Oh woe is us, etc. A bloke from Jaguar turned up yesterday demanding that we hand-over the keys to our long-term XFR test car. Of course we pretended not to be in at first, but the sound of garments being rent asunder gave the game away. (And no, we don't know why PHer Mr Will keeps doing that in the office...)
We'll be running a worthy tribute to this magnificent machine when the period of official mourning has ended. Suffice to say for now, that six months or more with the XFR has reinforced our conviction that there isn't a better high-performance all-rounder available anywhere at anything like the money.
Since it was passed to our tender care, the XFR has more than proved its worth. It's done sterling service as a relaxed high-speed motorway express over serious distances, provided thrilling stints of boisterous B-road blasting, then doubled-up as practical everyday family runabout and even as a Christmas tree transporter.
Wipe a tear, wipe a tear from your eye-ee
On top of all this, our Jag has provided the sort of emotional engagement you don't find in most mainstream executive cars these days, because it always meant something a bit special to say: "Let's take the Jag".
So it's going to take something equally special to fill the XFR's space in the PistonHeads car park...