"Jaguar was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company by Sir William Lyons in 1922, originally making motorcycle sidecars before developing passenger cars. The name was changed to Jaguar after World War II to avoid the unfavourable connotations of the SS initials. Sale to BMC happened in 1966, which in 1968 merged with Leyland Motor Corporation and became British Leyland. Jaguar cars today are designed in Jaguar Land Rover's engineering centres at the Whitley plant in Coventry and at their Gaydon site in Warwickshire and are manufactured in Jaguar's Castle Bromwich assembly plant in Birmingham. The Jaguar XK series was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show on 5th March 1996. The first generation of the series, the XK8, replaced the XJS and was available as a coupé and convertible. The XK8 was the first eight-cylinder vehicle produced since the Daimler 250. The XK8 came with 17 alloy wheels, leather interior, burr walnut trim, and side airbags as standard.
This lovely 2001 Jaguar XK8 convertible has recently been repainted in the original colour of Pacific Blue after the body wrap had been removed. The car has been part of a private collection and has covered less than 5,000 miles in the last five years. Two years ago a new gearbox was fitted and it has been reported that the car runs and drives very well. Presented with charcoal interior, birds eye grey dashboard and Lamina alloy wheels. This XK8 convertible is supplied with a V5C registration document, an MoT test certificate which expires in June 2019 and a file. Offered at no reserve, this Jaguar XK8 could well prove to be a bargain and a fun car for the summer."