This special car was built in 1998 on a modified XKR chassis by Jaguar, to pay homage to the great sporting Jaguars of the past. Also, 1998 saw the 50th anniversary of the first of the XK series, the XK120. The bonnet of this beautiful car is reminiscent of the late 60's XJ13, which was itself an abortive attempt by Jaguar to build a LeMans challenger for the then dominant Ford GT40's. The low cut aero screen is similar to those employed on the D-Type, as is the humps behind the passengers and drivers heads.
Jeremy Clarkson test drove it on BBC's Top Gear programme and found it to be a thrilling machine to drive. In fact, his only two complaints were that the curved plexiglass windscreen was impossible to see through clearly and that Jaguar were not going to build it! I myself saw the car in the metal at the 1998 British Motor Show, and it looked even better than it did in the photographs that I had seen.
This model by Maisto, is of average quality. It is however priced at the low end of the market, so Exoto standards of detail are not expected. The engine bay is nicely detailed, but the inside of the bonnet is not painted. The interior is quite good, but the boot lid at the back does not open very far. My main criticism is that the wheels on this model do not quite match the ones I have seen on the real car. They are more like regular production Jag wheels rather than the chrome rimmed items that are on the real machine.
Overall I like this model and feel it is a very worthy addition to my collection.
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