Forewarned is forearmed.

 

I have had two xks and now own a 2013 xkr. Which in mho is the best of the lot. More rreliable and mor fun in the wigglies. Each to his/her own you can't lose with either.

 

I think at least for me it's partly about how my brain works. If I'd bought a 4.2 I would always have wondered what it might have been like to have the 5.0. If I'd bought an XK, I would always have wondered what it might have be like to have the XKR. If I'd bought a coupe, I would always have wondered what it might have be like to have a convertible.

As it is, I have a 5.0 XKR convertible with 510BHP, 461 pounds of torque, an electronic torque-vectoring differential and continuously variable suspension. To me that's a winning hand. I even prefer the gear selector thingie. Never ever since I bought it have I found myself wondering what it might have been like to have a 4.2.

Surely we don't buy the X150 because we want a "reliable car". We just buy them because...

If you tell me the 5.0 isn't as reliable as the 4.2, I'll believe you. And maybe this will all blow up in my face one of these days (maybe literally!) But life's too short not to take the occasional risk. And I think the 5.0 engine is an incredible piece of engineering. (Wasn't it the first mass-produced direct injection petrol engine?)

 

@justinhill , I was with partially with you until you brought up the gear selector thingy. (The car looks better as a coupe, imho)
I have the selector in the LR4. I can't stand the gizmo.

 

Chacun a son gout as they say! In fairness the 'Jaguardrive' knob was not a plus factor in my choosing a 5.0. But I've got into it now and I don't miss the old stirrer at all. And yes, the coupe is a prettier car but open top motoring is in my blood and the convertible's not exactly ugly...

 

But you're in Surrey... ( I stay at the Hotel Hampshire every now and again. ) So I'm guessing you have the top down a few times a year ;-)

 

I'd not have bought an XKR if it wasn't a convertible, and I still wouldn't. I find the coupes to be like the old 1965 Barracudas, a big ole greenhouse plunked on the back for no reason.
I got so used to the dial selector that the stick looks like an antique old outdated thing now. I'd not want one of those either. Not for an automatic.

 

The dial thingy seems to be here to stay. There is adisc shifter In my wife's 2024 Genesis. The layout and the placement are different, but, there is a disc.

 

Car companies watch what other brands do and copy ideas. The silver hockey puck shows up in other brands. Could always glue on a white Hurst shifter knob and pretend.

 

Except the F-Type and other JLR models went back to the stick shifter...

 

Rotary knobs are for the volume control - I prefer a roof over me head. If I want wind I go out on me sailboat close-hauled. Clears the dandruff right out.

 

@McJag222 , you're right of course.

Sailboats!!! I'm racing from Bermuda to NYC at the end of the month.
And I've been averaging a visit a year to the San Juans and the West shore. You live in a great part of the world.

 

Cool - good luck in the race - out of my league for sure.

Desolation Sound is my sailing area, Hornby Isle,.

 

I once rather fancied the boat-tail Riviera. I got better though.

 

LOL, it is your right and prerogative, to be wrong ;-)

Cheers!

 

In my defence I was about 11 when the boat-tail appeared. Us British kids saw US cars through the lens of American TV drama - Jim Rockford's Camaro (or was it a TransAm?), Starsky & Hutch's Gran Torino, Frank Cannon's Lincoln Continental... the Buick must have been used in some '70s TV show I'm sure, but I can't recall what it was.

 

Bottom line: If you are lucky and get a well-maintained XK(R) at a reasonable price point, you won’t make a big mistake. All of them are stunningly beautiful cars, fun to drive, and certainly above-average reliable.

I guess the differentiation between s/c or na, 4.2 or 5.0, convertible or coupé - it all comes down (“de gustibus…”) to taste / personal preferences. In my case, that has meant (repeatedly now, which by itself is telling tales) 4.2 XKR convertibles, for others it will be (…). I don’t see a need to be apologetic, nor to insist which one is “the best”…

 

It was a 1974 Firebird on the first few seasons, then he got a newer one, 1978, still painted gold.
The Rockford Files was my favorite TV show waaaaayyyyy back then.
Rocky: "Don't eat those, they're stale"
Jim: "Those are croutons, dad"

 

I'm indebted to you for that...