Graham Robson, one-time Jaguar apprentice and a motoring historian with several other Jaguar books to his credit, tells the story of one of the twentieth century's most beautiful sports car, from its conception to the end of the line for both it and the factory it was built in.

It was code-named X100 and it was to be Jaguar's latest sports cars, featuring both coupe and convertible coachwork. It was to have an all-new V8 engine and it was to replace the XJS. It would also ultimately have the most powerful forced-induction engine of any production Jaguar road card and it had a lot riding on its success. It was the XK8 - a sleek, purposeful grand tourer in the Jaguar tradition.