALC) prototype at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2005, its designers made no secret that it was close to the production version that would soon replace the existing car. “When you see the new XK, you’ll see a clear link between the two,” said Jaguar’s senior design manager, Giles Taylor, who was responsible for both the ALC and the production XK.
Although the new XK’s basic design was an evolution
